Date Night: Unums

As published in the 10/7 edition of the Nashua Telegraph (click link to view Telegraph version).

Like most married couples with children, my wife and I have date nights that allow us to have time for each other without the rigors of bringing along the family. This past week, we decided to take our date night to Unums.

We selected Unums because of their Wine Down Wednesday program. On Wednesdays, they open five different bottles of wine, which are normally only available by the bottle, and offer them by the glass. It is a nice way to try normally more expensive bottles without paying top dollar. They also offer a flight of these wines. Wine flights are becoming a more common, and welcomed, addition to restaurant wine experiences. A flight involves a few different wines that are served as a group in tasting portions (usually 2-3 ounce pours), to allow you to try a number of different types of wines without paying full glass prices.

We decided on a wine flight to accompany our array of appetizers. Unums has a continuously rotating menu, which allows co-owner and chef Constantine Brianas to show off his culinary repertoire. The dishes selected were the Unums Tart, Pork Medallions, and the Wild Mushroom and Spinach Gnocchi. Chef Brianas’ creations were a delicious accompaniment to our wines and his well-developed dishes, especially the Unums Tart, energized our taste buds.

The wines that were selected for the flight by co-owner and passionate wine lover, Stephen Williams, offered a delightful assortment of diverse varietals:

The Bodegas Agnusdei (Albariño), from the Rias Baixes region in northwest Spain, was a very light, crisp and smooth way to start off the tasting. For those not familiar with Albariño, it is somewhat similar to Pinot Grigio in taste. This wine had a very nice amount of pear and pineapple in the aroma and also on the palate. I give this refreshing wine an 88 point rating.

To continue our progress from light to heavy, we had the Villa Di Corlo Giaco (Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot) from Italy, which offered a nice transition into the reds. The aroma of smoked cherry was mirrored on the palate, along with the typical dark berries imparted by the Cabernet/Merlot blending. The unique element in this wine was the subtle hint of eucalyptus (yes, the same leafy greens that koalas enjoy). Although the finish was somewhat short, this was a lovely wine. I rate this at 88 points as well, as it was a very good wine.

Staying in Italy, we partook in a Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva (Sangiovese) as the third tasting. It was a dry wine with blackberry on the palate and nose. Its tannins offered a little spike, which allowed it to stand up to the food we were eating. The Felsina was a very agreeable wine. I give this an 89 point rating.

The next wine was my favorite of the flight, a Michael & David Phillips Petite (Petite Sirah). Personally, I like my wines bold with a nice level of complexity. This Petite Sirah offered both characteristics. The aroma and taste shared notes of blackberry and currants. However, it was the familiar taste of cigar that made this wine memorable. Some slight peppery notes, which my wife accurately pointed out, rounded out this very good wine. It is deserving of a 90 point rating.

The final tasting in the flight was the Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Artemis (Cabernet Sauvignon). This was a pleasant wine to drink and it offered a very good amount of well developed blackberry and currant. It had a nice medium to medium-heavy body. I would give this wine 87 points because it was one dimensional, yet essentially pleasant. I am a huge fan of Stag’s Leap’s slightly older vintages (2000 and earlier), but recently I feel they have fallen from great to good. Again, this is all personal preference and my wife certainly enjoyed this wine.

Overall, Unums provided a wonderful escape from reality for a few hours. Stephen and Walter, our waiter, were very gracious with their knowledge and caring conversation. I would highly recommend Unums for your date night and hope you share a similar experience.

Information about Unums
Location: 47 E. Pearl St, Nashua
Phone: 603.621.6500
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 5:00-Close
www.unums.com

About Wine Ratings
95-100 Classic: A Phenomenal Wine!
90-94 Outstanding: A wine of excellent character and style
85-89 Very Good: A wine with some special qualities
83-84 Good: A solid well-made wine
< 83 Why bother?

Date Night: Unums

Unums: They totally get it!

As many of you know I have launched a business venture to try to improve the quality of restaurant wine offerings and service. The goal of Senel Wine Consulting is to help restaurants select quality wines at each price point to allow patrons to have an exceptional restaurant experience.

This past Saturday my wife and I had a chance to get out on a date night. We decided to go with somewhere which we have not been previously. We went to Unums in downtown Nashua and immediately I knew we made the right choice.

Co-owner Stephen Williams greeted us at the door with a handshake and escorted us to our table. From there on we had a terrific culinary experience. We decided on going with three appetizers instead of entrees so that we could sample some of Chef Brianas’ creations. With a line-up of fresh gnocchi & shrimp in a peanut sauce, a red pepper stuffed with mozzarella and sausage, and finished it off with baked brie & fruit plate how could we go wrong?! FYI – the portions were very generous!

We accompanied our meal with a bottle of 2005 Robert Stemmler Nugent Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. It was a very fragrant Pinot and went well with all three dishes. It had a smoked cherry nose and led to cherry and an earthy/smoky note on the palate. The tannins were mellowed out by the meal. It was elegant and complex with a very nice balance and pleasant finish. It is almost up there with the Domaine Drouhin, however the Drouhin inches it out in terms of finesse and complexity. Still a terrific wine! However, on its’ own merit I am scoring this a solid 91.

For dessert we enjoyed a glass of 1999 Felsina Vin Santo from the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany. This was a very interesting wine due to the fact that it had such strong cognac features, yet once I had a chance to look it up (although the information was minimal) it does not seem to be fortified. Hence the nose was of very rich butterscotch similar to cognac. The palate however was very appealing with a lot of fleshy fruit and some honey going on, with the most memorable of the fruits being apricot. This is certainly a slow sipping wine and very fun to try on special occasions. I am by no means a dessert wine expert, however I found the butterscotch scent to be somewhat overpowering. Overall, I would score this wine an 89. It was very well crafted, but my aversion to cognac may have swayed the score slightly lower (don’t forget, every person’s preferences are different!).

Back to Unums!

Stephen and our waitress, Kira, were exceptionally gracious and attentive, yet not overbearing in the slightest. We were there for about three hours and it truly felt like they enjoyed us hanging around. Stephen and I had a chance to talk about the wine offering and also recommended some of his preferred wines. He also shared with me his ambitious endeavor to further improve the wine list and attempt to obtain Wine Spectator recognition. Considering his passion for enhancing his patrons’ experiences and love for well-crafted wine I believe he will certainly obtain this.

The owner, staff, atmosphere, food and drinks, brilliant! In the past I believed that Michael Timothy’s offered the best total dining experience in Southern NH. In my opinion they better stay on their game, because I can definitively say that Unums proudly rivals any New Hampshire establishment for culinary supremacy!

Unums: They totally get it!