Red or white? As long as you try, says wine expert

It’s hard to believe that the rising star of American winemaking Andre Mack wasn’t always a fan of wine. It’s even more amusing to learn that his preferences changed from the products of the brewery to the winery 15 years ago after watching the 90s television sitcom Fraiser.

While Fraiser and Niles Crane were unapologetically snooty wine enthusiasts, Mack believes that everyone can and should enjoy wine of their preference.

“Wine is all about having fun. You don’t have to be wearing an ascot to enjoy wine,” Mack said. Mack met with ABC-7 Thursday morning ahead of his final wine dinner he is hosting at Salt Box Pours & Provisions at 204 Boston Avenue.

Mack is a sommelier, or a wine steward, as well as a winemaker. He currently owns Mouton Noir Wines and has created eight original wines, bottled and sold with his own design label.

The four he showed ABC-7 were ranging from a red to white, with names like Knock On Wood Chardonnay, Love Drunk Rosay, Other People’s Pinot (or OPP on the label) and Horseshoes & Handgrenades.

“Wine is such a serious thing, and I think it’s always been promoted as a serious thing. And I think the best way to foil pretension is through humor. And so for us, we wanted the labels to be playful,” Mack said. “I wanted the labels to look like we didn’t spend a lot of money on it. What really matters is the wine inside the bottle.”

Mack will be introducing El Pasoans to the wines and how to pair them up best with meals in two multi-course meals at Salt Box Pours & Provisions starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

He hopes the experience will encourage people to give wine a chance, and to not write it off as a drink of choice for the elite.

“I think most people feel like, ‘I don’t know enough about wine,'” Mack said. “But you do know. You do know whether you like white or red, Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Take that plunge and grab ahold of it.”

His wines are available for purchase at Salt Box and Spec’s in El Paso.