Bottles & Bites Without Borders

Send us Fan Mail This episode is al about the great food and flavors of Cantonese food served by Ginger and Fork in Houston Texas.  We highlight the wonderful dishes on their menu and explore the fantastic cocktails and bourbon and whiskey they serve.  Great conversation to hear about these flavors and wonderful drinks. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Todd Greene is my guest and we have a conversation on the great food of Louisiana.   So many dishes with big bold flavors, a lot of dishes you will know but we also discuss a few that will be new to most.   Support the show

Send us Fan Mail The title says it all, we blind 3 baller ryes and give our thoughts. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This episode I'm joined by Yana & Taisiya to discuss the food and flavors or Russia (more specific, the former Soviet Union) their native countries.   If you haven't tried Russian food, you should, there is so much more to their cuisine than you might think.  List to this episode and the dishes we discuss then absolutely make one! Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I visit with John Fodera of Tuscan Vines and we talk about what he's doing to bring more Italian wine and wine knowledge to his followers on social media and his website blog.  Then we get into Brunello di Montalcino, one of our favorite wines and grape varietals - Sangiovese.  We talk about the history of this region, the requirements of the grape, the aging...

Send us Fan Mail Texas Star Grill Shop is new to Katy, they now have four locations around the area.  We sit down with Pete and Ernie from TSGS to talk about what they offer the backyard cooks in the Houston area, and they have some really cool cooking rigs.  As we roll into  fall there's nothing better than being in the backyard cooking, hanging with friends and family as we enjoy the great...

Send us Fan Mail This episode I'm joined by Matt Carter, Luis Baston, Chris Francis and Glenn Burnett.  We start the show with a fun blind and then move into Wild Turkey Russel's Reserve.  Russel Reserve is a great product that is a single barrel and always on a shelf.  It's also a bourbon that you can find a store pick or group pick and in this episode we taste through 5 RR picks f...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a discussion on the only 5 bourbons you need in your home bar.  This came from a guy on Reditt who came up with these five criteria's for you home bar.  This has been a hot topic in the bourbon community and I got some friends together to give our lists. The list 1. Daily drinker - your go to for enjoying bourbon 2. Impress your guests - fancy but not too fanc...

Send us Fan Mail Our 2nd episode in the Shelf Hero's series.  In this episode the Matt's are back along with Dave and we discuss some of our favorite Rye's and Bourbons in this price range.  When we get the the $30-$60 price range there is so much to enjoy.  We cover offerings from Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Barton and Brown Foreman.  A great listen to get infor...

Send us Fan Mail I'm joined by Darryl Bowman and in this episode we talk to Brett Martin - store manager at Longhorn Liquor (12 stores) and Meagen Howard from Oak & Eden.  Megan brought some really cool whiskeys Oak & Eden are doing seasonally a long with their regulars.  Fun to taste through and we give you our honest feed back on everything.    Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Ernie and Dave join me on this episode as we talk about Wild Turkey.  There's so much to get into with a topic like Turkey Talk so this conversation covers quite a bit in a hour. Deeper dive will come on a follow up episode.  Here Ernie shares some of the history of Turkey, the Russell family, we talk about the solid products that should be in everyone's home bar and we...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is just casual conversation that covers several topics related to food, wine and whiskey, my favorite is our new Supper Club Group.  We get into bourbons, distillers, food with bourbon, a little wine and a little about how crazy the beer world is.  Just some fun conversation. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we taste through Rye Whiskey's that can be found on a regular basis (except 1) on at the liquor stores.  David, Glenn and Joby join me to taste through, compare and discuss the quality, flavor and price point on 7 Rye's.  Rittenhouse Rye, Sazerac Rye, James E. Pepper Rye, Whitmeyers Rye,  Pikesville Rye, Rarebreed Rye, EH Taylor Rye are the whiskeys we ta...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I'm joined by Dave and Joby and we discuss and taste through some bourbons that we call shelf hero's.  A shelf hero is a bourbon that has three qualifying factors - Quality, Value and availability.  Today we are staying in the $12 - $30 range, shelf hero's can get to various prices but today we want to keep the cap at $30.  We also feel these are gre...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode I'm joined by Darryl Bowman of Bad Wine Reviews, Jordan Hill and Tyler Martin.  They are part of a movement #FB2020 (F@$k Bourbon 2020), we talk about what exactly this means to them and what are the issues that got them to this point. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Me and a few friends (Glenn, Dave and Joby) taste through and compare wheated bourbons along with a little fun conversation.  The results were a little surprising based on my expectations of what we were comparing with cost, reputation and availability. As always with bourbon episodes there's always knowledge that is shared and gained.   Support the show

Send us Fan Mail On this episode my guest is John Fodera from Tuscan Vines.  John has become an expert on the wines of Italy.  We discuss the wines of Tuscany - Chianti and Brunello, their history, the grapes, the land and the rules / regulations.  John has a great website that's a resource for Italian wines, recipes, wine reviews and interviews with Italian wine makers Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Darren Lafferty is a big on supporting local, he does a great job of supporting and promoting local "mom & pop" eateries in our area.  I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Darren about him, where this #supportlocal comes from and his photography.  We have this chat at Essentials Kitchen with Chef Martinez, Darren hadn't had Chef's food and I th...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is a fun conversation with Schel Kidd, the Wisconsin Wine Guy.  I found Schel on YouTube with his wine review show and liked what he was doing, he also has a cooking channel "Cooking In The Raw".  Great guy with a long history in food and wine, cool to hear his story and his journey. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I'm joined by Ernie E. to help me explore Four Roses Bourbon.  We discuss their history, their position in the bourbon market in the US and around the world, their ambassador Al Young and their 10 different recipes that are made up of two mash bills and 5 different yeast strains.  If you've wanted to learn a little more about Four Roses this episode is wo...

Send us Fan Mail This episode I talk about our favorite locally owned restaurants that we are still supporting with take-out, and are encouraging everyone to support their local shops and restaurants.  I call some friends around the area to discuss the places we are ordering from.  I talk to some friends in LA and Edward Ramirez who runs a FB group all about supporting local restaurants.    Suppor...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode Simon Solomon from MudoVino joins me to talk about Spain and Spanish wines.  We discuss three whites (one sparkling) and three reds.  Spain is a region I'm trying to get into some this was a very educational conversation for me and I hope you are excited about trying some Spanish wines after listening.  Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Great conversation with Simon Solomon (MundoVino) and Rob May (KillerVino) on wine from Argentina and specifically Catena Family wines.  This conversation we feature the Catena Appellation Series, which include a Chardonnay, 3 Malbecs a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Cab Franc.     Support the show

Send us Fan Mail If you don't know, Katy has a fantastic wine bar, Cellar Door.  Cellar Door has been around for almost 10 years and I feel like people still don't know it's here.  Ron Holsomback is the owner and does a great job in creating a Tuscan get away right in Katy.  Listen to this conversation on everything the Cellar Door offers, from a great wine list to great food, live...

Send us Fan Mail Paso Robles is a new wine region I have begun to explore.  Paso is making some great wines, many are in the Rhone Valley style with GSM, Syrah, Petite Syrah because of the climate and soil types but they are still making some great Zins and Cabs.  Russell Family is one of the oldest wineries in the AVA and Serrano is one of the youngest.  This is a great conversation to learn more...