It’s hard to believe our seven week winter break has come and gone. The holidays were wonderful, my wife and I spent two weeks in the British West Indies, got a tan and still managed to enjoy some great Italian Wine. I couldn’t believe the nice selection of Italian Wine available in the Turks and Caicos. I like to grill on vacation, which naturally means a nice bottle of red wine is a must. We spent time reflecting on 2008, brainstorming on 2009, trying to come up with exciting new ideas for our wine program. Discussing upcoming events and programs can be very productive in 85 degree weather relaxing on a lounge chair on a twelve mile sandy beach.

I’d like to back up a little bit and give you a little background on some improvements we had done at the end of the year and while we were on vacation. We added a two thousand bottle, climate controlled wine cellar in our lounge, along with enclosing the staircase leading down from the front entrance for more privacy. We also added a gas fireplace for a more intimate experience.

On Friday, January 30Th, we held a small wine dinner in our newly improved lounge for twenty five guests. It was a great setting for a wine dinner and has become our new model for wine dinners at Varanos. This format will allow us to keep our restaurant open when we hold a wine event, we will still offer the regular menu in the dining room. We were fortunate to have the winemaker from Tenute Silvio Nardi, Emmanuele Nardi as our guest speaker. Nardi is one of the premier producers of Brunello, the dinner culminated with the 2003 single vineyard Manachiara Brunello. It was still a baby and definitely needs aging, that said, it was fabulous. Everyone welcomed the New Year with a toast and some great food.

We have a lot of great plans for our wine program this year, starting with a selection of bottles of wine on Monday evenings for fifteen dollars. We plan on using our wine cellar for purchasing great deals on Italian wine and utilizing it for special events. We are looking at hosting three or four wine dinners a year with our new format, along with a number of tastings. We’re even looking at having a private table for dinner for four in our wine cellar. I will be attending Vin Italy this year scouring Italy for great deals on wines along with truffle products and some unique ingredients to incorporate into our menu.

Take advantage of 2009, there is going to be an incredible amount of good wine out there to be enjoyed. I know that no matter what, a nice meal, paired with a bottle of wine is a great way to finish your day.

Dick Varano