Carciofo! What Happened When We Let an App Pick Our Tricky Pairing

Podcast EpisodesWine EducationWine Industrywine tipsWine Apps and ToolsSip With Nikki The Tasting RoomRecipes and EntertainingHome KitchenBehind the Label

Jun 23

Written By Nicole Lamberti

Welcome Back to Our Sunday Kitchen

If you've ever wondered what a Sunday evening looks like at our house in Sonoma County, this episode is basically a live recording of it. No script. No guest. Just me, Michael, a wood-fired pizza oven, a couple of beautiful bottles, and — let's be real — a kitchen that went from spotless to destroyed in under 24 hours.

(Our house cleaner came Saturday. We cook on Sunday. It is a whole thing.)

I had just gotten back from a truly magical trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando with my mom, my sister, and my niece. It was hot — I lived in Florida for years and still somehow forgot what June in Orlando feels like — but we had the best time. Lots of beautiful sips and bites around the property. Check out my Instagram @nikkilamberti for some of those Disney moments.

Father's Day weekend also gave me the perfect excuse to wrangle Michael in front of a microphone. He hasn't been on the pod since our 100th episode, and every single time he shows up, you all go wild — so here we are. Welcome back, sir.

The Challenge: Pairing Wine with Artichokes

Here's a fun fact from my wine certifications at the Culinary Institute of America: artichokes are one of the most difficult foods in the world to pair with wine. And I'm not exaggerating. There's a compound in artichokes called cynarin that makes most wines taste metallic or oddly sweet. It basically plays tricks on your palate.

So when Michael prepped these gorgeous Costco artichokes (four giant ones for about $10 — great buy), I knew I wanted to put the SOMMO app to the test. If you've been following along, I just interviewed SOMMO's founder Gökhan in the previous episode — go back and listen to that one if you haven't. The app is a sommelier in your pocket that can scan wine labels, read entire wine lists, and suggest pairings based on what you have and what you're eating.

I typed in "grilled artichoke with garlic aioli" and held my breath. And I had already had a wine in mind. When the app's recommendation matched mine exactly? I was floored.

The wine: La Sirena Moscato Azul Dry Muscat by Heidi Barrett.

Why Dry Muscat Works for Artichokes

You might be thinking — Moscato? Isn't that sweet? And normally, yes. But here's the thing: just like Riesling or Viognier, Muscat grapes can be taken all the way through fermentation to complete dryness. This one is bone dry, and that makes all the difference.

Here's what SOMMO said about the pairing, and I found it spot on:

The cynarin compound in artichokes makes most wines taste metallic or overly sweet. A dry Muscat like this one counters that with high acidity and intense floral aromatics — a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of a garlic aioli. Its bone-dry profile avoids the metallic clash, and its bright citrus notes act almost like a squeeze of fresh lemon over the dish.

We actually put a lot of lemon on these artichokes, so that tracks perfectly.

Michael's tasting notes: higher viscosity, richer weight, soothing on the tongue — and almost a petro quality (think aged Riesling), which is a fascinating characteristic. He also noticed it paired beautifully with the heat from his homemade hot sauce (more on that below) without amplifying the spice the way some wines do. "It just jumps on a magic carpet and floats," were his exact words. Which, honestly, is a perfect description.

La Sirena has a tasting room just outside of Calistoga, off the main road heading south — blink and you'll miss it. The bottles are gorgeous blue glass. Heidi Barrett is best known as the winemaker behind Screaming Eagle, one of the most coveted cult wines in Napa, but La Sirena is her own label and it is mermaid-inspired and completely worth seeking out.

How We Cooked the Artichokes

Michael walked us through his prep method, and it's become our go-to:

Trim the stem on the bottom and remove any leaves on the stem itself.
Clip all the pointy tips off the leaves — no one wants to stab their mouth.
Cut across the top, about halfway up the artichoke, to open it up.
Rub with lemon (not lime — Michael always mixes those two up, Spanish/English crossover moment) to prevent oxidation.
Steam in salted lemon water with lemon rinds, elevated on a trivet, for about 20 minutes until the leaves start turning green and the stem is soft.
Let cool, then halve and clean out the choke — all the fuzzy stuff in the center.
Drizzle with olive oil and salt, then finish on the grill or in the pizza oven for char and smoke.

We had our wood-fired pizza oven going, which gave them the most beautiful color and a subtle smokiness. I'll put a video in the show notes on sipwithnikki.com so you can see what they looked like coming out.

For the dipping aioli: mayo base, fresh garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and chopped cornichons (those little French pickles) for brightness. You could swap in pickled onions — really anything with acidity works. And if Michael's homemade hot sauce is available to you (it's not, yet, because there's a waiting list), a couple of drops on the leaf before you dip is an absolute game changer.

The Pizza Dough Debacle (And What We Learned)

Let's talk about what went wrong before we talk about what went right.

Michael — in a very Michael move — tried to streamline our Sunday pizza dough process by using the bread maker that our friends Allison and Sean gave us. He loves this thing. He's made beautiful loaves with it. But pizza dough is a different animal.

The verdict: over-proofed. The dough over-rose in the warmth of the machine (it was a hot summer day), and by the time we went to stretch the pizzas, they tore immediately. No stretch, no elasticity. The first one was a write-off.

We salvaged the second one by handling it more delicately and — I'll say it — breaking out the rolling pin, which is technically forbidden according to Dan Richer's The Joy of Pizza (our pizza bible, and the subject of our very first Sip with Nikki episode). But desperate times. And you know what? It was actually our thinnest, crispiest crust ever. Air pockets, beautiful char, still had that sourdough flavor.

The moral of the story, per Michael: "Best pizza dough is when we do the full steps and take two days to do it." And also, apparently, he's now researching a $1,500 spiral mixer. We'll see about that.

The Wines We Poured with Pizza

Bremer Family Winery 2018 Reserve Claret — paired with pepperoni pizza

Michael had just visited Bremer, which sits just below Howell Mountain in Napa Valley, with some friends. It's one of those places that quietly does something no one else does: three years in barrel, three years in bottle before release. So when you're drinking their current release, you're tasting 2018s and 2019s. Library wines at release prices — that's rare and it's special.

We met owner Laura Bremer and our longtime favorite wine host Mike Knox on our visits there, and they are genuinely wonderful, unpretentious people. We've been sending friends to Bremer for years for a reason.

This particular bottling is 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 9% Cab Franc. The website describes it as "soothing mind and soul with flavors of black cherry, blackberry, vanilla, and sandalwood" — and those vanilla and sandalwood notes are absolutely there from the oak aging. Layers, depth, and a wine that kept opening up as the evening went on. About $80 on their website and worth every penny.

Sollevato 2023 Sangiovese — paired with Margherita pizza (with pepperoni, because us)

This is our wine, and this is essentially the reason we made it. 100% Sangiovese from the Ramazotti Estate in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma County, aged just over two years in neutral barrels — so no vanilla, no sandalwood, nothing between you and the grape.

The contrast going from the Bremer to our Sangiovese was striking and really fun. Where the Claret is velvety and rich, the Sangiovese is bright, lively, and all acidity. Michael picked up floral lavender and violet notes — likely amplified by the palate reset between wines. To me, it smelled deeply of violet and fresh fruit.

We bottled this in July of last year, so it's been in bottle about a year now, and it is singing. And — we can't share all the details yet — but we did submit it to a well-known wine publication for scores and we are very, very pleased. Michael has been sworn to secrecy. More to come.

As a listener, use the discount code PODLISTENER for 10% off your Sollevato order at sollevatowines.com.

Our Other Favorite Sunday Things

A few more things from the evening that you might want to know about:

Bianco di Napoli canned tomatoess — our absolute favorite for pizza sauce. Find them if you can.
American Olive Farmer Taggiasca olive oil — our podcast sponsor and genuinely our go-to. We used it on the arugula salad and for dipping pizza crust, and it is fantastic. (Yes, we put arugula salad on top of the pizza. Yes, it is the move.)
The Joy of Pizza by Dan Richer — our pizza bible. First ever Sip with Nikki guest. Sorry, Dan, for what we did to the dough this week.
SOMMO App — download it in the App Store. Use the promo code NIKKI for one free month of premium access. Scan wine labels, get pairings, even scan a restaurant's wine list and get personalized recommendations. I used it at Wine Bar George at Disney Springs and it recommended Pride Chardonnay based on my palate. It knew. Use the code.

One More Thing: The Tasting Room Is Open

As of this week, The Tasting Room — my paid wine membership community — is officially launching. This has been in my heart for a long time: a place where you can literally sip with me, with wines from around the world shipped to your door through a partnership with Vinebox.

Every other month, I'll be curating a customized tasting kit for members, paired with live virtual tastings where we open and explore the wines together. If you've ever wanted to go from confused to confident when it comes to wine, this community is for you.

Head to sipwithnikki.com and click on The Tasting Room to learn more and join us.

Michael's Sign-Off (And It's a Good One)

He said it better than I ever could: "When you have your family around, gathering your friends, pull out some wine and talk about it. Because every bottle has its own story. People put a lot of work into each bottle. Respect it. And drink more wine, please."

Cheers to that. And cheers to big Dom. Happy Father's Day to all the dads.

Whatever you do between now and our next time together — sip well.

An Exciting Offer for The Tasting Room Founding Members

Here's the news I'm thrilled to share: Gökhan is gifting one free year of SOMMO Premium (a $30 value) to every founding member of Sip with Nikki: The Tasting Room.

That means when you join the membership, you get the tasting kits, the live virtual tastings with me, the private community — and a full year of SOMMO Premium already unlocked so you can track every wine we taste together, build your palate profile, and explore on your own in between our sessions.

The timing of Gökhan finding me — right as I was about to launch — felt like the universe sending me exactly what I needed. I'm so grateful, and I can't wait for you to experience it.

Where to Find SOMMO

Download the SOMMO app from the App Store or Google Play. Start with the free version and poke around — you'll be impressed quickly. The premium subscription is $30/year and unlocks the full experience.

And if you're not already on the list for The Tasting Room, head here my websiteand sign up for the mailing list. You'll be the first to know when the doors open.

Whatever you do between now and our next time together — sip well.

🍷It's Finally Happening: Sip with Nikki :The (Virtual) Tasting Room

Okay. Here's the big one.

I've been talking about this for a long time, and I'm finally doing it. I'm launching a virtual tasting room membership — and I want your input before it goes live this summer.

Here's the concept: members will join me on Zoom for regular live tastings of wines from around the world. I'm partnering with a company called Vinebox, which makes curated wine tasting kits featuring 100ml vials — almost like a large test tube of wine. That's a real, generous tasting pour, and it means we don't have to open five full bottles at once. I'll customize boxes that I'll send to members ahead of each tasting, so we're all sipping the same wine at the same time, together, live.

What excites me most about this isn't just the wine — it's the community. After 100+ episodes of podcasting, I love what I do, but it's a one-way conversation. The tasting room means I get to see you, hear your questions, answer them in real time, and watch you discover a wine you've never tried before. That's the whole point.

Membership will include the curated tasting kits, access to our live virtual sessions, and other perks and resources I'm building in to help you develop your palate, get out of your comfort zone, and explore wine regions you might never have tried on your own.

And this is where I need you. I'm literally pulling this together right now, in May 2026. Before I finalize everything and put it out into the world, I want to know: what do you want from this membership? What wines, what regions, what format, what perks would make you actually excited to join?

Email me: nikki@sipwithnikki.com. I'm all ears.

If you're not already on my mailing list, go to sipwithnikki.com and sign up — that's where all the details about the membership, pricing, and launch will go out first. You'll also get my downloadable wine tips cheat sheet as a welcome gift (it includes tips like everything I covered today on temperature).

Before You Go: A Few Sips of Summer from Sollevato

If you're looking for wine to kick off the season, I have just a couple of cases left of my first-ever Sollevato rosé — a Grenache with a kiss of Sangiovese. It's dry but fruity, light, crisp, and honestly tastes like a summer sunset in a glass. People are loving it.

I also have my 2023 Sangiovese (perfect for pizza night) and the red Grenache, which is gorgeous slightly chilled and pairs beautifully with spicy food like tacos.

Visit sollevatowines.com and use code PODLISTENER for 10% off. We ship to most states.