The other night I went to an event that was so simple and fun I can’t believe every restaurant doesn’t do it: introducing the new season’s wine list with an inexpensive fund-raiser for The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women. Because wine is good for the heart. The event was held at Abe & Louie’s in Boston.
Of course there was also bacon bar and a chocolate bar…which is what got me there. But I wasn’t driving, so I’m sure I consumed enough wine to offset anything I ate, heart-health-wise.
There was also an oyster bar, a cheese bar and a satay bar. These food bars were basically appetizer stations that were arranged with more imagination than the average event. The ingredients weren’t expensive, but the offerings were very appealing: on sticks, in vases, and with several vertical levels on each table. The chocolate was the simplest: giant blocks of very good quality milk, dark and white, shaved and chopped so you could scoop up as much as you wanted.
The evening’s menu listed suggested wine pairings. And the wine director and his assistant encouraged people to try both the whites and the reds on offer, with appropriately small pours. There were less than a dozen wines, a few more whites than reds, mainly from the US except for the prosecco from northern Italy and the Riesling from the Pfalz in Germany. Here’s the lineup: NV Avissi Prosecco, 2011 Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc, 2011 Joel Gott “Unoaked†Chardonnay, 2011 Saint M Riesling, 2011 Summerland “Bien Nacido†Chardonnay, 2009 Gauthrier “Rocking H Vineyard†Pinot Noir, 2010 Noble Vines “181†Merlot, 2006 St. Supery “Dollarhide Ranch†Cabernet Sauvingon, 2010 Folie a Deux Zinfandel and 2010 Qupe “Central Coast†Syrah.
