Dining, Food & Wine Article |
In Good Company
Five Boston bon vivants pair wine with winnings.
By Christie Matheson
- Divas Uncorked toast a night out at Mohegan Sun. Photo by Kathleen Dooher.
DRINK LIKE A DIVA
The Divas recommend their top summer reserves.
The Divas recommend their top summer reserves.
Divas Uncorked, a group of 10 local professional women who have hosted spirited wine events since 1999, adhere to a strict motto: “wine savvy, not wine snobby.” The ladies often take their tastings on the road—from Martha’s Vineyard to South Africa—so when five of the sassy oenophiles descend on Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun, the resort is ready for them with fine wines and a little after-dinner entertainment.
>>7 P.M. At Michael Jordan’s Steak House, the group welcomes the night with a Veuve Clicquot toast. “We learn more when a professional chooses for us,” says Diva Rosalind Johnson of general manager Mia McSherry’s pairing menu. The first of many bottles, a Conundrum sauvignon blanc, provokes nostalgia for a 2002 trip to the California winery, and suddenly, food, drink, and scintillating discussion flow freely. Pulitzer Prize–winning Diva Katherine Kennedy plunges a blackberry into a palate-cleansing Inniskillin ice wine while the first of three steak dishes arrives with a Shafer petite sirah (the favorite of the night). By dessert, boisterous conversation rules: “Make sure you let Michael Jordan know,” announces artist Barbara Cruz, “that there were some fine chocolate ladies in the house tonight.”
>>10:30 P.M. A few Divas head for the slots, but Cruz plays blackjack. Losing four straight hands doesn’t temper her energy—she moves on to craps, where a hot roller helps her win everything back, plus more. Carole Alkins, director of client services for the Boston Red Sox, raises her voice above the others. “I have no idea what she’s doing,” she says, laughing, “but she’s good!”
>>12:30 A.M. The Divas are still going strong at Leffingwells, a lounge-like bar dominated by a three-story indoor crystal “mountain.” Alkins orders Sambuca as Gert Cowan, a former Boston NAACP board member, orders cognac. An hour later, the ladies are still sipping and dishing; the talk turns to travel and, then, ideas for their next extravagant outing.
>>Mohegan Sun, One Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville, CT, 888-226-7711, mohegansun.com.
>>7 P.M. At Michael Jordan’s Steak House, the group welcomes the night with a Veuve Clicquot toast. “We learn more when a professional chooses for us,” says Diva Rosalind Johnson of general manager Mia McSherry’s pairing menu. The first of many bottles, a Conundrum sauvignon blanc, provokes nostalgia for a 2002 trip to the California winery, and suddenly, food, drink, and scintillating discussion flow freely. Pulitzer Prize–winning Diva Katherine Kennedy plunges a blackberry into a palate-cleansing Inniskillin ice wine while the first of three steak dishes arrives with a Shafer petite sirah (the favorite of the night). By dessert, boisterous conversation rules: “Make sure you let Michael Jordan know,” announces artist Barbara Cruz, “that there were some fine chocolate ladies in the house tonight.”
>>10:30 P.M. A few Divas head for the slots, but Cruz plays blackjack. Losing four straight hands doesn’t temper her energy—she moves on to craps, where a hot roller helps her win everything back, plus more. Carole Alkins, director of client services for the Boston Red Sox, raises her voice above the others. “I have no idea what she’s doing,” she says, laughing, “but she’s good!”
>>12:30 A.M. The Divas are still going strong at Leffingwells, a lounge-like bar dominated by a three-story indoor crystal “mountain.” Alkins orders Sambuca as Gert Cowan, a former Boston NAACP board member, orders cognac. An hour later, the ladies are still sipping and dishing; the talk turns to travel and, then, ideas for their next extravagant outing.
>>Mohegan Sun, One Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville, CT, 888-226-7711, mohegansun.com.
Originally published in Boston magazine, July 2006
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