Rosalind, Betsey and Fritz

As usual, Mary and I drank a lot of wine on Saturday. It ended with housing a pizza and Mary going to bed to sleep off her stomach ache at 9pm. BUT, it started with a warm Saturday afternoon at the Veritas Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The wine tour is run by City Wine Tours for $56, but we had purchased half price tickets through Gilt City. Our "wine ambassador" was Rosalind Johnson, who told us this was her first tour through City Wine Tours, but that she is one of the founding members of Diva's Uncorked--Meaning, she was qualified. Not only that, she was very sweet, sassy and fun. Huge fan. Of Rosalind.

There were a total of 7 people on the tour, including us. At the Hotel Veritas, we tried two wines, the first a sparkling and the second a Chardonnay from California.

 

We learned some things about wine including ... How to smell it ("Pear!!!!!", "Vanilla!!!!"), how to hold the glass (preventing warming up your wine by holding the stem), and how the width of the legs (i.e. residue that descends) after swirling the glass indicates the alcohol content.

The Morgan Chardonnay was ultimately my favorite on the tour and I will probably try to find it to buy in the future. I looked it up and it's $20, so more expensive than my typical $4.99 bottle from Trader Joes, but the point is that I'm learning what I like. Right?

We then proceeded through Havahd Yahd and Rosalind pointed out the Harvard library and the statue of John Harvard. Fun Fact! The undergrads pee on John Harvard's shoe. Fun Fact! All tourists touch John Harvard's shoe for good luck.

Our next step was Casablanca, a restaurant that I've seen and been intrigued by but had never been inside of. What a treat! Here we tried a red wine which I found Just OK. Indeed, just as Rosalind said, when paired with the right food, it tasted better. Both the owner and the chef were present and were both very nice and able to answer any questions. The chef brought out a flat bread with baby arugula, mascarpone, balsamic onions, roasted grapes, and goat cheese. Um.....Best. Ever.

In addition, the wine began settling in and we all began having a little bit more fun. Mary and I finally chatted a bit more with the couple that was there, Betsey and Fritz. Fritz was just there for moral support for Betsey because he only drinks beer. They were fun and we found that we had common interests (Therapy.). Highlight of Casablanca--Betsey and Fritz or flatbread pizza? It's a toss up.

The final stop was the slightly stuffy Harvest Restaurant where it was too dark for day time and the waiter didn't stick around long enough to repeat what type of wine it was, though we eventually requested to see the bottles again. The first was Evodia Grenache from Spain. Again, not my thing, it was just OK. And next was a dessert wine, Chateau Bel Air, semillion, from Bordeaux. This was obviously quite sweet, so I loved it.

 

So the conclusion is that I would definitely do the North End version of this tour if I can do it for less than $56. On the other hand, I may just want to get drinks with Rosalind, Betsey and Fritz.