Without Restraint: North Shore Wine Week

“Pour out the wine without restraint or stay
pour not by cups, but by the bellyful
pour out to all that wull.”

So said Edumund Spenser in Epithalamion, and that’s precisely what’s happening during the fourth week of August on the North Shore.

The first annual North Shore Wine Week is taking place from August 21 to 27, and we’re excited to be part of the event. The kickoff party is being held on August 20 from 12:00 to 5:00 at Wine ConnecXtion in North Andover. It’s a free event, but you need to email vip@northshorewineweek.com to request an electronic ticket. There will be wine tastings all afternoon, paired with food from Brasserie 28, Oregano, 62 Restaurant and Wine Bar, Tuscan Kitchen, and Burtons Grill.

During the week, there are wine tastings and wine specials at restaurants and wine vendors all over the North Shore. For example, on Sunday from 5:00 to 9:00, you can sample a flight of four summer whites and sultry reds for $12 at 62 Restaurant and Wine Bar in Salem. On Wednesday from 6:00 to 9:00, Urban Wine Project is hosting wine and jazz night at Turbine Wine Bar in Lynn featuring the project’s 2009 Central Square Chardonnay and 2009 Oxford Street Pinot Noir. Everyone who purchases a glass of either wine will receive a complimentary appetizer with their first glass. Friday afternoon at Grand Trunk in Newburyport, there will be a free tasting of Spanish wines and 15% off all bottles during the tasting.

A schedule of events is here, and more are being added daily. We’ll post again with further details about events as the date nears.

Beat the Winter Blues With Local Food Events

The holidays are over and that means it’s time for food events to kick into high gear here on the North Shore. Our heads are swimming just looking what’s going on in January and February. And that’s without considering Valentine’s Day specials, which we’ll cover separately.

On Tuesday January 18 at 7:00, Chef Matt O’Neil will be doing a cooking demo and three-course tasting at The Blue Ox in Lynn ($39). There will be a mache salad with braised beets, walnuts, parmesan, blood oranges, and blood orange vinaigrette followed by butter-poached lobster and porcini/saffron quinoa. For dessert, a honey cake with chocolate, raspberry puree, and whipped cream. We’re salivating already. Call (781) 780-5722 to reserve a space.

The next Tuesday, January 25, Finz in Salem is putting on a vodka dinner hosted by Pinnacle Vodka at 6:30 ($59). It begins with oysters accompanied by a mango vodka-blood orange puree cocktail. Next is an Asian scallop ceviche with a lychee martini, mojito grilled swordfish with a berry vodka mojito, and espresso rubbed tenderloin with a caliente café martini. Dessert is a Pinnacle and strawberry sorbet with strawberry Pop Rocks. Sounds like a taxi may be in order after this one.

Vodka is also the star of Red Rock’s Tuesday Tasting on the 25^th at 7:00 ($25 including tax and gratuity). Russian Standard Original, Platinum and Imperial vodkas will be featured in six cocktails. Russian-influenced appetizers like smoked trout, oysters, salmon roe caviar, dark pastrami, gravlox, pickled beets, and herring will accompany the drinks. Break out your (faux) fur hat and head on over to Swampscott.

On Saturday January 29 at 6:30, Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead hosts its annual Taste of the North Shore ($60). The event includes an all-you-can-eat buffet with specialties from North Shore restaurants and caterers, a silent auction, and a live auction. For more information, call (781) 631-9300 or e-mail taste@emanu-el.org.

Mary Ann Esposito of Ciao Italia visits 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar in Salem on Sunday January 30 at 6:30. For $75, attendees will enjoy a cooking demonstration by Chef Antonio Bettencourt and Ms. Esposito, a multi-course dinner, and a signed copy of her latest book Ciao Italia: Five-Ingredient Favorites. Call (978) 744-0062 for a reservation. Sounds like a true Italian extravaganza.

Salem’s So Sweet Chocolate & Ice Sculpture Festival begins on Friday February 4th with a chocolate and wine tasting at Hamilton Hall from 6:30 to 8:30 ($25). Tickets are on sale at the Salem Chamber of Commerce office, 265 Essex Street Mon-Fri from 9:00 to 5:00 and will be on sale the night of the event based on availability (the event sold out last year). Sugar rush, here we come.

On Tuesday February 8 Red Rock’s Tuesday Tastings is USA Craft Beers ($25 including tax and gratuity. At 7:00, Local beer master Kyle Sartanowicz will offer expert commentary while attendees taste six outstanding made-in-the-USA beers with foods to match.

Last but not least, on Thursday February 10 at 6:00, Caffe Graziani in Salem is hosting an international wine  dinner featuring a five-course meal and an abundance of French, Italian, and Argentinean wines. The full menu is posted here. The cost is $75, and space is limited. Call (978) 741-4282 for information and reservations.

Two New Series Put a Twist on Traditional Tasting

Whether you are looking for something new to sass up your glass or planning ahead for those holiday dinners, those of you into exploring wine will want to take note of these tastings.

Sam and Tina Messina, owners of North Andover’s Wine Connextion, value your feedback as a customer. So much so that their new Saturday Sampling Series lets you have a say in what wines will make it to the shelves. They’ll be pouring some of the newest wines, from a different region each week, and looking for your input as to which bottles they should keep in stock.

As an added bonus, they will be hosting demonstrations and food tastings with terrific local chefs at 2:00 each Saturday. Space is limited for the chef demos, so they ask that you RSVP to press@wineconnextion.com.

October 9. Wines of Spain with Chefs Christina Johnson and Paul Eastman of Phat Cats Bistro, Amesbury from 1:00 to 5:00.

October 16. Taste of Italy with Chef Samuel Hunt of 15 Walnut, Hamilton from 1:00 to 5:00.

October 23. Grand Tasting  to celebrate the Wine Connextion’s one year anniversary with Tom Grella, Food Network chef and director of restaurants for Salvatore’s from 1:00 to 6:00. Featuring more than 40 hand-selected wines by Wine Connextion with tasting stations throughout the store. A complimentary booklet will be provided to all attendees with explanations of each wine.

October 30. The Great 2007 Cabernets with Glory Restaurant, North Andover, from 1:00 to 5:00.

Chef Tony Bettencourt at 62 Restaurant and Wine Bar not only wants you to taste wines, he wants to educate you about them as well. His new Wednesday night series called Bread, Salt, Wine aims to bring some of Boston’s leading wine resources to you. Each week, a different group will speak about the wines served and answer questions.

The evenings will feature wine samples and complimentary hors d’œuvres; Chef Bettencourt will also offer his full spuntini menu (think tapas) free with the purchase of one of the wines during the tasting.

The series is offered every Wednesday night from 5:00 to 7:00 in 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar’s Lounge. It’s free with RSVP to press@62restaurant.com.

October schedule:

Red, White Boston: October 20

The Second Glass: October 27

Boston Wine School: November 3

Boston Uncorked: November 10

Local Wine Events: November 17

62 Who? Salem Restaurant Celebrates Name Change

We noticed this week that Sixty2 on Wharf has undergone a bit of a re-brand and become 62 Restaurant & Winebar. Our interest piqued, we decided to find out more.

When asked, Chef Antonio Bettencourt responded that the change is not due to an issue with the current brand, but rather a “touch up” of the logo and a recognition that most of the restaurant’s customers refer to it just as “62.”

“I wanted a new look, and I think [the new name and logo] speaks to the simplistic fresh approach we take to our food and the uniqueness of our wine list. That’s also why we added winebar to the name,” he said.

Bettencourt said that 62 has one of the most unique wine lists on the North Shore and possibly in all of Massachusetts. “Some bottles we have you simply can’t find at other places,” he said. “I’m also not sure people know that we serve by the quartino, and we want to put an emphasis on that as well.”

In discussions yesterday on Twitter and Facebook, the response to the change was positive. Diane Wolf, owner of Salem’s Lobster Shanty said, “I think it is a good idea…handmade pasta and wine; is there any better combination?” And reader Geoff Millar echoed the sentiment of others: “I don’t care what they call it as long as they don’t mess with the food.”

To celebrate the new 62, Chef Bettencourt has come up with a fresh three-month promotional dinner series with an international flair. The Passport Series features a $28 prix fixe dinner nightly Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from September through November. Each month will feature culinary inspiration from a different country, and each week concentrates on a different region in that country.

September: Spain
- Barcelona
- Madrid
- Basque region
- Sevilla

October: Italy
- Venice
- Lombardy
- Milan
- Tuscany
- Piedmont

November: France
- Bordeaux
- Alsace
- Ile-de-France (Paris)
- Burgundy

For added incentive, 62 will be issuing “passports” to diners that can be stamped when they complete a meal. Guests who dine once a week for a month, eating from every region, will earn a free prix fixe dinner the next time they come in.

Guests that dine once a month for all three months will be entered to win a free vacation to Europe compliments of 62 and Lynnfield’s Colony Travel. The trip will include a three-night stay and a cooking class at Relais Riserva di Fizzano, Castellina in Chianti. The Riserva di Fizzano is an ancient medieval “bourg” owned by Rocca delle Macie, situated on a hilltop in the Chianti hills, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.

So if you haven’t dined at 62 lately, it sounds like there are plenty of reasons to return: new identity, new dinner series, and, heck, you may even win a free vacation.

62 Restaurant & Winebar
62 Wharf Street, Salem
(978) 744-0062
www.62Restaurant.com