Winesday with The Wine Shop – La Spezia Wine Dinner
Dan and Ellen O’Connell at The Wine Shop in Koloa. Photo courtesy of The Wine Shop.
Tasting Kauai is happy to partner with the O’Connells for Winesday with The Wine Shop. Owners Dan and Ellen O’Connell are a delightful couple whose passion for wine is infectious, their knowledge is vast, and the service is friendly. Their beautiful store carries everything from wine and spirits to gourmet foods and sweet treats. Check in with Tasting Kauai every Wednesday to learn about their favorites. ¡Salud!
This week is very exciting for wine and food lovers alike! The Wine Shop is teaming up with Koloa’s hottest new eatery La Spezia Restaurant and Wine Bar. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase some great Italian wines paired with rustic home-style Italian fare.
La Spezia owner Liz Foley-McGinn and executive chef Megan Handke have prepared a diverse menu for the wine dinner that will be nothing short of stellar. A few of the menu items include Kauai Clams served on a pebbled beach of beluga lentils, stuffed quail in a nest of frisee and lamb osso bucco.
The four wines paired with this amazing feast have been carefully chosen by Sarah Klein, Italian buyer and manager for Kobrand’s portfolio of wines in the United States. She currently lives in Italy and has a vast knowledge of great Italian wines available in Hawaii. The wines she chose for the dinner are from various regions in Italy and include the Tenuta di Nozzle Bruniche Chardonnay, Michele Chiarlo Le Orme Barbera d’Asti, Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto Toscano, and Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti.The beauty of Italian wines, besides being some of the world’s best wines, is the seamless ability to pair them with so many types of cuisines. Not to mention, they do not add sulfites to the finished product at the time of bottling which reduces the chance of getting a hangover. Customers are always coming into The Wine Shop and telling me their experience that they had while traveling in Italy. For the most part, they share that they drank wine with every meal and throughout the day and the next morning they had no headache. This is because of the lack of sulfites!
We look forward to seeing you at the shop, or at the Wine Dinner on Friday night. You can call 808-635-7856 to secure your reservation. You can read more about La Spezia in this week’s MidWeek Kauai.
See you at The Wine Shop!
Aloha,
Dano and Ellen O’Connell
The Wine Shop is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. On the first Saturday of each month from 4 to 7 p.m., they host monthly wine tastings. For more information call 808-742-7305 or visit www.thewineshopkauai.com. The shop is located just across the street from the Koloa Post Office.