I can say one thing about James “The Wine Guy” Melendez I feel confident I cannot say about anyone else: I’ve spent time with him in Lodi, California and Champagne, France. The former experience was at the Wine Bloggers Conference, the latter when we were both on a press trip to the homeland of my all-time favorite wines.

On these journeys, with just a few folks along for the ride, you spend an inordinate amount of time together. Like from breakfast until midnight. So you really get to know each other. And I can say it was a pleasure to travel with James.

When he asked if he could send some questions my way for a interview on his blog, I said, “Duh, yeah, totally.”

I’ll excerpt one of the many thought-provoking questions James asked me:

Q. How is the wine assortment varied east to west coast? More import wines East Coast? Etc.

A. New York is the center of the wine world, period. There is no better city in which to be an enthusiastic drinker of wine. Cult wines, classics, back vintages, weird esoteric shit? It’s all here. Not to mention a constant stream of winemakers coming through town, crazy dinners, loads of atmospheric wine bars, and funky wine shops. (The latter are especially choice since grocery stores cannot sell wine.)

One thing that strikes me as funny is I’ve drank way more California wine since moving clear across the country. (Lieu-Dit Melon would be a good example of this, tip of the iceberg.)

I also reveal what it’s like to live in (and around) New York, what I miss about Seattle, my favorite wine regions to drink from and travel to, and thoughts on wine writing and what currently excites me, content-wise.

Read the rest of the interview:

James the Wine Guy Interview Series: Jameson Fink

I’ll note that I mostly drink that Lieu-Dit Melon at Zadie’s Oyster Room. It’s a tiny, chill place in the East Village that, besides preparing oysters in numerous ways, has an outstanding BLT and tuna melt. I like going early-ish Saturday and Sunday, right when they open.

And I enjoy sitting in this seat:

And, back to Champagne, here’s a snap of the famous Notre-Dame Cathedral of Reims:

Pretty random, but I like this trio of folks. The first is in full hustle mode, the second gives a head-turn to admire the ornate entry, and the third is probably texting.

Tags: James The Wine Guy, Zadie's Oyster Room