December 2009

In addition to the fabulous Mezzetta goodies and recipes that I received last week, their public relations company also sent me a review copy of the book Wine Secrets, Advice from Winemakers, Sommeliers, and Connoisseurs by Marnie Old.

If you have a wine loving friend or family member or need a last minute gift for someone who even has a slight interest in learning about wine, this lovely little book, decorated in a festive burgundy jacket, would be a great option.

I started reading it this past snowy Sunday, and my husband can attest to the fact that there were lots of “hmmm” and “interesting” and “I didn’t know that!”s coming out of me.

The book is broken down into six chapters, each of which has sub-sections written by winemakers, sommeliers, wine writers, and other wine experts. The book’s author, nationally renowned Sommelier Marnie Old, offers “Marnie’s Corner” a commentary at the end of each section which sums up the important points and leaves the reader with a manageable bit of information to use in real wine shopping/tasting situations.

Topics covered range from wine basics which includes information on the winemaking process, grape varieties, and Old/New World wines to wine tasting, wine shopping, advice for wine and food pairing, ordering wine in restaurants, and enjoying wine at home. Do you need help choosing wine for a large party? Are you looking for great value and maybe lesser known wines? This book covers it all.

Wine Secrets contains many easy to read, brief charts and diagrams that help to further spell out various types of information about wine. The simplicity is refreshing. If I want to know about a medium bodied red wine, all I need to do is look at the chart on page 22 to see that Merlot or Sangiovese would be two good options. Or if I am curious about which climates produce certain wine qualities, I can turn to page 26 to learn that warmer climates lead to sweeter wines with higher flavor intensity. Need some assistance opening a bottle of champagne? Page 179 shows you a step by step diagram. While the book covers a topic that can be complex, it certainly goes through even the basics, things that many of us might have questions on but feel too intimidated to ask.  Reading through the pages makes it easy to reflect on your own wine tasting experience and suddenly “get it”, and it certainly makes me want to taste more.

This is the type of book that you may read through cover to cover once, then keep on your kitchen shelf for constant reference. Its the type of book that would be fun to have around when friends are over tasting wine and definitely the book that you want to have on hand the next time you are visiting a wine shop, a winery, or a big wine retailer.

I will be referring back to Wine Secrets in my own wine drinking which will likely translate into future blog posts, so stay tuned for more Wine Secrets. If you do pick up a copy please let me know what you think!

With the winter wonderland delivered to our doorstep this past weekend, you would think that our first instinct would be to stay in the house, shutters drawn, warm, and cozy. We did that for much of the day yesterday, me blogging and tweeting and reading Wine Secrets by Marnie Old, and the hubs working on his Masters thesis. But around 6:00 I think we both started to get a little stir crazy, not to mention that for some reason, when it is freezing cold out I often get a big hankering for oysters.

So after tossing the idea of going out vs. staying home around for awhile, we bundled up in our wintry finest and got in the car to head to the South End. The streets were well plowed, surprising for Boston, and there were barely any cars. The city looked SO pretty! The lights, the buildings, the greenery, everything decorated by Mother Nature suddenly had a whole new look.

We decided to give Gaslight a try for dinner as it has a parking lot and is close to home but also offers a raw bar that we had heard good things about. We have had brunch at Gaslight before but for some reason had never checked out their dinner menu.

When we arrived at Gaslight and made our way through the velvet curtains keeping the cold out, we opted to have a seat at the long, sort of u-shaped bar. As we expected, the restaurant was pretty empty, and we had our choice of seats.

Gaslight is decorated like a Parisian brasserie with subway tile and dark woods, providing the perfect atmosphere to cozy up to your dinner date for a romantic meal or a good place to enjoy some of their fabulous cocktails with a group of friends.

To start, we ordered 1/2 dozen oysters, and we both wished we had ordered more. They were ice cold, plump, with a briny ocean flavor and a spicy horseradish cocktail sauce for topping. They made me want to write an ode to oysters. I didn’t have time today, but stay tuned, it might just be posted here one day!

I also had a Fin du monde, a tart, very effervescent beer by Unibroue.

For our entrees, the hubby ordered poelee espagnol, pan roasted cod with shellfish, chorizo and sauce ā l’armoricaine  and I ordered the moules frites with pernod and coriander.

Now that I know Gaslight has a great dinner menu and a charming evening vibe, I think we will become regulars, especially at their bar.

Even if you don’t live in the area, its worth checking out their website. Its like taking a tiny trip to Paris!

Speaking of Paris, we are trying to figure out what to do for our side trip when we go to Ireland. We want to spend a few days somewhere outside of Galway, either traveling around Ireland which we have seen much of before, visiting family in Italy, where we have both been but of course, love, or going somewhere new. I love Austria and would like to see Salzburg, but Prague also looks magical, and Spain will be warmer. Paris is the easiest as it has the most flights going  out of Shannon, but we have been before and aren’t necessarily in a rush to return.

Any thoughts for us?