I just wanted to give everyone an update on the Saviez Wine Dinner we have planned for Friday, February 8th at 7PM. William (who has been nice enough to set this whole thing up. thanks William!) and I tasted through the wines on Wednesday, and they were superb! Great styling throughout...Next, it was off to Connal (head chef at Les Zyg and weekly host of the cooking demo at our highly popular Tuesday Night Tasting Series) who put together an awesome FIVE course menu. Between the food and the wine, i think it's going to be a very special dinner. We've been wanting to do more of these dinners , and I think this is a great start. So without further ado, here's the menu:
Spicy Smoked Shrimp with 2006 Saviez,"French Kiss", Napa, U.S.A.
Seared Duck Breast over Mixed Greens w/ Red Wine Vinaigrette with 2003 Saviez,
Zinfandel, Napa, U.S.A.
Grilled Lamb Chop with Rosemary, Cherry, Dijon Sauce with 2004 Saviez, Cabernet
Sauvignon, First Avenue Vineyards, Napa, U.S.A.
Morbier with Black Pepper Honey with 2005 Saviez, Petite Sirah, Napa, U.S.A.
Pear, Apricot and Walnut Tart with 2006 Saviez, Muscat Canelli, Napa, U.S.A.
All this for 65$ (exclusive of tax and tip)
Space is limited, so call 617-542-5108 to reserve your seats.
Don't forget our Pre-Valentine's Day Bubble Bath featuring the Sparkling Wines of Westport Rivers with VERY special guest and winemaker, Bill Russell! More to come...
destroy them, my robot patriots!
geoffrey
Saviez Wine Dinner Update...
buzz buzz buzz
that's what i feel like: a busy little bee! there are so many things happening at les zyg in the next few weeks--i just can't keep up. so here's a quick run-down on events you should not miss...
february 8 the saviez wine dinner. mike saviez will be at les zyg to host a great dinner featuring his napa valley wines.
february 12 westport vineyards hosts our pre-valentines day "bubble bath" with an awesome dinner featuring, what i believe to be, some of the best domestic sparkling wine i've ever tasted.
february 14 hello? valentine's day. don't be a bonehead again this year! take yer better half out to dinner at les zyg. we're doing a triple threat prix fixe menu: kitten, smitten and bitten! you can choose one of the menus, or mix and match. you also get a cool "love potion" as part of the evening. ah! the french know how it's done...
next week's tuesday night tasting features wines from the southern rhone: chateauneuf-du-pape, gigondas, vacqueyras, etc...delicious wines paired, as always, with bites of food carefully paired with each wine. as always--7PM.
more info as i get it. call 617-542-5108 for more information on any of these events.
buzz,
geoffrey
2008 wine tastings
okay, okay, i get it. i haven't done the schedule for the 2008 tuesday night tastings. i know all of you are lying awake at night wondering, "where the heck is that schedule? how can i possibly plan my year without it? doesn't geoffrey care about us anymore?" now just hold on one second! of course i care. i want to see you guys EVERY tuesday in 2008 (except when i cancel tastings due to bad hair days and what not...) to that end, i am proud to say i have just finished the schedule and i've emailed it to melissa (general manager, event coordinator and badminton shark) to publish on winebar.com. it should be up in the next couple of days, but i'll give you a preview of what's coming up in january:
January 8 California Pinot Noir
January 15 Northern Rhone
January 22 Southern Rhone
January 29 South Africa
oh man! what a way to kick things off--California Pinot Noir! there was this little indy flick called Sideways. maybe you heard of it. it kinda did a lot for the California Pinot industry. anyway, we'll drink delicious wines and say, "hey there, big fella!" to 2008. hope to see you there!
i know you all are wondering how i'm doing in our fantasy football playoffs. i'm in a virtual tie with ian's brother (who lives in brazil and seems to make the playoffs every year) with one more week of games to go. oh...you couldn't care less? my bad.
December 22. mark it down. it's the Les Zyg 13th Anniversary Party and you're all invited...except for that guy over there. he's shifty. every one else, though, can come by and say, "hi." it starts at 9PM and there will be gallons of sparkling wine and copious amounts of sushi.
don't make me say it again. plan to spend your new year's eve with us. call 617.542.5108 for details/reservations. no one rocks new years eve like Les Zyg. ask around...
bringing it to the entire nation. black, white, red, brown, feel the vibration,
geoffrey
thanksgiving rehash
thanks to everyone who has asked me in the last week or so how my thanksgiving turned out. leigh and i hosted fourteen people for our first thanksgiving in our condo in Chelsea-by-the-Sea. with a brined, organic, free range turkey as the centerpiece, we laid out a spread fit for Henry VIII. by the end, much food was eaten, and much wine was consumed. i remember, at one point, breaking into the wine rack and opening a 1999 Barbaresco and bringing it into the back porch while leigh's brother john and our dear friend/guitarist for Roll Over Baby and the Kemp Harris Band josh played guitars and we all sang "Jack and Diane" and "Free Fallin'". it was a hoot. the place is still a mess, but isn't that what thanksgiving is all about--turkey, Barbaresco, and john cougar mellencamp?
for those of you who do not already know, the Les Zygomates 13th anniversary party is Saturday, December 22 at 9PM. if you are reading this, you are most cordially invited. help us celebrate with bubbly, sushi, music and some of my impromptu dance routines.
after that, it's new year's eve! holy moly, i can't believe it...2008 is almost here. make your plans NOW and join us for what promises to be a great new year's eve party at Les Zyg. we have two seatings: 7PM and 10PM. call 617-542-5108 for info/reservations. i promise to learn the words for auld lang syne this year!
congratulations to the owner of Les Zyg and the pope of south street, mr. ian just for scratching his way into our fantasy football league's playoffs with what can only be called a legendary performance in week 13. your's truly made it as well, so the game is afoot!
suckin' on chili dogs outside the tasty freeze,
geoffrey
defining "foodie" and the road to thanksgiving...
i was sitting around with leigh (my fiancé and personal stylist) and her brother, john (who i owe a substantial amount of money to, thanks to a series of bad decisions on my part regarding last week's fantasy football match-up) last night, and we were trying to define "foodie". this came after a fantastic impromptu dinner of chicken sausages over shitake mushrooms with a mushroom demi-glace and a baby spinach salad. we drank 2005 Il Posta Malbec from Argentina and discussed what it meant to be a "foodie". we also watched the Patriots absolutely destroy the Buffalo Bills (and with only one T.D. pass to Ben Watson, preserved my fantasy football win this week! yeah, baby!)
what is a foodie? to me, a foodie is someone who appreciates food and eating. not simply someone that likes to eat a lot, but rather, somebody who delights in the art of food and cooking. there are, of course, food snobs--who can't imagine ingesting anything but the finest and most expensive of ingredients, but to me, a true foodie enjoys all levels of cuisine. a Burger King chicken sandwich? yes, please. john even suggested there could be such a thing as a "junk-foodie": someone with a palate for the fast, fried, and fatty. what kind of foodie are you? leigh just finished reading "Gluten Free Girl" and the author often speaks of her passion for food. where do you stand? do you eat because you have to, or is it an event to be celebrated?
i write this while waiting for my chicken stock to reduce. leigh and i are hosting thanksgiving for the first time this year and we're doing it gluten-free. the gravy will be a pan sauce thickened with demi-glace. the stuffing will be corn bread with chorizo and the bird is twenty eight pounds! i personally don't think it's going to fit in the oven. we'll need a chainsaw to cut it in half. leigh says it will be fine. mashed potatoes with horseradish cream, haricot vert with almonds, brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes round out the meal. yes...there will be wine.
so wish me luck getting this whole dog and pony show together. to all of you, i wish the happiest of thanksgivings. be safe, eat well and have love in your heart.
i'm a dark meat man, myself.
geoffrey
Champagne Shootout and More...
we're definitely in the throws of the holiday season. there seems to be some kind of function, or party, or private tasting every night. the Sorriso third anniversary party is tonight, the Champagne Shootout is next tuesday and then there is Beaujolais Nouveau Day next thursday. so much to do--so much to talk about!
first off, there's the sorriso anniversary party tonight. our little sister restaurant is three years old. it seems like only yesterday we were sweeping sawdust off the floor, rubbing sealant into the rocky bathroom walls, and watching someone paint naked ladies on the wall (haven't been? check it out!) i remember putting together the original wine list and trying so many wonderful Italian wines. i can't believe it's been three years (but i'm going to the party, anyway!) come by and say, "hi!" it starts around 9:00 PM and it should be a hoot!
the legendary "Champagne Shootout" is almost here! next tuesday at 7PM we'll try SIX Champagnes in a blind tasting and try to figure out which one is the imposter, all the while tasting delicious foods paired perfectly with the bubbles: oysters, deviled eggs, scallops, etc...come on, you have to drink Champagne this time of year. it's the holiday season--so whoop-dee-doo!
and then there's Beaujolais Nouveau. the third week of every November the Beaujolais Nouveau is released in Burgundy. it is a wine created exclusively for partying. it's ultra-fruity, it doesn't age well, and it's not exactly "complex", but it tastes young and fresh and yummy and it goes down like grape nee-hi! it's used to celebrate the years harvest and we'll do the same next thursday at 8PM. we're serving a three-course Burgundian dinner with Bojo Nouveau poured from the "pig": a 15 liter cask shipped to us from France. there will be escargot, boeuf bourguignon and cheese and all the B.N. you can drink! well, not really, but at least a couple of glasses. then listen to some live jazz in our music room. oui? yeah, i'll see you there...
and remember: new year's eve will be here sooner than you think. ask around--we have the rockinest, ronnie ron-iest, champagne pourin'est new year's throwdowns this side of the champs-élysées. so book it now.
more info on any of this? call 617.542.5108
where's my velvet suit?
geoffrey
Tuesday Night Wrap-Up
well it was a little touch and go there for awhile. Olivier Schoepfer from Accents du Sud Ouest was in Reykjavík, Iceland after two days of delays trying to get here from France. Air France went on strike and Olivier was in the throws of one hell of a commute. the tasting was to begin at 7PM and Drew (owner of Oz Pacific--importer and distributor of fine wines from around the world and ex-bar manager at Les Zyg who actually hired me oh so many years ago) and i were wondering if Olivier would get here in time. sure enough, a mere 30 minutes late, Olivier arrived and we tasted some amazing wines from Southwestern France. We don't see nearly enough wine from this area of France, but they can be quite remarkable. one wine in particular piqued my interest: a Madiran made from the highly tannic tannat grape. tannat is very buzz-worthy these days as it has been shown to have more anti-oxidants than any other grape variety (save perhaps cannonau from Sardinia.) apparently many people in Madiran lives to be 90+ so it is a wine worth severe consideration. in the past, Madiran was undrinkable without at least 10 years of aging--the high levels of tannin making the wine bitter, chunky and unpleasant in its youth. these days new methods of production allow for temperature controlled fermentation, a shorter soak to allow for more extraction of color and less tannin, and a process called micro-oxygenation. this process introduces a minute amount of oxygen to the wine as it sits in tank--softening the harsh tannin and removing a bit of the rubbery aroma of the wine that some find unpleasant (present company excluded.) nowadays, Madiran can be enjoyed much earlier and it has much to offer: aromas of black pepper, black cherry, fig, grilled bread and yes--rubber. the flavors are intense and thick. Madiran is often high in alcohol, giving it a viscous mouthfeel.
anyway, i could go on and on. the wines were great. the pairings were right on: smoked scallops, calamari, house made sausages and Brébis--a sheep's milk cheese from the Southwest of France. we ate. we drank. we talked about how the French love to go on strike and we discussed the nightlife in Reykjavik (they like to boogie.) all-in-all a great tasting.
i can't wait for next week's Tuesday Night Tasting where we'll present wines from Argentina--land of meat and Malbec. don't forget Beaujolais Nouveau Day on Thursday, November 15. that's the day the Beaujolais Nouveau is released, celebrating this year's harvest in Burgundy. we're going to have a Beaujolais Blow Out at 8PM with a great three-course dinner and plenty of B.N. (what? i'm tired of writing Beaujolais Nouveau every time. oh man! i did it again!) call 617-542-5108 for details.
planning to live past 90+ thanks to Madiran,
geoffrey
