For many gastronomes, the wine one drinks with dinner is as crucial an element of a successful meal as the food itself—such is the devotion that a growing number of oenophiles feel for the drink enjoyed by disparate cultures and generations stretching back to mankind’s earliest days. Trying to present a definitive tally of Boston’s best wine lists is pure folly—there are simply too many restaurants brimming with delicious vintages to ever do our city justice. Instead, Panorama offers a primer on some of the city’s best bets to find a great wine experience—be it a special wine tasting, an informative lecture or just a charming space in which to enjoy your wine with someone special—to which you can really raise a glass.
Wine on Wednesdays
Face it—seven days is a
long time, so it’s scarcely surprising that
some of us need to take some time in the
middle of the week to unwind and enjoy life.
That must be why so many restaurants in
Boston devote Wednesdays to wine
appreciation. At Vinalia
(refer to
restaurant listing), a sophisticated
Downtown Crossing restaurant/wine bar
boasting a collection of more than 2,500
bottles, guests can enjoy
Wine and Cheese Wednesdays from 7–10
p.m., a complimentary sampling of popular
vintages. Sel de la Terre
(255 State St., 617-720-1300) hosts
Wintry Wine Wednesdays,
hosted by wine director Erik Johnson—these
themed wine gatherings start at 7 p.m., and
for $45 per person, guests get a four-course
tasting menu paired with seasonally
appropriate wines, like the January 30
Roman Holiday: Wines of Italy event.
Also on January 30, from 5–7 p.m., popular restaurant 33 (33 Stanhope St., 617-572-3311) hosts the monthly Grand Tasting as part of its Hot Off the Vine series. Guests can try samples of wines including the 2002 Duckhorn “Paraduxx” from Napa Valley and the Sicilian 1998 Tasca d’Almerita “Rosso del Conte,” among others, for $40 per person. And if you want to sample a true work of art in a place packed full of them, the Museum of Fine Art’s restaurant, Bravo (refer to restaurant listing), hosts Winesdays at Bravo each week from 5:30–7:30 p.m., where wine novices can learn about wine from a trained expert—$25 admission includes hors d’oeuvres and unlimited tasting of featured wines.
A Festival of
Flavors
Everybody likes a
party—especially when the party is packed
full of some of the best wines and gourmet
meals you can imagine and, even better, it
goes on for three months. The
Boston Wine Festival 2008 at the
Boston Harbor Hotel is just that kind of
celebration—an ongoing series of special
food-wine pairings and educational seminars
featuring the hottest new names on the wine
scene and the newest offerings from
acclaimed domestic and international
vineyards. Chef Daniel Bruce of the BHH’s
restaurant Meritage
(renowned for its massive 12,000 bottle wine
collection, one of Boston’s largest
selections) crafts delectable wine dinners
like the Super Tuscan
February 4 at 7 p.m. focusing
on Italian vintages, and the
Rising Stars event February 7
at 7 p.m., spotlighting three
wineries from Napa and Sonoma. Refer to
special events listing.
The Wine List
|
Class is in Session
For every person out there
who can recite chapter and verse about their
favorite wines, there are 100 people who
couldn’t tell a Beaujolais from a merlot.
Rather than let a relative ignorance of wine
keep you from enjoying all the fine
varietals out there, why not educate
yourself? The Boston Wine
School (1354 Commonwealth Ave.,
617-784-7150) was started by local food and
wine expert Jonathan Alsop back in 2000 to
help fledgling connoisseurs conquer their
fears and uncertainty about what they’re
drinking, and now the school offers seasonal
courses about wines of different regions and
styles suitable for beginners and experts
alike. On February 6 from 6:30–9 p.m., the
school offers A Night in
Southern France Wine Pairing Dinner,
led by food writer and cookbook author
Elizabeth Riely, which—for $100 per
person—provides diners with insight into
Gallic wines, as well as a gourmet meal with
which to savor them.
Tower of Power
Some restaurants keep
their wine collections hidden away from the
light of day in a dark and cozy cellar. Then
there’s Excelsior
(refer to
restaurant listing), which subscribes to
the “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” theory.
The acclaimed Back Bay restaurant has a
41-page wine list, reflecting a more than
7,000-bottle wine collection. What truly
sets Excelsior apart, though, is that you
can see all 7,000 bottles, as they’re housed
in an impressive three-story, dual-climate
glass Wine Tower that dominates the center
of the restaurant.
The Price is Right
The eternal conflict: is
it better to splurge on a big-ticket wine
and eat Ramen noodles the rest of the week,
or be thrifty and end up with something just
a notch above Thunderbird? Instead, we
suggest you search out deals:
Silvertone Bar & Grill (69 Bromfield
St., 617-338-7887) is renowned for charging
no more than $10 above cost for any bottle
of wine, while Ivy Restaurant
(refer to
restaurant listing) keeps the majority
of its 60-plus wine selections at just $26 a
bottle.
A Space to Sip
Wine can add a romantic
element to any meal, and even more so when
that wine is sipped in a private little
alcove away from a restaurant full of
diners. That’s why several Boston eateries
have designed semi-private wine rooms that
not only spotlight their collections, but
offer greater ambience in which to enjoy
them. Legal Sea Foods
at Park Square (refer to
restaurant listing) has just such a
spot—its charming, stone-walled Wine Cellar,
where more than 10,000 bottles line the wall
in glass and mahogany cases, and where the
restaurant hosts special wine dinners like
the Organically Grown and
Biodynamic Grapes Wine and Food Pairing
Dinner on January 29 and the
Louis Jadot Wine Dinner
on February 9.
Some go to Sonsie (refer to restaurant listing) for prime people-watching on chic Newbury Street, but others opt for a lower profile in the restaurant’s downstairs Wine Room, which features intimate brick-walled alcove booths and candlelight, as well a chance to see Sonsie’s collection of cabernets, zinfandels and sauvignon blancs up close. For a less intimate gathering, Caliterra (refer to restaurant listing) has a special wine room—boasting high ceilings with exposed wooden beams and a large rod iron chandelier—that seats up to 18 people, and which features one whole wall devoted to exhibiting Caliterra’s extensive collection of red, white and sparkling wines.
Drink to Your
Health
Much has been made in
recent years of how wine is actually good
for your health—abundant anti-oxidants
present in red grapes are thought to be
useful in reducing the risk of coronary
disease. Ashmont Grill
(555 Talbot Ave., Dorchester, 617-825-4300)
takes the idea of healthy wine to a global
scale, though, by offering a wine list
that’s 100% eco-friendly. All their
selections—including whites like the Chateau
Le Pyral Sauvignon Blanc and reds like the
Bonny Doon Syrah—are either organic,
sustainable or biodynamic, meaning that you
can sip to your heart’s content knowing
you’re doing something good for your body
and the planet.
back to homepage
Fine Wine Gets Expo-sure in the Hub Bring together more than 450 wineries from around the world, pouring samples of some 1,800 different bottles of wine, and what do you have? Apart from some very happy connoisseurs with wide smiles, you have the Boston Wine Expo—the largest trade and consumer wine event in the country, and an event marked in red on the calendar of any Hub oenophile. For 17 years, lovers of fine wine and delicious food have flocked to the Boston Wine Expo—taking place this year February 9 & 10 at the Seaport World Trade Center—to sample exotic wines and learn from some of the top names in the business. Winemakers mingle with the public, letting them in on some of the tricks of their trade, while restaurateurs research the vintages soon to appear on wine lists throughout Boston. Visitors can check out live cooking demonstrations from acclaimed area chefs like Kevin Crawley (Coriander), Dante di Magestris (dante), Rodney Murillo (Avila), Anthony Caturano (Prezza) and many more, while the Grand Tasting allows guests to stroll the massive hall to meet winemakers and sample their wares. For the true wine devotees, the Expo also features the Grand Cru Wine Lounge—a special tasting area pouring reserve wines, the high-end best of the best vintages that rarely appear on restaurant wine lists—as well as a Friday night kickoff dinner, Jazzed About Wine, taking place February 8 in the Seaport Hotel Plaza Ballroom. Whether an aficionado or a novice, everyone who has a passion for the grape can find something to suit their taste at the Boston Wine Expo. Refer to special events listing. |