Brightest Young Things

all photos: Dakota Fine

If you've ever had the pleasure of dining at KOMI (and it IS a pleasure) you are probably aware that as part of your three hour+ dining odyssey (should you chose to go with the tasting menu, which you should chose) you also get to experience once of the more inventive and original wine lists around (a little sake thrown in the mix? why not; a surprise of a dessert wine? absolutely). In charge of that portion of your night is Kathryn Bangs, who spends seven days a week making sure every sip you take lives up to the expectations of every bite you put in your mouth.

So, without further a do, it is our pleasure to introduce you to her most recent week of imbibing. Read carefully, there is plenty to gain:

Saturday

Since this particular Saturday is a special night for two of our servers we celebrate post shift with a Margarita Bar. The most popular drink is a modified St-Rita.

St-Rita

• Tequila
• St-Germain
• Fresh Lime
• Muddled Pineapple slices
• Smoked Spicy Salt
• Shake and pour over ice in a tumbler with a salted rim

Later in the evening I throw together a cocktail with leftover ingredients. I name it after one of our cooks who diligently prepares me scallops nightly.

Zachary Daiquiri

• 10 Cane Rum
• Fresh lime juice
• Yuzu
• Simple syrup
• Shake and strain into a cocktail glass with lime wheel

Sunday

2 Amy’s is awesome. Sit at the bar. Order the small plates. Time your visit carefully so small children don’t climb all over you. Myself, I like to hit it at exactly noon on Sundays for sardines, stuffed rabbit, burrata and beer.

“Friska,” Birrificio Barley, Italy

• Sardinia Brewer Nicola Perra uses malt, unmalted wheat, coriander seeds and orange peel. 5% alcohol. I love this beer – it’s got texture, citrus and spice. Perfectly acceptable at the crack of noon.

Later that evening I meet up at my favorite neighborhood joint, Room 11, for cocktails on their patio.

St-Germain Strawberry Sangria

• Bar Manager/Owner Dan Searing infuses St-Germain with strawberries and then adds white wine. DELICIOUS.

Dolin Sweet Vermouth

• Your Grandmother and I have something in common – we love drinking vermouth on the rocks. Add an orange peel and I’m in heaven. Vermouth is a fortified wine with spices, herbs and bittering agents. Because it’s fortified it lasts longer in the fridge than other wines – perfect for that late-night, post-work nip.

Alchemist Macallan 14 year Scotch

• This Speyside distillery uses Sherry oak casks. It’s golden dried fruit, sweet sherry, toffee deliciousness on ice.

Monday

Blind tasting of six wines

Monday mornings I often join in on timed blind tastings of six different wines. I’m lucky that these Master Sommelier Candidates allow me to join them – they school me every time.

This is not a casual tasting among friends (even though we are friends). You have four minutes to break down each wine – on sight, scent and taste – determining the structure of the wine (low tannin, high acidity, residual sugar). You must declare the varietal, vintage and appellation of each wine.

I have a horrible tasting – I’m nervous because I have a Court of Master Sommelier certification coming up on Saturday. For the last two years I have focused on wines from Spain, Italy and Greece – so my knowledge of New World wine borders on embarrassing. It will need to improve by leaps and bounds for the test Saturday.

After studying for several hours I hit up Againn --a Gastropub in Penn Quarter that opens early and stays open all afternoon for brews and cocktails. As the bar manager, JP Caceres is the only one that gets away with calling me “honey.” I think it’s because he’s Latin.

JP’s “Tricky Rickey”

• The Rickey is DC’s native cocktail first enjoyed by Colonel Joe Rickey in 1883. The DC Craft Bartenders Guild has dedicated July to Rickeys for the last three years. This year, variations of this cocktail were created by 26 local bartenders at watering holes spanning from Virginia to Maryland. JP’s Rickey is a spiced citrus take using Gin, Cocci Americano (the original recipe of Lillet Blanc) and, of course, lime. He brings it home with crushed ice -- my kryptonite during summer months.

I head to Bibiana in hopes of grabbing a St-Germain Cocktail – a deliciously refreshing combination of sparkling wine, soda water and St-Germain served over ice with a twist. They seem to be out of St-Germain so I order a glass of wine instead.

Etna Bianco, Tenuta della Terre Nere, Sicily, Italy, 2009

• This white wine is sourced from Mount Etna – a live volcano with unique soil resistant to phylloxera. These indigenous varietals grow at some of the highest elevations in Europe. This wine is fresh and mineral driven. Delicious.

Dinner is at Burma – a tiny room on 5th and H St. We have Green Tea Leaf Salad with a cold Tsingtao beer from China.

Tuesday

I refrain from indulging on Tuesday, but I do open and taste 27 bottles during service. I taste every bottle served by the glass to make sure the wine is correct. Two bottles are corked (tastes like wet cardboard). I also happen to break the screw off my wine key – I’ve never seen this before.

Wednesday

I usually taste wine from Greece, Spain and Italy so it’s a treat to mix it up and taste Burgundy and California wines. Here’s a list of wines tasted –

Meursault, Morey Blanc, 1er Cru, Boucheres, France, 2000

Corton Charlemagne, Bonneau du Martray, France, 2007

Chardonnay, Tandem, Lorenzo Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California, 2005

Morey-St-Denis, Lignier-Michelot, 1er Cru, Les Faconnieres, France 2000

Pernaud-Vergelesses, Pavelot, 1er Cru, Les Vergelesses, France, 2004

Nuit-St-George, J.F. Mugnier, 1er Cru, Clos des Marechales, France 2004

Pinot Noir, Stephan Ross, Aubaine Vineyard, San Luis Obisbo, California, 2004

We move on to a flight of single vintage, single barrel, single estate Cognacs dating back to 1944 – the first vintage after the Germans vacated the Cognac region of France near the end of WWII. Grosperrin is one of the last independent Cognac houses—they work as a broker to buy stock from long time growers and producers. These bottles are incredibly rare and wholesale between $176 and $1250 a bottle. Here’s a list of what I tasted --

1989 Borderies

1989 Petite Champagne Coeur de Fut

1991 Bois Ordinaires Coeur de Fut

1976 Petite Champagne Coeur de Fut

1971 Grand Champagne

1970 Grand Champagne Coeur de Fut

1968 Fins Bois

1962 Petite Champagne

1944 Grand Champagne Brut de Fut

Perhaps it’s the complexity and age of the Cognac, perhaps it the fact that I’ve now drowned myself in Burgundy and grape spirit, but I buy some beautiful Cognac and pre-order some Armagnac produced on my birth year – 1984. The Armagnac comes from the oldest Armagnac trading house, Castarede, which was founded in 1832 under Napoleon III.

After service I get a text from Simon Ford – every bartender’s favorite person. He is in town per request of the White House – finally some respect for spirits professionals! He tells me he’s ordering me a steak so I hail a cab and meet up with him at Founding Farmers.

It seems to be a Mezcal and Amaro night.

Mezcal Daisy

• Smokey, sweet, citrus concoction from Brendan at the Gibson.

St-Germain Margarita with Mezcal float

• I buy a couple of these for West Wing staffers at The Passenger – not because they work at the White House, but because they are adorable.

Bartolo Nardini Amaro Bassano

• As a bitter end to the night – I take a quick nip of Amaro with the Passenger’s bartender Jamie McBain. “Amaro” translates to “bitter” in Italian – it is an herbal liqueur that I simply adore.

Thursday

During service I open a bottle of Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac, France, 1996 for a table. They are nice enough to let me enjoy a taste. The aromatics are transcendent.

Friday

I’m on my best behavior because I have my sommelier test early in the morning, but I still can’t help but nip some small glasses of my favorite wines after shift.

Falanghina, Terradora di Paolo, Campania, Italy, 2009

• All fleshy peach, apricot pit, lemon oil and minerals. This is a native Greek varietal that was transported to Italy during Roman times.

Assyrtico Blend, Mercouri, Kallisto, Ilia, Greece, 2009

• Located on the western Peloponnese is my favorite Greek winery – Mercouri Estate. I have always had a dream of running away to live at this winery, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. They make their own olive oil at the estate along with growing a multitude of citrus varieties. Most interestingly, they also breed peacocks. I was lucky enough to visit them this April (right after the volcano cloud settled down).

Deutz Champagne

• Champagne is my desert island drink.

Saturday

I wake up before 6am because I can’t really sleep. Plus, I have to be at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at 8am for the sommelier certification and I still don’t know what I’m going to wear. I made a promise to myself some time ago that I would never wear a pantsuit again. This makes some engagements difficult – specifically, when I’m asked to wear a pantsuit. I decide on a slate grey long sleeve silk dress with tights and flats and hope I don’t loose too many points.

The exam has three parts and takes most of the day. There is theory – a written test. Tasting – a blind tasting of two wines. And Service -- where they run you in circles. Literally. Clockwise circles. While carrying trays of glassware.

In true bon vivant fashion, results of the exam are given after Champagne toasts.

Barnaut “Grande Reserve,” Grand Cru Champagne

As Napoleon said, “In victory we deserve it, in defeat we need it.” This time I’m lucky enough to be victorious. I pass.

I leave the Mandarin Oriental Hotel after enjoying a Mint Julep at Sou’Wester. Then, in efforts to wash off the pretention (I had to memorized the proper way to address an Archbishop – it’s “Your Grace” in case you’re interested) I head to Asylum for 3 dollar bottles of Brooklyn Lager and baby shots of Jamesons.

Previously in Drink Diary:

• 12/28: Gina Chersevani - Drink Diary
• 6/14: Orr Shtuhl Drink Diary
• 5/31: Patrick Owens Drink Diary
• 4/19: Drink Diary: Jonathan Fain
• 3/14: CityZen's Andy Myers
• 12/28: Drink Diaries 2010: A Selection
• 9/21: Derek Brown & Chantal Tseng
• 8/18: Drink Diary: Owen Thomson
• 5/24: Drink Diary: Adam Bernbach, Bar Manager-PROOF
• 5/20: Beer Diary: Greg Engert of ChurchKey