What do you like to drink after a shift? “Usually a Guinness, although Champagne is always preferred or an Old-Fashioned if I need something stronger.”
What is the all-time best dive bar jukebox song? ““Rock With You” by Michael Jackson.”
Name the first good drink you ever drank and where you had it.“Trimbach Gewürztraminer at Smith & Wollensky. I was curious about the name of the grape more than anything. It was a great introduction into wine because it’s so aromatic and everything just jumps out of the glass.”
What book on wine is your go-to resource? “I honestly reference On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee more than anything. It breaks down flavor profiles and results for different products and cooking methods, which helps me better understand what region, vintage, varietal, etc. to go to for a pairing. However, a top wine reference book had been The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass by Jaime Goode.”
Name the wine region that took you the longest to truly understand. “Italy. The laws are so different across the country and are rarely uniform even if [regions are] separated by just a few miles. Plus, they have more than 3,000 registered varietals.”
What’s your favorite wine and food pairing? “French fries and Champagne.”
What’s the most common wine myth you have to debunk? “Rejecting the idea of a Riesling with a meal because it might be too sweet. We have a lot of great dry Riesling from Germany to Australia on our lists that I wish more people would be open to.”
What’s your favorite bottle of wine under $20? “Raul Perez Ultreia Mencia from Bierzo, Spain. It’s somewhere between a Pinot Noir and Syrah in body, and goes well with almost anything.”
What’s your favorite bottle of wine over $1,000? “Inglenook 1964 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. We have a few vintages on our list at 701West, but a guest ordered this one a few nights ago and it was killer.”
What tool do you use to open a bottle? “A Code38.”
Amy Racine is the wine director of the four restaurants and bars inside Ian Schrager’s new Times Square hotel the EDITION
Interview has been condensed and edited
