Food and wine are natural companions, so I'm polling some of New York's most illustrious chefs to find out what kind of wine they are drinking off and on the job. After establishing they actually drink wine (a surprising number prefer beer!), I'm asking a few questions to find out who's got a penchant for Piedmont, which chefs dislike oaky Chardonnay, and why there is no right or wrong way to enjoy wine.

In today's installation of this series, I talk with Ben Daitz, chef and partner of Cambodian sandwich shop Num Pang.

Read more of this series:
-Wolfgang Ban of Seasonal, Edi and the Wolf, and The Third Man Talks Wine
-Anita Lo of Annisa
-Frank Prisinzano of Frank, Lil' Frankie's, Supper and Sauce

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Lauren Mowery has covered the wine beat here at Fork since the beginning of the year, and she's reported on everything from New York City's sherry queen to Brangelina's foray into Provençal Rosé to chefs who drink wine. And for those great pieces, she's a finalist for a Best New Wine Blog award.

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Food and wine are natural companions, so I'm polling some of New York's most illustrious chefs to find out what kind of wine they are drinking off and on the job. After establishing they actually drink wine (a surprising number prefer beer!), I'm asking a few questions to find out who's got a penchant for Piedmont, which chefs dislike oaky Chardonnay, and why there is no right or wrong way to enjoy wine.

In today's installation of this series, I chat with Frank Prisinzano, chef and owner of Frank, Lil' Frankie's, Supper, and Sauce.

Read more of this series:
-Wolfgang Ban of Seasonal, Edi and the Wolf, and The Third Man Talks Wine
-Anita Lo of Annisa

More »

Food and wine are natural companions, so I'm polling some of New York's most illustrious chefs to find out what kind of wine they are drinking off and on the job. After establishing they actually drink wine (a surprising number prefer beer!), I'm asking a few questions to find out who's got a penchant for Piedmont, which chefs dislike oaky Chardonnay and why there is no right or wrong way to enjoy wine.

In today's installation of this series, I talk with Anita Lo, chef-owner of West Village restaurant Annisa, where the seasonally curated list highlights a number of women winemakers.

Read more of this series:
-Wolfgang Ban of Seasonal, Edi and the Wolf and The Third Man Talks Wine

More »

Food and wine are natural companions, so I'm polling some of New York's most illustrious chefs to find out what kind of wine they are drinking off and on the job. After establishing they actually drink wine (a surprising number prefer beer!), I'm asking a few questions to find out who's got a penchant for Piedmont, which chefs dislike oaky Chardonnay and why there is no right or wrong way to enjoy wine.

In the first installation of this series, I catch up with Wolfgang Ban, chef and owner of Seasonal Restaurant & Weinbar, Edi & the Wolf and The Third Man.

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Lauren Mowery

A few bottles of Aussie wine

If your last memory of Australian wine was an overripe Shiraz, erase it! The new breed of Aussie wine is leaner, more structured, and food-friendlier than before, and heading to New York thanks to a wave of young, dynamic winemakers and importers.

Gordon Little and his fiancee Lauren Peacock of Little Peacock Imports are courageous importers of small-batch Australian wines, working together to deliver the country's wine renaissance to New York. Calling them courageous may sound melodramatic, but given our slow-to-fade hangover from the first Australian wine experiment, staking their livelihood on championing these wines really is a form of bravery.

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Lauren Mowery

The Jolie-Pitt rosé is salmon-pink and smacks of summer.

The vinous baby of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt has finally arrived stateside! If you haven't heard, Brangie are now Provençal winemakers, having delivered their inaugural vintage of rosé from their Château Miraval estate last week. But erase any vision of Angie lovingly tending vines in muddy boots, hair matted to forehead under the hot midsummer sun; or Brad, come harvest time, with his usual overgrown goatee, gently picking grapes during cool pre-dawn hours and hand-sorting them at the table. That's only in the movies, folks.

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Lauren Mowery

To understand sherry, you must drink it! And if you were paying attention during my interview with New York's Queen of Sherry, Carla Rzeszewski, then you know to drink it with food.

Here's a simple formula for exploring the umami flavors of sherry: Chill the bottles. Meanwhile, invite over some friends and prepare a platter of salty-sweet jamón, Marcona almonds, and briny olives. Add a wedge of Manchego and a loaf of crusty bread. For the highly-motivated, elevate your spread with freshly shucked oysters. Finally, don't forget to drink from wine glasses--sherry is a wine that deserves to be swirled, sniffed, and savored like one.

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Lauren Mowery

What comes to mind when you hear sherry, besides the Four Seasons song that maddeningly loops in your head like scratched vinyl? If the answer is a sweet brown drink that grandma likes, allow me to introduce you to New York City's "Queen of Sherry," Carla Rzeszewski.

Rzeszewski is a sherry fanatic looking to quietly revolutionize the way we approach this fortified white wine made from the Palomino grape in southwestern Spain. Her name is from Poland, but her youth was spent in the sunshine of Southern California and Hawaii before she found her way to New York City. Since 2009, she has been running the wine program at the Spotted Pig, Breslin, and John Dory, building sherry programs tailored to each restaurant.

I sipped manzanilla while she explained her title and how she fell in love with this criminally underpriced wine.

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Lauren Mowery

As spring continued dragging her feet last week, New Yorkers traipsed through snow flurries to drink wine. Nothing new there, except that the second annual NY Drinks NY was in town, offering imbibers a taste of local wines. I focused my efforts on the Finger Lakes and Niagara Escarpment, two regions I hadn't visited and don't regularly have a chance to taste.

Aside from the joy of discovering more great New York wine to drink, I am happy to report that bottle prices are remarkably affordable. Land in the Finger Lakes costs significantly less than in the North Fork, so vintners can sell wines at prices equivalent to the spare change in your pocket (plus a few singles). The majority of bottles were priced in the low $20s, while many hovered between $12-$16. So if you like to drink good wine at low prices, look for your New York neighbors on the shelves.

Read on for more about these local regions, plus 10 recommended bottles.

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