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Articles by Nils ernstein
Where to Drink Wine in Mexico City
By Nils Bernstein · August 17, 2026 Nils Bernstein is New York-based food writer and editor. He is often traveling in search of unsung chefs and restaurants as well as innovative wine and food pairings. For a country known for its gastronomic pleasures, Mexico drinks surprisingly little wine—roughly six glasses per person each year, about one-tenth the average in the United States.
Why Washington’s ‘Underdog’ Region Is Getting Winemakers Excited
Award-winning cool-climate Pinot Noir and Siegerrebe that sings of white flowers and tropical fruits?
How to Pair Wine with Fiery Sichuan Dishes
When you buy something through our link, we may earn a small commission from our affiliate partners. Wine Enthusiast maintains complete editorial independence and all wines are blind tasted. Read more about our policy. There’s a persistent idea that the best wine to pair with “Asian food”—as if it’s a monolith—is a crisp and lightly sweet white wine. To be fair, this is a fabulous option for simultaneously spicy, pungent, and umamirich flavors.
North America’s ‘Best Sommelier’ Proves That Accessibility Is the Future of Wine
One of the most enthusiastic receptions for any winner at the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony in Chicago on May 28 was for Aldo Sohm—North America’s Best Sommelier 2026. As the wine director at New York City’s three-Michelin-starred Le Bernardin, and the owner of its Midtown neighbor Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, he balances expertise and technical knowledge with joy and accessibility (his two books, after all, are titled Wine Simple and Wine Simple: Perfect Pairings).
Ciuppin Is Ready to Prove the Summer Soup Haters Wrong
The 1962 cookbook Mangiare e bere all’italiana, by Luigi Carnacina and Luigi Veronelli, is a classic of Italian cuisine. Veronelli was a lifelong advocate of chemical-free farming, small production, and the importance of regionality in both wine and food. He greatly influenced future movements such as Slow Food and natural wine. Ciuppin is a traditional fish stew from Liguria that inspired the heavier Italian-American dish cioppino.
LA’s Best Wine Bars Are Hidden in Plain Sight
Invisible from the street, Baby Bistro is tucked into a nondescript residential lot at the edge of Los Angeles’ Chinatown, where the 101 crosses the 110, in a 1890s Folk Victorian cottage shaded by 15-foot banana plants. With just 35 seats, it’s one of the city’s most in-demand tables, with all the ambition but none of the pretense of a typical destination restaurant. The menu is so short that most tables order every dish.
Ace Father’s Day Dinner with These Somm-Approved Steak and Wine Pairings
When you buy something through our link, we may earn a small commission from our affiliate partners. Wine Enthusiast maintains complete editorial independence and all wines are blind tasted. Read more about our policy. Whether you’ve tossed old-fashioned wine-pairing dogma out the window, or you like to follow old-school rules about what you pour with your dinner, there is always a way to strike a balance between drinking what you like and finding the perfect pairing.
This Gooey Swiss Mac & Cheese Is Alpine Perfection
There are few dishes as satisfying as macaroni and cheese, but it doesn’t exclusively belong to the American South, or need to be orange. Älplermagronen, which translates to “Alpine macaroni” in Swiss German, is a prime example of Swiss Alpine cuisine. The hearty pot of pasta and potatoes enrobed in gooey Gruyère is similar to Swiss-adjacent dishes like the käsespätzle of southern Germany and the pizzoccheri of Valtellina in northern Italy.
Mexican Winemaking Is Reaching New Heights in These High-Altitude Regions
The oldest winery in the Americas is Casa Madero in Mexico’s Coahuila state. It sits at 5,000 feet in elevation, at a latitude similar to the hottest parts of the Sahara Desert, on soil dotted with dinosaur bones. When Spanish colonizers arrived, they found an abundance of wild grapes, natural springs, and a semi-arid mountain valley with a continental climate that can feel Mediterranean thanks to mild winters and a long growing season.
Chicken Soup (and Wine Pairings) for the Soul
What makes a good and comforting chicken soup isn’t a canned response—with all due respect to Campbell’s. Almost every culture enjoys the emotional and physical benefits of a well-balanced bird broth. If you’re not nursing a cold (or maybe even if you are), pair it with wine for an even better experience. Here are four standout traditional chicken soups, with suggested bottles to match.
This Portuguese Orzo Chicken Soup Is Your Weeknight Secret Weapon
If you’re using a whole chicken to make the broth and/or the shredded meat here, get one that comes with the giblets: Simmering the neck, gizzard, and heart in homemade or store-bought broth adds deeper flavors that go well with the garlic and herbs.
This Tortellini in Brodo Will Become Your Emotional Support Soup
Capon is a large, fattened chicken that yields a rich and flavorful broth. To make mock capon broth, add 1 pound turkey wings (separated at the joints) and 1/2 cup water to 8 cups of chicken broth, then simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Skim foam occasionally as it cooks and strain well before using. We implore you to make your own tortellini; the hypnotic process can be as satisfying and soothing as the soup itself, and the filling’s flavor can’t be beat.
This Wine-Braised Duck Leg Recipe Is Dinner Party Gold
Rooted in classic French and Italian cuisines, New York’s King restaurant has the celebratory feel of a dinner party at the home of your most well-traveled wine-loving friend. The new cookbook from owners Clare de Boer, Jess Shadbolt, and Annie Shi puts that spirit on the page, with recipes ranging from cocktails and bar snacks to festive desserts and an entire rabbit chapter. This duck-au-vin exemplifies King’s fresh take on classic dishes.
Kotosoupa Avgolemono Recipe | Wine Enthusiast
Greek-American author Meni Valle’s new cookbook, Thessaloniki, is an intimate look into the less-discussed food of Northern Greece, where Ottoman, Balkan, and Sephardic Jewish influences contribute to a diverse and delicious cuisine. This soup is common throughout Greece and especially good as a starter before some of the region’s heartier dishes. Kotosoupa Avgolemono (Greek Chicken Soup) Reprinted with permission from Thessaloniki: And the Many Kitchens of Northern Greece by Meni Valle.
Yucatecan Sopa de Lima Is Just What the Doctor Ordered
Gabriela Cámara’s Mexico City restaurant Contramar may be known for its raw tuna tostadas and widely Instagrammed whole butterflied snapper, but her cookbook also offers family recipes from her home kitchen, like this iconic lime-spiked soup from Yucatán state.
A Budget-to-Bougie Guide to Pairing Wine and Caviar
With apologies to everyone who has posted potato-chip caviar bites on Instagram, caviar is a delicacy best enjoyed in private moments, much like contemplating a masterpiece in a crowded museum. Every small dollop of caviar is a landscape of tiny pearls, each one carrying a burst of butter and brine, with as many secondary and tertiary notes as the finest wine.
This Winter Fennel-Pomegranate Salad Is Dressed to Impress
This New Year’s Day, if you see crimson stains on your Greek neighbors’ doorsteps, resist the urge to call the police. It’s a long-standing Greek tradition to smash a pomegranate on the front doorstep to welcome health, prosperity, and joy in the year to come. The more seeds strewn about, the better your year will be. Pomegranates carry similar symbolism across different regions and religions, representing luck, fertility, abundance, and spiritual growth.
Sommelier of the Year Mia Van de Water Is Upending the Traditional Somm Role
Mia Van de Water exemplifies the expanding role of beverage professionals in all aspects of hospitality. As both wine director and partner, she has helped bring the Michelin-starred New York steakhouse Cote to Miami, Singapore, and Las Vegas. She oversees one of the world’s most extensive sparkling wine lists at New York’s Coqodaq, a Korean fried chicken spot.
Add This Lemony Braised Beef Dish to Your Winter Dinner Rotation
In her new book, Athens: Food, Stories, Love, Greek-American chef, author, and TV personality Diane Kochilas focuses on her home city of the past 30 years, where global influences blend seamlessly with deep family traditions. There, she says, the many beef stews of Greek cuisine are typically reserved for Sundays or holiday meals, and “this comforting dish is grandma food at its finest.” Serve it with rice pilaf or egg noodles.
Peanut Pie Is Truly a Slice of Southern History
Bless your heart if you’re a pecan pie purist. This could be the recipe that broadens your horizons (unless you have a peanut allergy, in which case, stay at least two blocks away). Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty’s new book, Recipes from the American South, celebrates the diversity of Southern food and weaves centuries of history through more than 250 recipes.
Yes, You Can Pair Red Wine with Fish
When you buy something through our link, we may earn a small commission from our affiliate partners. Wine Enthusiast maintains complete editorial independence and all wines are blind tasted. Read more about our policy. Sure, the pairing dogma of “white wine with fish, red with meat” seems logical. But as restaurateur and retired master sommelier Alpana Singh points out in season four of Hulu drama The Bear, logic also leads to matching red wine with fish..
10 Bucket-List Chef’s Tables for Wine Lovers
Chef’s tables are having a moment, but not in the stodgy sense of giving people a view of the action while keeping them conspicuously removed from the chefs and the inner workings of the kitchen. Perhaps inspired by the omakase boom, the best chef’s tables today give us a glimpse into the what, who and why behind the meal, with a hefty dose of theater for good measure. 1.
This Summery Grilled Steak Is Made for Sicilian Reds
There are an estimated 1,500 Italian restaurants in New York City, but few are as beloved as Noho’s sister restaurants, Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria. Il Buco was born over 30 years ago when owners Donna Lennard and Alberto Avalle started serving rustic regional Italian food from their antique store, and it retains the same charm today (albeit now with one of the city’s most extensive all-Italian wine lists).
Borderline Tipsy: Dive Into Tijuana's World-Class Bar Scene
A 30-minute drive from San Diego International Airport—and just 90 minutes from Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s premier wine region—Tijuana warrants a longer stay than just a day trip from Southern California. With a population of just over two million, it’s Mexico’s second-largest city, boasting a unique cultural identity shaped in part by its location on the border.
A Quintessential Avocado Toast from California's Central Coast
Is a novel take on avocado toast possible in the year 2025? Not really, which is why this iteration from Brian and Elizabeth Talley, the third- and fourth-generation team at Talley Vineyards on the San Luis Obispo coast, instead leans into the dish’s essential California-ness. This is avocado toast at its most avocado-toasty, featuring peak-season ingredients grown on the vineyard’s sister property, Talley Farms. There’s cilantro, Meyer lemon and, of course, avocado.
Dense and Protein Packed, This Chopped Salad Is a Hollywood Classic
The chopped salad from the iconic Italian restaurant La Scala in Beverly Hills went viral before “viral” was a thing. First conjured in the late 1950s, it was designed for Hollywood starlets who asked for the house “gourmet salad” in an easy-eating format so as to avoid soiling their gowns. What started as an off-menu special eventually grew so popular with power-lunchers that it became an on-menu staple.
How to Pair Ultra-Versatile Pinot Grigio With Just About Everything
It’s time to change the vocabulary around Pinot Grigio (also called Pinot Gris in some parts of the world and Grauburgunder in German-speaking nations). Often described as light, simple, popular or easygoing, these words can sound like backhanded compliments—especially when they come from the segment of the wine world that dismisses Pinot Grigio’s undeniable pleasures.
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