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Wine Riot made me feel old in a good way, i.e. realizing I prefer wine tastings with polite people where the mission isn’t to pound as much wine as possible in the allotted amount of time. The environment felt a little frantic, and there were lots of elbows thrown and feet stepped on as the attendees tried to shove their way to camp out at the tables so not to miss a single drop.

I normally try to avoid being overly critical of things on my blog and try to focus on the positive. In fact, just the other day someone commented on my ability to write about things that I don’t care for kindly. But I also feel the need to be honest, if only for the sake of my own credibility. The concept behind Wine Riot is pretty neat, a less formal, more fun and not stuffy wine tasting that attracts a lot of young people. But how young? This might be my curmudgeonly 30 year old self speaking, but I felt like half of the people at the event were not even legal.  It kind of felt like a frat party with wine instead of Natty Ice, and I am pretty sure that most of the boys were named Chad and were wearing pink sweaters and/or backwards baseball hats.

We only stayed at the Wine Riot for about 30 minutes. In that time I tasted maybe 5 wines because it was almost impossible to get a pour. The rep from Hess stared at us for about 10 minutes, and it was like we were invisible as he poured repeat pours for the other 4 people at the table. Really?

Anywho, there were a few highlights of the event worth mentioning.

1) The Travessia table -The husband and I have been big fans of Travessia wines and their winemaker, Marco Montez, since  last summer , and we were happy to see him and to taste the 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay, Bastard Rosé, and Vidal Blanc at the Wine Riot. As always, I loved the Rosé and Vidal Blanc the best. The Rosé is a blend of 3 different wines, whites and reds, and in my opinion it is still one of the best Rosé wines I have ever had. I have said it before, but if you are in the MA or RI areas, do check out this cool little winery in New Bedford or look for them at upcoming wine events in the area. Totally and completely worth your time.

2) The Mionetto table- Tasting Mionetto Prosecco brought back fond memories of the Newport Wine & Food Festival from last fall, sitting on the expansive lawn, overlooking the blue ocean, and drinking prosecco with friends. Mionetto makes great, very food friendly bubbly at great values and are always worth a try.

3) Cabot Cheese– Cabot makes the best cheese, and I always seem to find their table at every food and wine event I attend. I might just be doing a Cabot giveaway next week. . . check back to find out for sure 😉

I didn’t encounter much beside those 3. One of the reps from 90+ Cellars sort of laughed at me for “taking photos for posterity” which would have been fine if their wine didn’t remind me of nail polish remover. Oh and I tasted possibly the worst wine I have ever had a German bubbly with bits of gold in it. I guess the gimmicky gold should have given me a clue. . . but I literally spit it back into my wine glass it was so awful, like a sharp, bubbly vinegar.

After our short stint at the Wine Riot, the husband indulged my race weekend excitement by driving me through the finish line of a lifetime.

Exciting. My left knee really hurts, and I am hoping that it will allow me to finish. . .

My Saturday night carbo loading took place at Prezza in Boston’s North End which was full of fellow marathoners eating pasta to gear up for the big race. The Prezza menu was full of dishes that we wanted to try.

And they had a great by the glass wine list. I was excited to see Gloria Ferrer Va de vi on the list. You can read about our Gloria Ferrer winery visits here, here, and here. Love it.

We started with the Crispy Shrimp with Italian Slaw and Cherry Pepper Aioli, a delicious dish with sweet jumbo shrimp and a crispy phyllo nest topped with a zesty, creamy sauce.

We also had one of my favorite Italian dishes, Zucchini Flowers with Creamy Polenta, Pancetta, and Tomatoes. The polenta was probably my favorite part of the entire meal! It was so creamy and buttery.

The hubs ordered the Paella which was full of clams, lobster, mussels, chicken, and chorizo.

And I had a half order of Gnocchi a la Bolognese which came in an incredibly rich sauce. It was delicious and very filling. Along with some bread and olives in olive oil, I think the gnocchi gave me my carbohydrate fill for the night.

The dessert menu was incredible though, and even though I wanted 4 different things, we decided on the flourless chocolate cake which was hot, molten perfection, topped with vanilla bean ice cream.

Prezza provided the PERFECT meal for a very chilly, gray April evening. Like many North End restaurants, it does not look like much from the outside, but the elegant dining room and bar stretch far back, creating a comfortable and special environment for a fine dining experience.

One more day to the Boston Marathon, and there is still time to support Team ALLY! http://firstgiving.com/meghanmalloyteamally AND to enter my Equal Exchange giveaway which ends on Tuesday!