This week Cristie Norman (Adulting With Alcohol, sommelier at Spago) makes the trek from her Beverly Hills workplace to share her whines!
The hip sip tip from Shaughn is Latitude 50 North, a trocken sekt spatburgunder rosé aka a dry sparkling pinot noir rosé!
Ellen got to try some Paso Robles Roussanne and a Syrah from TOP Winery with the winemaker herself! Learn about the ethos behind these Los Angeleno winemakers!
Cristie’s whine is about bad guests in restaurants. As a somm who started at Spago at 21, Cristie has faced a lot of side eye from customers who can’t believe that she is in charge of wine!
Shaughn and Ellen pair her wine with a spirit that soothes the souls of many a restaurant industry insider: Fernet Branca! It’s a bitter amaro from Italy. It turns out Fernet is an emergency beverage at Spago too!
Cristie also shares how she got into the wine world at such a young age. It all started with tea. Now she pours Petrus. She gets into horror stories of condescending guests and nightmare wine pairings!
The lightning round covers when Fernet was introduced, Fernet cocktails, the Fernet alcohol level, and who drinks it the most!