Yesterday, we kicked off our Ten Best San Francisco cocktails list in typical Nirvino booze-soaked fashion. Bourbon & Branch, Absinthe, Beretta, Cantina, Elixir, Alembic, Zeitgeist, Jack Falstaff, Epic Roasthouse were all on the docket. The highlights of the afternoon were two off-the-cuff jams sessions from mixology savants Joel Baker @ Bourbon & Branch and Jeff Hollinger @ Absinthe. I’ll be posting details on each of our sessions in the next couple weeks. For results of the first Ten Best issue and all the cocktail photos from the afternoon, check these links out:

• http://www.nirvino.com/stories/top-ten-cocktails-san-francisco/10-2008/
• http://flickr.com/photos/nirvino/sets/72157607843655899/show/

If you haven’t reviewed a drink and would like to from the event, please visit http://e.urtini.com/.

A big thanks to Gina Milano and the great staff at Le Club for making this an event to remember, regardless of how much we drank. Also, a big thanks to our fearless bartenders who concocted some fantastic new U’Luvka Vodka cocktails.

The winning cocktail was Joel Baker’s “Cougar Trap” that you can find at Bourbon & Branch.

Support your local bartenders by stopping by and ordering a drink from them. Here are the cocktails we had and where you can find them:

Joe Parilli’s “Lato U’Luvka” — Bacar
Jackie Gordon’s “Asian Ginger Lemonade” — The Redwood Room
Joel Baker’s “Cougar Trap” — Bourbon & Branch
Cassidy Wollenberg’s “French Maid” — Le Club

If you’re interested in stocking your home bar with U’Luvka Vodka, here are the fine local San Francisco establishments that carry it:
John Walker
Le Club
The Redwood Room
Aqua

Another congratulations to Steven for winning a bottle of U’Luvka Vodka for the most creative review of the night for the “Cougar Trap”:

“old yet firm - well put together - but Mother wouldn’t approve”

The next mixology contest will be sometime in the last two weeks of August. Stay tuned…

So Wednesday night was the inaugural get together with our friends.  Since many of us are Nirvino devotees, we aptly named our group, Nirvano Gran Crew” (catchy huh?).  For our first “outing”, each couple brought an appetizer and a favorite bottle of wine.  I think one aspect of my love of wine stems (no pun intended) from great memories with friends enjoying wine either at home or while on vacation.  We chose a Merryvale Las Amigas Merlot ’03 to bring with us.  Merryvale wines, particularly Beckstoffer Vineyards are some of our favorites. 

As we all arrived last night, excitement was in the air!  Most importantly it was great seeing friends you don’t see on a daily or even (unfortunately) a weekly basis.  Our hosts for the evening, Andy and Cathy, set a great table for us.  We gathered and enjoyed some great food: various cheese, mango quesadillas, stuffed mushrooms and an awesome ahi tuna appetizer.   Our wines for last night ranged from Prosecco to a Shane Syrah ’06 (I must say this was my favorite wine of the night – full bodied with essence of black cherry) and everything in between.  The wonderful thing about the food and wine is that it in many ways it is a great connection to the couple who thoughtfully prepared and selected the food and wine we enjoyed.

The buzz at the table (again no pun…) was contagious.  It is great to sit back at a gathering like last night and listen to the conversation and laughter with good friends.  We did get down to business and set up our basic structure for our first round of dinners.  We set dates to get together once a month at a house (otherwise you know what happens…), the hosts will set the menu and any needed assistance from our group.  I think this is a great idea in that it will allow each couple’s style and expertise to shine through on their night!

Our evening ended with an eye toward August and our next installment of the Nirvano Gran Crew Supper Club.  I hope our beginnings spur you to call some friends and set up your own group.  See you next month for the August chapter of the Nirvino Gran Crew adventure in food and wine!