THE NIGHT STUFF
Tuesdays at Indigo all about wine, jazz

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

From left, Allison Yarne of Punchbowl, Mark Greene of Pu'unui and Nithin Jawali of downtown took in Wrath of Jazz recently at Indigo Eurasian Cuisine. Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kristen Moon of Hawai'i Kai danced to free-form jazz.

Ryan and Darci Gordon of Salt Lake chat in Indigo's Green Room.

WRATH OF GRAPES Where: Indigo Eurasian Cuisine, 1121 Nu'uanu Ave. 521-2900 When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays Cost: $20 each (reservations required) Age of crowd: 20s-50s What to wear: Go casually dressy or in office attire. Included pupu: Chicken-and-shiitake-stuffed buns, lumpia-wrapped shrimp, seafood dumplings, lavosh, cheeses, strawberries, etc. Reservation tip: Make 'em early; seats begin filling up to two weeks in advance. Upcoming themes, presenters and wine lists are at www.indigo-hawaii.com.

Make a reservation for Indigo Eurasian Cuisine's weekly Wrath of Grapes wine club right away.

Lest you think attending a wine-tasting means being stuck in a room with a couple dozen wannabe variations of merlot-hating Miles — the "Sideways" sad-sack protagonist who pretentiously claimed he could taste "a soupcon of asparagus and a flutter of nutty Edam cheese" in his Sanford vin gris — think again.

Yes, the folks I met at Wrath were longtime wine lovers. Some of them were even longtime Wrath regulars. But insufferably snobby oenophiles? Nah.

One of Honolulu's most enduring weekly wine gatherings, Wrath of Grapes has enjoyed three years of steadily growing popularity. Its formula is simple enough.

Each Tuesday, resident Indigo wine guru Jason "Cas" Castle invites a vineyard owner or distributor to present and pour wines for an intimate gathering of about 28 in the restaurant's Opium Den. The evening is generally themed — perhaps Australian regional wines this week, maybe a single Aussie vineyard the next. Six to eight wines are sampled. Indigo serves a light selection of tasty pupu. You're then free to ask the presenters questions about any of the wines, chat with folks seated next to you or simply enjoy the pours.

And that's about it.

The theme the evening we attended was "The Psychedelic Toad" — featuring a selection of wines from 6-year-old Healdsburg, Calif., winery Toad Hollow. Winery co-owner Todd Williams opened with a very brief history of himself, his vineyard and approach to winemaking, then pretty much let a well-sequenced selection of his product speak for itself.

The evening started and ended with sparkling wines. In between came a chardonnay, a zinfandel, a 15-grape blend, two pinot noirs and even a merlot. Samples were generously poured.

Williams happily spoke with anyone who pulled him aside for a question or two. But as wine continued to pour, the initially quiet room filled with more talk and laughter than anything else. My friend and I never asked the names of the strangers sitting next to us, but we had a great time chatting with them. And about much more than just the wine, too.

Lacking any pretentiousness, Wrath was informal, unhurried and quite fun. Each new glass was poured only after sufficient time to enjoy each wine and more chat.

"Up yours, 'Sideways'! Merlot rules!" exclaimed Williams, defiantly, near evening's end as his very tasty 2002 was poured.

Miles would've needed his Xanax right about then.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.

WRATH OF JAZZ

Post-Wrath of Grapes, we stuck around — as did a few other wine-club attendees possibly hoping to chill off considerable wine buzzes — for Indigo's accompanying Wrath of Jazz.

Indigo's Green Room was already filled with a decidedly younger crowd of mostly twenty- and thirtysomethings chatting, drinking and otherwise waiting patiently for abstract jazz trio Groove Improv Artists to start their set. Selected wines from Wrath of Grapes were on sale at half price. Cover for Wrath of Jazz was free.

The Green Room and the rest of Indigo were busy for a Tuesday night. 'Round 8:30 p.m., Groove Improv Artists (sans leader/trumpeter DeShannon Higa, who was off island) took off on a tasty hour-long flight of near nonstop free-form jams mixing drums, various wind and brass instruments and a turntablist.

We skipped any more alcohol, ordered food from Indigo's short but sweet 5 p.m.-midnight Dim Sum & Dessert menu and hung out for another couple of hours of talk and jazz.

Our only disappointment wound up being the smallish portions of otherwise tasty orders of crisp goat cheese won tons ($6.75) and lumpia wrapped shrimp ($10.25).