Tasting Flights

Our Tasting Flights program is an exciting, if easily overlooked, feature of the Legal Sea Foods beverage program. For those who’ve never ordered a Flight, it’s a sampler we offer of three different beverages (wine, Port or spirits) that you can order to experience a comparative tasting at your table or the bar. We initiated this program several years ago after noticing how many people enjoy discussing their preferences after tasting a variety of flavors. The popularity of these Flights first surfaced when we initiated a month-long focus on wines of Chile in 2009; almost 2,000 guests ordered a comparative tasting of Chilean wine over the period. Our recently concluded focus on Alsace improved on this number; in the month of June there were over 3,000 Flights of wine served overall.

What this has taught me is that when our service teams identify guests eager to try something new and offer them an opportunity that appeals to their spirit of adventure, the response tends to be very favorable. It’s clear that recommendations are the key because few guests visit restaurants with the intention of reading menus or wine lists carefully enough to find these tasting opportunities. Simply printing Flights on our lists has less impact than when a waiter or bartender points them out.

With new wine lists rolling out in many of our restaurants over the next several weeks, this is a great opportunity for regular diners to try some of the new and exciting wines we’re offering in the Flight format. One of the virtues of ordering a Flight is that you don’t have to spring for a bottle or even a full glass of an unfamiliar wine to be able to taste it. We offer tasting cards with all of our Flights where you can take notes on what appeals to you for future reference. Here are the Flights we’re offering in many of our Massachusetts restaurants beginning on July 13th:

GREAT SHELLFISH WINES $9.95
- Claude Branger “Le Fils des Gras Moutons” Muscadet, Loire Valley, 2009
- Domaine Roger Champault “Les Pierris” Sancerre, Loire Valley, 2010
- Domaine Zind-Humbrecht “Gueberschwihr” Riesling, Alsace, 2007

This is an opportunity to compare three different French wines, each from a different grape variety and vintage, each bone dry, with minerally, crisp, citrus-influenced flavors, to see which ones you enjoy most with our signature raw shellfish.

TERROIRS OF CHARDONNAY $11.50
- Sonoma-Cutrer “Russian River Ranches,” Sonoma Coast, 2009
- Gainey Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, 2009
- Ramey Cellars, Carneros, 2008

“Terroir” is a French term that incorporates all of the environmental influences (climate, soil, weather, etc.), impacting grape flavor. Three outstanding coastal regions of California that produce Chardonnay are represented here and, while these three wines are made in an almost identical manner (barrel fermented and aged, stirred on the yeast during maturation), the differences among them are apparent once you taste each in a comparative context.

RED WINE WITH FISH $9.25
- Bonny Doon “Fish Out of Water” Garnacha, Monterey, 2009
- Frederic Mabileau, Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil “Les Rouilleres,” Loire Valley, 2009
- DeLoach “Block 1950” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, 2010

This is a fun flight comparing three different seafood-friendly red wines that feature prominent tart berry fruit flavors and light-to-medium body, from three different grape varieties. Two are made to our specifications (the Garnacha and Pinot Noir) by famous wineries to complement our fish; the third is a Cabernet Franc from the great Loire Valley 2009 vintage.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING: THE GREAT 2007's $11.50
- Markham Vineyards Merlot, Napa Valley, 2007
- Shafer Merlot, Napa Valley, 2007
- Kenwood “Jack London” Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma Valley, 2007

2007 was a special year in Northern California for big, full-bodied red wine; these three gems are outstandingly ripe, lush and flavorful, illustrating the virtues of the vintage. For those who dismiss Merlot as a light, insipid wine that has little depth, the 2007 Markham and Shafer will surely cause you to re-evaluate.

So as you can see, the whole gamut of flavors is on display, including some of our more obscure wines that you might hesitate to order without tasting beforehand. Guests have repeatedly told me that they discovered a new favorite wine which they continue to order and enjoy after experiencing it in a Flight and that they probably would never have chosen it without having had the opportunity to taste it comparatively. And one of the best ways we recommend that you finish dinner? A chocolate-based dessert with a Flight of the Ten, Twenty and Thirty Year OldTawny Ports that we offer!