This month JK Food Group launches a fun and educational wine series, Vino Veritas from Jodie Battles, the Wine Director behind Toro, Coppa and Little Donkey’s creative, bold and interesting wine programs. Each month she will feature a new theme of highlighted wines on our menus and explore why they are buzzing in the wine world and in the JK Food Group! An intimate group of eager learners will then come together for an informal tasting and lesson by Jodie, who will share the vino veritas, the truths of the wine.
Kicking off in August with the theme of Pét-Nats, a naturally sparkling wine, the featured vino will be highlighted on all beverage menus within the JK Food Group’s Boston restaurants, and the first class will be held Thursday, August 9th at Coppa. The theme will change on the first of each month, with classes rotating between restaurants every second Thursday. In September, look forward to featured wines from our favorite Women Winemakers, with the second Vino Veritas class at Toro!
Jodie Battles has been with JK Food Group for five years, originally coming on board as the General Manager at Toro. She caught the wine bug back in college in South Carolina and never looked back, admittedly spending all of her paychecks thereafter on wine. Chef Owners Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette recognized her sensibility for the essential cohesion between the menus and the wines and she became responsible for the wine program at each of the Boston restaurants.
“We have the duality of really good food and really good wine,” says Oringer. “These natural wines have been on our menus for a long time, the integrity of it is important to what we’re doing at all three restaurants.”
Which is why we’re starting the Vino Veritas series with Pét-Nats, or Pétillant Naturel, a sparkling wine made naturally that Jodie, Ken and Jamie have long been passionate about. It is the original sparkling wine, the process of which predates Champagne, however these days it can be found across the wine world.
“Really, it’s exciting because natural wine has become part of the conversation and people are asking for them,” says Battles. “It’s something that we’ve been showcasing for years, so it’s always pleasing when that enjoyment catches on mainstream.”
The idea behind this Pét-Nat process is to skip the human-created interventions and let wine be wine. For a group that stands on the premise of letting fresh, whole ingredients shine, it’s a perfect marriage of a food and beverage program. The natural side of wine is often described as strange, cloudy, and more evocative of the actual grape’s flavor. It seems to me, if you want your oyster covered in cocktail sauce and sitting on a saltine cracker, then maybe stick to the conventional pours, but if it’s that briny, region-specific flavor that you’re hoping to discern, then bring on the natural wine. Come learn about it this month in all its potent glory.
Please email info@jkfoodgroup.com for more information about the class or visit the restaurants and have a taste!