Going the Extra Mile
Not long ago, I stayed at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in suburban Denver (you can read the GTTested review in the February issue of Global Traveler). And they were doing a cool thing in their Fireside Lounge–offering sampler “flights” of wines and cheeses.
I love it when restaurants or bars do that sort of thing, for multiple reasons. One reason is that, like many a business traveler, sometimes I’ve had an elaborate lunch and I’m looking for something light at dinnertime, so a cheese plate is great for that. Another is that I like sampling wines. Even if you’re a connoisseur who really knows your wine, different vintages have different qualities so it’s always nice to try new ones.
Another thing that I thought the Fireside Lounge (and hotel) F&B folks should get kudos for is just the whole concept of using their off-lobby lounge bar to serve this sort of thing. It makes a nice change from typical “bar food.” The setup was really nice, too: Three small sampler glasses of wine (each identified by a little placard so you know what you’re trying) fit into indentations on a wooden tray, and the rest of the tray holds a variety of cheeses and goodies. The cheeses range from a soft goat cheese to a hard cheese to a rich creamy Brie (or similar). And along with thin slices of crusty bread and crackers, there was also cherry compote, smoked almonds and Kalamata olives.
Not every flavor went with every other one, but that made it just more fun to find out that a certain wine went well with a certain cheese, or that a particular cheese was enhanced by cherries.
Winetasting by flights isn’t unusual to find in the wine bars of big cities, and in Europe, but I gather it’s not all that common in Denver yet, so that’s another reason I commend the Inverness and its Fireside Lounge for innovating. And as a wine lover, it’s always good to discover new things; in my case I came away with notes to look for Ray’s Station Merlot from California’s Alexander Valley.
