Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1) Join Chef Jason Bond and the team at Bondir on Tuesday, June 18, at 6:30pm, as they welcome special guest William Easton from the Terre Rouge Winery in California for a fun and informative evening of wine tasting and discussion. A special four-course dinner prepared by Chef Bond will be served to highlight and complement the selected wines. Chef Bond’s creative menu of local, sustainable, and fresh ingredients will be paired with 4 to 5 different wines starting off with a dry rosé, the Terre Rouge Vin Gris d’Amador, offering a delicious creamy nuance and crisp bite perfect for an early summer evening. Also on the list is the 2010 Amador Zinfandel, a wine with complex spicy aromas and a nice creamy texture derived from the 10 months in French oak barrels. Also being poured is the 2009 Syrah, Les Côtes de l’Ouest, which has “a clean purity of Syrah fruit that is reminiscent of many St. Joseph’s and other Northern Rhônes.”

Winemaker Bill Easton, who has spent the last 32 years focusing on producing a limited amount of high-quality wine from Rhône varietals to old-vine Zinfandels and other one-of-a-kind varieties, will be in attendance to discuss the history, culture, and qualities of his selections.

Reservations are required. Please call 617-661-0009
Cost: $125 per person

2) It’s game time at the newly revamped Faneuil Hall hotspot, The Place. Beginning Wednesday, The Place will now be home to a weekly Game Night competition where the after-work faithful will engage in trivia and video game battles. During trivia, The Place will dish out half-priced appetizers including: Chicken Tenders (made fresh in-house and breaded to order, served plain or tossed in your choice of buffalo, BBQ, spicy BBQ, teriyaki glaze, or Cajun rub – regularly $8); Loaded Nachos (crispy tortilla chips loaded with cheddar, diced tomatoes, diced red onions and jalapeños served with sour cream and salsa – regularly $8); and, Philly Steak Rolls (crispy steak rolls served over mixed greens with our housemade spicy ketchup – regularly $8).

Challenge your friends and colleagues to PS3 games on LCD flat-screens including FIFA 13, Call of Duty and NHL 13. If you’re more the scholar, there is team trivia. To the victors? Prizes including $25 gift certificates to The Place, VIP passes and t-shirts.

WHEN: Trivia competition: Wednesdays from 6pm – 8pm
Video game competition: Wednesdays from 6pm – 11pm
The competitions are complimentary to guests. Half-priced appetizers are offered from 6pm – 8pm.

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Poker & an Asian Beauty

If you play poker, what is your drink of choice while playing?

If I visit a casino, playing more serious poker, I generally won't drink any alcohol. However, when I play a casual game with friends, then wine and Sake are my usual drinks of choice. Every few weeks, I gather together with 8-11 friends to play poker in a casual game. Games are usually played on Friday evenings, typically lasting at least 7 hours. A fun night of camaraderie, cards and cups.

The majority of my friends drink beer and it seems as if each one drinks a different brew. A couple will partake of spirits, such as tequila or whiskey, and I will do so as well every once in awhile. My friend Adam, of Wine Zag, sometimes plays poker and he also drinks wine and Sake with me. The type of wine varies widely, reds, whites and roses, and could be from any wine region around the world. It can be a chance to explore new wines or share our favorites.

At our last game, I brought an "Asian Beauty" with me, the Toyo Bijin Junmai Ginjo Okarakuchi Sake ($35). Interestingly, though it appears most seem to interpret the phrase "Toyo Bijin" as "Asian Beauty," the word "Toyo" generally means "abundant" or "plentiful." A better translation for this Sake then might be "Abundant Beauty."

This Sake is brewed by the Sumikawa Shuzo, which was established in 1921 and is located in the Yamaguchi Prefecture. It is made with Yamada Nishiki rice, the "king" of Sake rice, which has been polished down to 55%, allowing it to qualify as a Ginjo. This is a karakuchi style, meaning it is a dry Sake, and that is reflected in its high Sake Meter Value which is +15. It also has a higher than average acidity, 1.5, which contributes to its perceived dryness.

I greatly enjoyed this Sake, finding it to be crisp, clean and smooth, with pleasant flavors of melon and Asian pear. A well balanced Sake, it is easy drinking, and would appeal to both Sake lovers and newcomers to this wondrous beverage. This would be an excellent Sake with food too, especially as it possesses a higher acidity. By the end of the evening, the bottle was empty, and I had won money, so maybe it brought me a bit of luck as well. The Toyo Bijin gets my highest recommendation.

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