At The Table With: Andrea J of Mas Vino Please
Ft. tomato salad and so much wine
At The Table With is a monthly interview series that explores the ideas of creativity and personal style through the eyes of my friends (or people I would like to be friends with). This month’s guest is wine expert Andrea J of Mas Vino Please!
I’ve been following Andrea for the longest time and it wasn’t until just a couple of weeks ago that we finally and serendipitously bumped into each other at an event, the very same day I was thinking “I should have Andrea on the newsletter.” An LA-native and fellow lover of great dinner parties, it was destined that Andrea and I would eventually cross paths, and now that we have I’m so excited to introduce her to all of you. Andrea (a “non-somm”, she calls herself) and her chef fiancé (“chefiancé”, she calls him) host pop ups in LA that bring together a community of people who love food and wine just as much as they do. In fact, if you’re in LA tomorrow (Thursday the 14th), Andrea is hosting apertivo at Silverlake Pool & Inn, where she’s curated an assortment of wines that I can guarantee you will be delicious (because everything Andrea recommends is!).
If you’ve ever listened to Andrea’s natural wine podcast or read her Substack (both called Mas Vino Please) you already know that she's the opposite of a wine snob. “I’m passionate about sharing wine with the world and creating a space in wine where everyone is seen and heard, no matter what their knowledge level is,” she told me. And she does an incredible job at it; from education to recommendations and interviews with others in the wine industry, Andrea shares her extensive knowledge openly and invites us all to engage with wine in an approachable, unpretentious way.
I asked Andrea a few questions…
Ali LaBelle: Imagine your dream dinner party. You can host it anywhere, serve anything, and invite whoever you’d like. Where is it?
Andrea J: At my grandpa's finca in Colombia. He has a beautiful home near a little village called Raquira, surrounded by rolling hills and a stream. Because we’re Colombian, it would actually be a lunch; starting around 2pm we’d enjoy a long and leisurely meal until the late afternoon. We would set up a long wooden table in one of the fields, surrounded by wildflowers and magical butterflies (which Colombia is full of!).
AL: What’s on the table?
AJ: The table is decked out with family heirlooms: vintage linens and silver vases with flowers from the garden and endless bottles of wine my grandparents have brought back from their trips to Spain. On vintage plates there are olives, cheeses made by my uncle, arepas from a woman in town, and pots of the creamiest honey that my aunt and her husband make at their home. (There isn’t a specific dish this goes on, but it’s so good and decadent, you’ll find any reason to use it.)
AL: Who’s there?
AJ: It would be an eclectic mix of all the brilliant and beautiful creative people I know: my grandpa (he's cooking, of course), my fiance (also cooking!), my cousins Brian and Brandon (who are always the best dinner guests!), close friends and family. Frida and Diego would be there, Paloma Picasso, Ina and Jeffrey, André Leon Talley, Anthony Bourdain, and Leon Bridges. All of these guests would bring so many fantastic stories and wisdom to the table, I would want to be a fly on the wall at any dinner party they attend.
AL: What are you eating or drinking?
AJ: As you know, the table is already full of beautiful treats but the real stars of the show are all the grilled things. Nearby, a fire pit is set up with a variety of meats and veggies slowly cooking: chicken, sausages, and definitely a slow roasted pig. As soon as each item is ready it’s whisked off the flame, sliced, and passed along the table accompanied by potatoes and tomato salad (the color of rare jewels) sprinkled with herbs from the garden. And of course there’s wine—lots of wine!
AL: What music is playing?
AJ: I love Chicano souldies, but at some point, someone will whip out a guitar and a few other instruments and we'll all have a sobremesa jam sesh, with all of us singing and playing along. In Latin cultures, sobremesa is the most important part of the meal. It’s the time spent after a meal where you and your guests are sitting around the table, still picking at dessert, opening up a second or third bottle of wine, serving espresso to guests, and enjoying the company. The most interesting, passionate, heartfelt conversations usually happen during sobremesa.
AL: Switching gears. When do you feel most creative? What do you do when you are in a creative slump?
AJ: I'm always most creative very early in the morning, after a long walk and a big cup of coffee. I love to get cozy on the couch with my notebook, a magazine, or an art book and let my imagination take off. I often find myself in a creative slump if I've been plugged in for too long! Disconnecting and getting back into nature (a hike, going to the beach or the mountains) always helps bring me back (or rewatching one of my favorite films!).
AL: Quick fire round. Tell us your favorite…
Scent?
AJ: Leather and neroli.
Artist?
AJ: Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, and Fernando Botero.
Thing to watch?
AJ: Gilmore Girls in the fall, Spanish films in the summer!
Thing to read?
AJ: Historical fiction.
Comfort food?
AJ: Ajiaco! (A colombian chicken and potato stew)
Thing you bought recently?
AJ: A vintage Tiffany-style swan lamp.
Andrea, thank you so much for sharing your brain and your love for wine and your table with us! Follow Andrea on Instagram here and be sure to subscribe to her newsletter—it’s one of my favorites.
Also! Last year Andrea launched and sold out two vintages with my pals at Wonderwerk! I’ve had them both and they were perfect. I hear something new is on the horizon with Mas Vino Please and Wonderwerk, so keep an eye out!
On Friday I’ll be doing a Q&A of questions submitted by YOU guys! We’ll be digging into thoughts around creative identity, writing when you aren’t a writer, and more. See you then!
x
Ali
In case you missed it:
Last week I curated 27 beauty and home items that can make any ol’ surface into the vanity table of a ‘50s Hollywood starlet.
Before that I wrote about what I’m reading, eating, and buying (spoiler alert: silky pants).
Just making sure you caught the Rom-Com playlist I made last month. It’s great.
Thank you for having me at the table! 🥰 I might need to recreate this in LA this summer!
i loved reading this so much! i felt like i was transported to columbia 🥰