About Bill St. John

Marczyk Fine Wines has Bill St John and other wine lovers to thank for our blog. Wine and food facts and falsehoods, delicious recipes, Denver liquor history, and "the best wines you never heard of" explained, all in one nifty place. This is the Denver wine store you're looking for. Bill is a Denver native and for 40 years, a teacher and writer on food and food & wine, including The Denver Post; Rocky Mountain News; Chicago Tribune; Wine & Spirits magazine; KCNC-TV Channel 4; and others. Check out Bill's food blog, with recipes, historical food knowledge and tips on eating and food shopping in Denver. Great guy and a bottomless well of food and drink knowledge. GET COOKING WITH BILL ST JOHN

What’s With That Cheese? Well, White Wine!

With fall arriving, it's time to think about delicious seasonal cheeses, and the wines that match. Thanks to Bill St John, we have a cheat sheet for you! What’s With That Cheese? Well, White Wine! By and large, and despite common assumptions, white wines do a better job than red wines as regular partners for cheese. The higher native acidity of white wines is a happier match for both the high salt and fat of most cheeses. Read on: Comté (France) with white Côtes du Rhône Emmenthaler (Switzerland) with Dry Sauvignon Blanc (Sancerre or New Zealand) Fresh Goat with [...]

By | 2024-10-02T19:02:20+00:00 October 2nd, 2024|

Yes, Patagonia makes more than just fleece.

What are we drinking now with the FABulous KristenVerum ChardonnayPatagonia, Argentina$28.99/bottleWhile it's a touch more classic to pair a white Bordeaux or Burgundy with an elegant French fish dish like Sole Meunière (see the recipe below), I just love a unique pairing to get wine drinkers thinking outside the box. While I chose a Chardonnay to pair with this buttery-but-delicate French favorite, I went just a touch further south than Burgundy to a much lesser-known region: Patagonia, Argentina.Patagonia is such a hot spot (figuratively, not literally) to be drinking wine from right now (really gorgeous Chardonnay and Pinot Noir), and [...]

By | 2024-03-13T22:11:21+00:00 March 8th, 2024|

What Are Drinking Now? Le Provençal Rosé for Mother’s Day

Our loveliest rosé for Mom. It's delicious — your mom will love it and so will you. Get after it. Le Provençal Rosé $18.99/btl ORDER ONLINE (Order online if you'd rather not come all the way into the shop. We'll have it ready for you within an hour; just take a couple of steps inside our shop, pick up your order, and be on your way.) (You must be 21 to order and pick up wine — please have your ID ready.)

By | 2021-05-26T22:40:23+00:00 May 6th, 2021|

Polenta with Chicken Sausage and Hearty Sauce

Cooks forget how acidic tomatoes are and, consequently, how only certain wines successfully pair with them at table, notably wines that are also zingy with acidity. Many white wines fill that bill; however, tangy reds are more difficult to find. Yet, with a hearty dish such as this one, a red is what you’ll want. Perhaps this explains the ubiquity of Sangiovese and Nebbiolo vines in Italy, a country that knows a lot about both tomatoes and red wine—and how they taste together. Sangiovese- and Nebbiolo-based red wines always sport zesty acidity, along with lots of red fruit character [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:24:27+00:00 December 11th, 2019|

Corn and Sweet Onion Leftover Turkey Hash

The best thing about leftovers is their added flavor—the way sitting around a day or two in the refrigerator augments whatever tasties were there to begin with. The worst thing about leftovers is that, even so, they can feel tired. Wine to the rescue. Think of wine—in this case, the perfect Thanksgiving Day dinner wine, Beaujolais (even leftover Beaujolais!)—as a perky condiment: zesty, crisp of acidity, even chillable. It was one of the wines that went with everything on that groaning sideboard on Turkey Day itself; it's the wine that goes with all its leftovers.HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:• 1 small [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:25:58+00:00 December 10th, 2019|

Niceland Ocean Perch Tacos

To paraphrase St. Paul, in wine there are acid, sweet, tannin, and alcohol, but the greatest of these is acid. Acidity — that tangy, zesty close to a sip of wine, that which sweeps the palate clean — is crucially important to delicious, successful wine and food pairings. It balances wine against any correlative acidity in the food prepared, as here, with its cider vinegar. The two acidities, interestingly, cancel each other out and a taste of both together is refreshing and cleansing, not tart or sour.   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:• 1 bag (16 ounces) pre-shredded cabbage and carrots• 1/2 red onion, thinly [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:26:58+00:00 December 10th, 2019|

Leftover Sweet Potato Pancake with Sage Cream

When the California Turkey Board (no jokes, please) asked several United States wineries what wine went best with traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner, the suggestions went on and on. Pinot noir, said one winery; it's rich and full like the meal itself. Chardonnay, said another; it matches the dinner's complexity. The final tote stood at nine different wines: four whites, two dry pinks, three reds — and one turkey. Perhaps the best choice is not one wine but many. Why not try an assortment of wines for your upcoming Thanksgiving Day dinner? And the same holds for drinking with the leftovers [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:44:09+00:00 November 22nd, 2019|

Mini Turkey Burgers

The only element in this recipe worth any wine worry is fat, in the olive oil and whatever fat there is in the ground turkey. Fat carries flavor, but italso can be a barrier to other flavors getting through. A little tannin in a red wine would help mollify that. Keep in mind that the red wine world isn't all about heft and high alcohol. Buy the more humble and unassuming reds from the places where folk appreciate good food, such as Grenache from the Rhône; or Pinots from Burgundy, Oregon or New Zealand; or Sangiovese from Italy. And that's [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:31:22+00:00 November 19th, 2019|

Saucy Curried Chicken

Nothing in this preparation puts up any blockades to wine enjoyment; noacidic vinaigrette, for example, to "sour" up a wine, or too much salt or sugar to war with whatever wine. A niche red such as a high-octane California Zinfandel wouldn’t do, nor would anything at the other end of the shelf, either, a watered-down Pinot Grigio, for instance. What would be nicewould be an array of fragrant wines, their perfumes as potent out of the glass as this recipe’s curry and peppers. Just be sure that they also sport good, cleansing acidity.   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:• 1 1/2 cups small-form [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:32:08+00:00 November 7th, 2019|

Arctic Charr “en papillote”

Charr is particularly suitable for a "papillote" preparation, a little piscinepackage of parchment paper roasted a few minutes, then opened at eachplate for both heady steam and tasty treat. Even more tasties come by way of a wine selection that is close to being all-encompassing: a dry crisp white; a sparkling pink; and a medium-bodied, lean red. Charr is the kind of fish — rich, succulent, unctuous, flavors on all fours — that appeals to nearly any kind of wine, as long as that wine has a good backbone of acidity and freshness. These three do.   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:• 1 large [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:33:05+00:00 October 30th, 2019|

Niceland Ocean Perch Tacos

To paraphrase St. Paul, in wine there are acid, sweet, tannin, and alcohol,but the greatest of these is acid. Acidity — that tangy, zesty close to a sip of wine, that which sweeps the palate clean — is crucially important to delicious, successful wine and food pairings. It balances wine against any correlative acidity in the food prepared, as here, with its cider vinegar. The two acidities, interestingly, cancel each other out and a taste of both together is refreshing and cleansing, not tart or sour.  HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:• 1 bag (16 ounces) pre-shredded cabbage and carrots• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced• 1/2 [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:33:32+00:00 October 30th, 2019|

Zucchini “Fettuccine” with Lamb Burgers

Let’s pretend, to "noodle" the recipe a bit (ba-dum-tsssshhh), that this is afull-on Mediterranean preparation, for wines from that region would well accompany it. By and large, the reds of Italy, Portugal, and southern France sport a bit more acidity and more cleansing tannins than their New World offspring, perfect for taming the oils from the citrus and the olive oil, as well as the fats from the meat and dairy in this recipe. Plus, with all their vowels, they sound nice with the words "zucchini" and "fettucine."   HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:• 4 lamb burger patties• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil• 2 cloves garlic, [...]

By | 2020-09-28T21:34:11+00:00 October 1st, 2019|