Mark Gapinski, CSW

Mark has well-rounded wine tastes, and is an accomplished cook. Need a suggestion for a wine and food pairing? Ask Mark....

How old are you? Let me put it this way, I’ve stopped buying young vintage Port.

What did you do in the real world? Many years ago, after completing my Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, I began my career with Eli Lilly and Company. I held a number of positions in research and development at Lilly and retired after 26 years.

When and how did your love of wine begin? In the mid to late 1970s German Rieslings drew my attention away from Mateus Rose and Riunite on ice and the like. Those Rieslings were relatively inexpensive and delicious to drink. The 1976 vintage was the first time I realized that vintage year truly mattered. German wines were superb that year.

How would you classify your tastes in wine, old world or new world? I value elegance and finesse in wines. I also rarely drink wine without something to eat. Taken together, these preferences frequently lead me to old world wines that are inevitably very food friendly. That said, I’m also a huge fan of Oregon wines.

All of us have our favorites. What varietals or regions do you feel are your strongest areas of expertise? There are very few varietals I dislike. My favorite varietal usually depends on what I’m eating. My “go to” varietals are Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. I also enjoy studying the winemaking process. I want to understand the how choices growers make in the vineyard and winemakers make in the winery affect the final product. I fantasize that I really know my Italians, but then again, I fantasize I can dunk a basketball.

What is your current favorite bottle? The 2011 Tapiz Black Tears Malbec from Argentina I feel is outstanding. For a white, I really like the 2016 Tabali Talinay Sauvignon Blanc.

What was your most memorable bottle? The 1990 Comte de Vogüé Musigny I experienced at a wine tasting in London was an epiphany as to how spectacular red Burgundy can be. Likewise, a 1976 Château d’Yquem (supplied by my generous friends Al and Jan Webber), served with seared foie gras at millennium dinner we had for a group of wine friends, was a testimony to the power of food-wine pairings.

Do you have a favorite memory of a winery? How about a memory of a wine? My wife and I visited France for the first time in 1990. We were traveling through the southern Rhône valley and bought a bottle of wine at a cooperative in Vinsobres. I’m not sure what the varietal was, but probably a Grenache-based blend. It was very inexpensive, perhaps what would have been about 5 euros at the time. Armed with the wine, a small jar of tapenade, a baguette, a couple of wine glasses and a corkscrew, we drove up to the ruins of the Pope John XII Castle in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I was a beautiful day and the Vinsobres was magnificent.

What is your favorite food and wine pairing? Port and blue cheese. Sauvignon Blanc (especially Sancerre) and goat cheese.

What is your favorite restaurant? Locally, Vida, hands down. Globally, Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern, France, the site of the two best dinners I’ve experienced.

Your favorite guilty pleasure? Where to start? How about a Chicago-style dipped roast beef sandwich with hot peppers at Fat Dan’s in Broad Ripple — messy, yet satisfying, and I do love cheese.

Funniest moment working here? One afternoon a lady came into the Cottage pulling a roller suitcase behind her. I greeted her and asked how I might help. She related that where she currently lives, she did not have access to top quality Spanish wines and could I help her fill the suitcase from the great selection we have. Together we picked out eight or nine bottles of really good stuff. As I set a well-aged Rioja Grand Reserva on the counter. I had to ask. As she couldn’t’ use it as carry on, was she planning on checking this soft-sided roller suitcase full of wine? I had to advise her that I thought the attrition rate would be near 100 percent.