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and thank you. I'm Maggie Smith, and this is the slowdown.

A Somalié, in short, is a wine expert.

There's someone trained in fine dining who specializes in all aspects of

wine service and wine and food pairing.

They take into account the components of a dish and the characteristics of a wine, and they find just the right balance.

I don't splurge often, but when I want to celebrate an occasion, it's a special treat to enjoy multiple courses with wine pairings.

Each dish comes out explained in detail by the server,

and then the Somalié or a wine server brings the accompanying drink and explains a little about it as they pour. I love the language they use to describe the wine,

words like oaky and grippy and tanic.

The work of a Somalié, like the work of a chef,

is fascinating to me because it's creative.

Changing one element in a piece of writing,

or changing one ingredient in a dish or a cocktail, changes everything. The choices we make determine the experience, and there are infinite combinations we can choose from.

I'm no Somalié. I don't have any expertise in food and wine pairings, and I don't know

much about complementary and congruent pairings. But what about poem and occasion pairings? Or song and occasion pairings? Or song and poem pairings? I think I'm pretty good at those. It's no secret that I love making playlists, for trips, for loved ones, for creative projects.

Every book I've written has a playlist of songs that I listen to while writing the book,

full of songs that speak to the subject matter or that feel tonally aligned. It's a book music pairing.

...