April Wine Tasting: Houston Quarantine Edition
“There is so much despair going around Houston right now, and any bright spot we can provide is a good thing,” says Marc Borel, Sommelier and Beverage Director at Houston’s Rainbow Lodge. “After all, we are in the hospitality business and we are here to make people feel better.”
This was Borel’s response when I called him to share my delight in receiving an email notice from Rainbow Lodge titled “Your Passport to ... Wine Tasting: Quarantine Edition”. It described one of their long renowned wine and food tasting events just like they have been holding for the past 30 years. Except this time, there was something quite different.
Due to the social distancing and self-isolation amid the CORVID19 pandemic that shut down his restaurant’s dining room, Borel made the entire wine and food pairing available for pick up curbside: a wine tasting kit to go. There were four chef-prepared courses (asparagus and goat cheese empanadas and seared lamb loin in coconut red curry, to name just two) sized for two people packaged with four 375 ml bottles of wine including Sokol Blosser Evolution and Borgo Scopeto Sangiovese blend.
Borel says, “Our first take away event sold out in just a few hours at 72 reservations, three times what I anticipated. The second one similarly sold out.” I think that the popularity of the Rainbow Lodge events comes from the fact that Borel and his colleagues have come up with something that food and wine lovers can enjoy and share at home gaining a degree of comfort and normalcy in challenging times.
Another tasting touch point in my month of pseudo-isolation came from long-time friend Sean Beck, sommelier and beverage director at Backstreet Café and Hugo's. A week into self-isolation, I saw an email from Backstreet Café offering Sunday brunch to go. Just the thought of their delightful breakfast tacos made me jump online to order and I was first in the Backstreet pick up line that Sunday morning.
I later communicated with him to ask how he and his cohorts at the restaurant and in the sommelier community were doing. “Thanks for asking sir”, Beck responded. “We are working our tails off. The virus has brought a new way and new set up for us. We are having to do it with fewer people for the time being.” The insights from both Beck and Borel indicate that the current situation is demanding their creativity.
Part of Beck’s creativity is opening up his restaurant’s wine selections for retail sales at up to half off their usual wine list price. Once I heard this, I fired off an email to him asking if he could put together a selection of six bottles focusing on German and Austrian wines, and something else I might like with a different (off-the-beaten-path) flair. I know that he has a keen eye for locating special wines for his restaurants that are not otherwise available in the Houston marketplace.
“In mixed beverage restaurants, we’ve never been allowed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to do retail wine before now”, says Beck. “But, I have acted many times helping guests locate and purchase wine for their homes, parties, weddings and gifts. Once the law looked like it was going to change when restaurant dining rooms were closed due to the virus, I began reaching out to guests with some of my custom stuff.” The response to Beck’s restaurant wine selections has been, as he says “surprisingly wonderful”. Appropriately, many other local restaurants with specially curated wine lists are also opening their cellar doors for retail sales.
Beck and Borel both think that in order to survive right now they need to be thinking on their feet. Also, when the economy starts back up, they will be working to make their beverage programs more flexible and fun as the virus countermeasures allow.
A third and final “Quarantine Edition” shout out is to our own Texas-branded supermarket HEB that recently started assisting local restaurants with sales of their chef creations. On my recent ‘suited-for-germ-warfare’ grocery excursion, I found three featured Houston restaurant selections: Brennan’s of Houston Turtle Soup, Cherry Block Butcher Pimento Cheese and Underbelly Spicy Korean Braised Beef and Dumplings. I’m glad to hear that Kroger is also selling local chef-made creations from restaurants like Burns Barbecue, Kim Son, Frenchy's and Peli Peli, and for another twist, local restaurants are selling groceries to help make ends meet.
My HEB chef selections came in handy for me to feature with my Texas wine selections at a recent #Txwine Twitter Tuesday online wine tasting. Going forward, these virtual tastings are scheduled for the balance of April and through the end of May on Tuesdays 7-8p by following hashtag #Txwine on Twitter with a different focus each week (click here). So, join us - Taste, Tweet and Repeat!
PLEASE NOTE! Experts recommend that you immediately place all to-go containers in the sink, avoiding surfaces where you prepare food. Put all contents on a plate from your home and wash your hands for 20 seconds before eating. Light a candle, pour a glass of wine and enjoy. Ok, the last part is from Edible Houston.
