Unlike some hobbies, wine appreciation cannot be a hands-off activity. There`s lots to read about wine and combining wine and food, but the only lasting impressions come from actually tasting the stuff.
At home, unfortunately, wine and food tastings tend to be complex to prepare and costly to stage. Furthermore, chances are at least some of the friends you invite to participate will have no more than a passing interest in the subject at hand. Once the conversation flows away from what`s on the table and in the glass, it may not return.
For example, at this season, your guests might start talking about charity donations and someone, it might as well be you, could bring up the Chicago Tribune Holiday Fund. The Fund supports programs for the mentally retarded, the hungry and the homeless, at no administrative cost. That means a donation of $50 (less than the cost of a bottle of grand cru Bordeaux at a wine shop) or even $25 (less than the cost of most items on restaurant wine lists) goes directly to the charity. The coupon on this page spells out how to donate.
Also consider, for the year ahead, choosing to exercise an alternative to do-it-yourself wine education at home by subscribing to a restaurant wine dinner. I`m often asked whether these events are worthwhile, how they are structured and-naturally-whether they represent a good value.
These questions aren`t merely academic. Various wine societies and clubs hold a large number of private tastings in restaurants, but when it comes to wine dinners open to the public, Chicago is something of a hotbed of activity, both in the city and in the suburbs.
Nor are these events confined merely to French or upscale American places. Mexican Topolobampo and Don Juan have held wine-tasting dinners during the last year, as have several Oriental restaurants and Reza`s, which features Persian food. Looking beyond wine, Goose Island, the Clybourn Avenue restaurant and brewery, offers a monthly multicourse dinner matching food with various beers.
In general, wine-tasting dinners are worthwhile. When well-planned and organized, they offer intriguing new tastes and comparison possiblities in a multicourse meal that can be a feast, exposure to newly released and/or carefully aged wines (some of which might be very costly to purchase on their own), a chance to rub shoulders with the person who made them or the winery owner and to question an expert, and the opportunity to meet other wine enthusiasts.
They fail when the wine is mundane and/or the menu badly executed, when the foods and wines are ill-matched (only recently have concerned chefs begun to insist they be sent samples of the wines before constructing a menu) or when the program is so long or the speaker so unentertaining that the audience loses interest.
The inspiration behind restaurant wine dinners varies considerably. They may be part of an ongoing series organized and run within a restaurant that wants to offer something special for regular customers, attract new ones and show off its wine selection. That is the case at Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights and Cafe Provencal in Evanston.
Or the dinners may be promotions that feature the wines of a single producer who is involved in planning the event. That happens regularly at the Montana Street Cafe, and often at the Carlucci restaurants on Halsted and in Rosemont, Carlos in Highwood and others. When wines are provided at cost and the restaurant keeps the price down to accommodate a favorite supplier, the consumer is likely to find the meal a (relative) bargain.
(A distinctive approach is taken at La Tour in the Park Hyatt Hotel on Michigan Avenue. Customers are encouraged to do their own, by-the-glass wine tasting any evening with a special appetizer menu or an entire meal.)
Structure tends to vary in number of courses, who speaks (winemaker, sales representative, wine steward, chef) and how often. The speaker`s personality as well as knowledge-and the mood of the audience-determine how well the audio portion of the evening goes. Too much detail delivered in a monotone can deflate even the most rabid wine enthusiast, especially if the first course has not yet been served. Conversely, after several courses and wines, it takes a real showman to recapture a wine-saturated audience`s attention.
The space where the event is held makes a difference too. If the restaurant has a private dining room, as do Carlos and Charlie Trotter`s, among others, acoustics tend to be better. Sometimes, though, attendance is sufficient to occupy the entire restaurant and it may be difficult to see, much less hear, the speaker.
But more often than not, even if there are inconveniences, these events are successful.
This month, for instance, Francesco Bolla of the well-known Italian firm Bolla was guest of honor at a dinner at Coco Pazzo on West Hubbard Street. Introduced by owner Pino Luongo at the end of a standup reception, Bolla spoke about the history of his family-owned firm, then about specific wines between courses as the evening progressed. He is not a winemaker, so he avoided technical discussion of the wines. In addition, Coco Pazzo executive chef Mark Strausman commented about the food. The chef had actually visited the winery in Verona and come back with recipes and taste memories to construct a seasonal Veronese menu.
Thus the risotto was prepared with Valpolicella, a wine of the region, plus imported radicchio and served with Bolla`s single-vineyard ”Jago”
Valpolicella from the 1986 vintage. To accompany Bolla`s proprietary wine Creso (a blend of cabernet sauvignon and corvina), the chef prepared a Bolla family favorite he had tasted in Verona, gnocchi in a sauce of gorgonzola cheese and mascarpone.
At another recent event, the wines of Fetzer-including a preview of two new wines made from organic grapes that are not yet in retail shops here-were featured with a six-course dinner at Maxie`s atop the McCormick Center Hotel. The food represented a collaboration between Errol McIntyre, the hotel`s chef, and John Ash, who directs the Fetzer Culinary Center in Hopland, Calif. Representatives of Fetzer and the chefs made the presentation.
Five champagnes and sparkling wines from the House of Mumm in France and Domaine Mumm in California were featured at an early December dinner at the Knickerbocker Hotel. Diners had an opportunity to compare the wines and try bubbly with a vegetable soup and veal and beef medallions as well as more traditional pairings.
Some of the most exciting pairings happen at Charlie Trotter`s. (Still vivid in my memory are the combination of Texas boar with a sweet red chili glaze and Duckhorn merlot, served at the restaurant`s fifth anniversary celebration in August, and beurre blanc-poached lobster served with Au Bon Climat`s 1990 Santa Maria pinot noir at a banquet with New York City chef Barry Wine in October.) Carlucci`s Marty Fosse is another master of taste coordination. One of his most memorable efforts, in January 1991, was a nine- course marathon featuring Vietti wines from Italy`s Piedmont region.
A less ambitious wine and food experience is available at the Montana Street Cafe, which presents a Monday night series titled ”Great American Winemakers.” These evenings consist of a standup ”meet the winemaker”
reception and a four-course meal with a wine to match each course. Here the winemaker goes from table to table during the meal, providing an opportunity for one-on-one questioning.
The Montana Street series is a good place to begin, too, when discussing value. The dinner and wines-served in generous portions-cost $40 per person, including tax and tip. (Tax and tip are not always included in the price quoted for other wine dinners. Ask if this is not clear.) The Knickerbocker champagne dinner was $65, a sum one might pay for a single bottle of bubbly. Coco Pazzo`s Bolla feast cost $50 a person plus tip, a bargain price.
One problem that wine dinners present is how to find out about them. Many restaurants now publish newsletters or announcements of upcoming events and welcome new names on their mailing list. Sometimes wine shops sponsor dinners or will be aware of them. Finally, as often as possible, the Tribune announces them in ”Wine Notes” in the Thursday Food Guide.
In fact, looking ahead, Emilio`s Meson Sabika in Naperville is offering a four-course meal with Spanish sherry and wines on Jan. 6. The cost is $28 per person plus tax and tip. On Feb. 1, the restaurant will do a similar meal featuring foods and wines of Spain`s Basque region. The price is the same. Both evenings begin at 7 p.m. Call 708-983-3000 for further information and reservations. On Jan. 26, Evanston`s Cafe Provencal plans a six-course, five wine event titled ”Bordeaux, Its Wines & Cuisine.” The cost for the 7 p.m. event is $80 per person. Call 708-475-2233 for further information and reservations.
