Boston Restaurant Week: Winter Edition

It is that time again, time to check out the special value meals at over 200 participating restaurants. Winter Restaurant Week Boston® will be held March 15-20 and 21-27, 2009. You can view all the participating restaurants, peruse their menus and make reservations through Open Table at www.BostonUSA.com/RestaurantWeek.

Participants can choose from over 209 of the region’s best restaurants and enjoy three-course prix fixe lunches for $20.09 and three-course dinners for $33.09 – excluding beverage, tax and gratuity. A new menu option this year is the two-course gourmet lunch priced at a very affordable $15.09; diners can select an entrée and then enjoy either an appetizer or dessert as the second course. Some restaurants will even participate on Saturday, March 21.

Along with prix fixe menus at the region’s best tables, participants are encouraged to take advantage of special hotel packages during the two week promotion. Special offers can be easily accessed on Boston’s official visitor website www.BostonUSA.com/RestaurantWeek.

In addition, when diners use any American Express® Card at participating restaurants, American Express and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau will donate $.25 per transaction, up to $5000, to Community Servings, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to provide free home-delivered meals throughout eastern Massachusetts to people homebound with HIV/AIDS and other acute life-threatening illnesses.

New restaurants to Restaurant Week include places including: Amelia's Trattoria, Asana, Bina Osteria, BOND, East Coast Grill, Estragon, Limoncello, Marliave, Sportello, Stella, and Tomasso Trattoria & Enoteca.

You can even become a fan of the Restaurant Week Boston® page on Facebook or follow Restaurant Week Boston® on twitter at www.twitter.com/bostonRW.

Greek Wines: Dessert Wines

After tasting so many different Greek wines, I ended this phase with three dessert wines. I would taste some more Greek wines later, though at a few different tables. As for the three dessert wines, they were a mixed bag.

I began with the N.V. Achaia Clauss Muscat de Patras which is made from the Muscat Blanc grape. This wine had a rich, golden color (almost orange) and it had a strong nose of apricot and nuts. On the palate, it is a very thick, full-bodied wine with flavors of apricot and orange. It was very sweet, though almost cloyingly so. I was not a big fan of this wine.

The N.V. Achaia Clauss Mavrodaphne of Patras is made from the indigenous Mavrodaphne grape. This wine had a dark brown color and a nose that reminded me of a Tawny Port. On the palate, it again reminded me of Port, with flavors of black cherry, dried fruit, and a nutty undertone. I liked this wine and would drink it though it was not very impressive.
But the third dessert wine, the 2003 SantoWines Vin Santo was impressive. The Vin Santo is made from sun dried grapes, 75% Assyrtico & 25% Aidani. The grapes are sun dried for about 8-10 days and then the wine is aged for about two years in oak. It had a rich amber color and an enticing caramel and nut smell. On the palate, it had a nice sweetness that was not overbearing with flavors of vanilla, caramel and spice. There was plenty of complexity and a nice, long finish. This is a wine that should appeal to most people and something I highly recommend.

Greek Wines: Lyrarkis

Lyrarakis Wines, founded in 1966, is a family owned located on the island of Crete. Sotiris and Lampros Lyrarákis followed in their father's footsteps, who also was a wine maker. One of their accomplishments was to revive two indigenous grapes, Plyto and Dafni, which were close to extinction.

The 2008 Lyrarákis Plyto is made from 100% Plyto, one of those grapes that was threatened with potential extinction. And I am very thankful that this grape was saved as I loved this wine. It had a pale yellow color and a very enticing nose of exotic fruits and spices. It reminded me a bit of Gewurtztraminer, in both nose and taste. On the palate, the Plyto was complex and delicious, interesting citrus and tropical fruit flavors with exotic spice notes and even a bit of minerality. A crisp wine with a very satisfying finish. And as this wine is only about $17, it is an excellent value as well. I highly recommend this unique wine.

The 2007 Lyrarákis Dafni is made of 100% Dafni, the other almost extinct grape. This wine had a light yellow color and a very aromatic nose, citrus and floral notes. On the palate, it was a crisp wine with the taste of grapefruit, reminding me a little of some Sauvignon Blancs. I liked this wine though it did not impress me as much as the Plyto had done.

The 2008 Lyrarákis Vilana is made from 100% Vilana, another indigenous Cretan grape. This wine also had a light yellow color and a citrus nose. On the palate, it was a crisp wine with strong citrus flavors, especially lemon. Another pleasant, easy drinking wine but I almost think I was spoiled by the Plyto. Neither the Dafni or Vilana seemed as complex or unique as the Plyto.

The 2006 Lyrarákis Mandilari is a red wine made from 100% Mandilari. This dark red wine had a strong nose of blackfruit and mocha. This was a rich, full-bodied wine with prominent black fruit and ripe plum flavors and some strong tannins. It has a long finish with a unique taste, a bit of spice and exotic fruit. It has some complexity, an excellent balance and was quite delicious. Definitely a food wine with some rich game meat or a steak. Another wine I recommend.

Poll Results on Finger Lakes Wines

My recent poll titled "What Is Your Experience With Finger Lakes Wines?" has now ended. So what were the results? How did their wines fare? Some of the results were surprising to me.

Based on the responses, Finger Lakes wines seem to be popular and a good number of people have tried them. In fact, about 60% of the respondents have tried a fair share of wines from the Finger Lakes region. That surprised me that so many people had tried a good number of those wines, though there might have been a lot of local respondents. Only 20% of the respondents had never tried any. Maybe most of those people are from California?

What did surprise me is that about 72% of the respondents liked most of the wines they tried from this region. I definitely agree with them that there is much to like from the Finger Lakes. Only 15% of the respondents disliked most of the wines they tried. I don't know how many of those people have only tried a few wines rather than a significant number.

I was also surprised that only 40% of the respondents wanted to try more wines from this region. If 72% enjoyed most of the wines they tasted from this area, I would have assumed all of them would also want to try even more wines. The numbers do indicate though that there is a significant amount of people who want to try wines from the Finger Lakes so hopefully they will become more readily available in the near future.

Please post more detail about your experiences with Finger Lakes wines in the comments. Thanks.

Greek Wines: Palivou Estate

Palivou Vineyards, located in the Nemea valley of the Peloponesse, is owned by George and Angeliki Palivos and has been in their family for about 150 years. Their philosophy is that "wine is made in the vineyard and not the winery." The vineyards are located 1400-2133 feet above sea level in a mountainous region near the Bay of Corinth. Terroir is very important to the winery.

The 2007 Pavilou Rose is made from 100% Agiorgitiko and is more an Old World rose. It had a nice pink color and a fresh berry nose with hints of floral smells. On the palate, there are subtle flavors of strawberry, cherry and raspberry and it is a dry, crisp wine. A very pleasant, easy-drinking wine that would be great for summer.


The 2006 Palivou St. Agiorgitiko is made from 100% Agiorgitiko like the rose but is a light, red wine. Its fruit flavors, strawberry, cherry and raspberry, are prominent and it is a smooth, easy-drinking wine. No oak was used so you get all the fruit. Tame tannins with a moderate finish and an exotic, and pleasing, after-taste. This is a wine to enjoy with or without food. It reminds me a bit of a good merlot until the finish.

The 2005 Pavilou Nemea is also made from 100% Agiorgitiko but sees oak. It spends 12-14 months in new French oak and then 6-8 months more in the bottle. The red berry flavors shine forth in this smooth, easy-drinking wine that adds some spicy notes. It has a lingering finish with an exotic aftertaste and is absolutely delicious. This wine is a delicious liquid velvet and would make an excellent food wine. With its mild tannins, I could enjoy this on its own too.