Local hidden gem: wine tasting in Dorchester

I love finding little-known, great events going on in my community. I was delighted to hear from a friend that a local liquor store in our Boston neighborhood, Dorchester, had started having wine tastings. This particular liquor store isn’t really on the way to anywhere that I go, so I had never been, but I was pleasantly surprised to see an excellent wine selection.

Cape Verdean Liquors (at 690 Columbia Road in Dorchester) have a free wine tasting every Saturday. I have gone twice now, and there have been 6-8 wines to taste. Today was a real variety, from a Johnnisburg Riesling to a Black Swan Merlot. The store owner leads the tasting and is very knowledgeable, especially about Portugese wine which the store seems to specialize in. My favorites today were a chardonnay (Excelsior) from South Africa, which had a lovely, crisp and summery taste without the unpleasant oak taste that often accompanies chardonnay. The other favorite was a Portugese red, Villa Romanu. It tastes a bit like a light, less sweet port. We bought a bottle of each, and look forward to sharing at summer dinner parties with friends!

The wine tasting is often accompanied by food from the neighboring Restaurant Laura, which specializes in Cape Verdean cuisine. I don’t yet know much about Cape Verde, but the food and wine seem to be a diverse and delicious blend of cultures. It is now on my list of places to visit!

I would encourage all of you to take some time this summer to take a walk in your neighborhood, stop into a store or restaurant that you have never been to, and see where it leads.

I am off to rest up for tomorrow’s big wine festival in Rhode Island. I have been looking forward to this for weeks, and I am hoping it is a beautiful day! Happy Saturday evening to all. 🙂