Here’s a random question, but one that I have been asked and I can think of no better place to find an answer:
Has anybody ever compiled a list of the wines that Bourdain either drank in any of his shows, or commented upon in some other way (print, interview, other tv appearance, etc. etc.), good or bad.
One of the few times I remember him being semi impressed with wine was in Croatia. He mentioned his disdain for the ‘swirl & sniff crowd’ numerous times.
He definitely said that in Kitchen Confidential, but I suspect that a couple of decades of touring the world’s restaurants as he did might have exposed him to it a bit more.
Check out the French Alps episode. Ripert was going nuts on the wine list and Bourdain seemed a bit out of his element during it. His oporto episode though, you could tell that he really loved Port and was enjoying every second of it.
Loved Bourbon. I blame him for the some of the Crazyness that has happened with Pappy. “His enthusiastic encounter with a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle at Stateside, I contend, single-handedly pushed that already-coveted bourbon into nearly unreachable cult whiskey status.”
I really doubt that. Bourbon was already white hot when the episode came out. I was working retail then and the big ones were already kept in the back room and had been for 2-3 years
I always wondered how much of his on screen demeanor was schtick and how much was genuine. I find it hard to believe a guy with a palate of a professional chef didn’t appreciate a good wine even if he wasn’t a wine geek.
I did like his shots though, eve. If they were a bit unnecessarily cynical. I loved hit hate on Racheal Ray, so classic.
Check out the French Alps episode. Ripert was going nuts on the wine list and Bourdain seemed a bit out of his element during it. His oporto episode though, you could tell that he really loved Port and was enjoying every second of it.
I believe it was the Royal Oporto 40 year old Tawny he was drinking.
Yeah, he seemed completely ambivalent about wine. Definitely a boozer. I also think he was very skeptical of fine, Michelin level dining. He always seemed strained to gush about it versus street food.
I was lucky enough to spend two different evenings out with Anthony Bourdain, off the clock. His onscreen persona was very real. He had a bit more energy when speaking to groups, but hanging out(very late) he was who he was. I think he did not enjoy the fact that there came to be an expectation that he would do or say something controversial, and there is plenty in the books and shows that wasn’t. But I saw nothing contrived in him, rather the opposite.
I’d also say that he liked wine well enough, but not as much as beer, bourbon, or a good Negroni.