We’ve been writing about our wine and travel experiences on VinoDuo for 17+ years. We discovered Instagram in 2025. And now we’ve been tapped by The Waltham Times, a non-profit, online newspaper, to to write a monthly column about our local wine and food experiences.
VinoDuo has gone multi-platform, baby!!
For a small [65,000 residents] city, Waltham has a wealth of restaurants, from highbrow to casual to quick-serve. While our first three columns, seen below, feature well-known Moody Street restaurants, we’ll go anywhere within the city limits for a nice glass of wine and a tasty meal.
APRIL 9, 2026
A Delicious Shiraz from India — yes, India — at Rassa on Moody Street
Waltham’s Restaurant Row is a foodie magnet, attracting locals and visitors with cuisine from every corner of the globe. And most boast wine lists with classic offerings from their regions.
So it’s no surprise you’ll find Chianti and pinot grigio at Italian restaurants, assyrtiko and retsina at Greek tavernas, and cabernet and chardonnay at American steak houses and cafes.
But what to drink at an Indian restaurant? Why, Indian wine, of course!
If you didn’t know India even has a wine culture — it dates back to 3000 B.C.E. — join the club. Our introduction to the wines of India came at Rassa, the Indian restaurant which opened in 2024 at 470 Moody St. There, mixed in with the usual suspects of American chardonnay, German Riesling and French rosé, we found a shiraz from Sula Vineyards, India’s leading wine producer.
The 2024 Shiraz is a deep, dark, plummy wine. It’s got some black fruit and spice on the nose, smooth berries on the palate, with a touch of cloves and a nice long finish. We paired the Sula Shiraz with garlic naan, lamb rogan josh and chicken Manchurian.
We tried the Sula Shiraz first out of curiosity but have kept on ordering it each time we’re back at Rassa. It’s a delicious surprise.
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MAY 7, 2026
Rose Wine: It’s Not Just for Summer Anymore!
Rosé wines get a bad rap. Damned with faint praise as “great summer sippers,” they are much more than a pink seasonal treat.
Rosés are made from a wide variety of red grapes, whose flavors vary wildly and whose colors range from bubble gum pink to amber to cherry red.
Speaking of cherry red, that’s both the color and the name of Magella Lampato Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo, one of our favorite Italian rosé (or rosato in Italian) wines. The name Cerasuolo – pronounced che-ra-SWOH-lo – means cherry red, and that’s what you get with this beautiful wine from Italy’s Abruzzo region. We order the Magella Lampato every time we’re at Vinotta on Moody Street, one of the few restaurants in Greater Boston serving this hard-to-find charmer.
Made from 100% Montepulciano grapes, the Magella Lampato is dazzling to look at and a pleasure to drink. Limestone and grapefruit on the nose lead to a riot of fresh berry and cherry flavors. With its solid structure and bracing acidity, the wine stands up to anything on Vinotta’s menu. We recently paired it with the Shrimp Portofino, whose blend of onion, garlic and red pepper flavors did not overwhelm this sturdy rosato. If you’re ready to consider rosé a year-round pleasure, the Magella Lampato Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo awaits.
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JUNE 4, 2026
Try the tongue-twisting grape Agiorgitiko with Greek Cuisine at The Aegean
Fans of the Greek restaurant The Aegean were heartbroken when the Watertown spot closed in 2015, followed by the Framingham location in 2021, a casualty of the pandemic. So there was cause for celebration when a reborn Aegean opened on Moody Street in 2022.
Now run by the original owners’ son, Chris Ntasios, and his wife, Christa Bazarian, the menu includes all the old Greek favorites with some new Armenian dishes, courtesy of Bazarian’s family. Our go-to choices are the broiled chicken – perfectly moist and well seasoned – and the rack of lamb. And of course, those mouth-watering lemon potatoes.
We also love the Aegean’s well-designed international wine list, with plenty of Greek and Armenian selections. VinoDuo’s wine blog information on Greek wine is limited and we are true novices with Armenian wines, so at each visit to the restaurant we try something new.
Our latest discovery is Greek Wine Cellars’ Apelia Dry Red Wine from the Peloponnese region. The Apelia is a blend of Syrah and Agiorgitiko, one of Greece’s most prevalent grapes. It’s a medium-bodied, food-friendly wine, with juicy flavors of black plum and blackberry and hints of baking spice.
Light enough to pair well with chicken and bold enough for lamb, the Apelia is an excellent choice for most of Aegean’s fare. And at under $12 a glass, it’s a bargain. In the days of $20 wines by the glass at some restaurants, Aegean’s well-priced offerings encourage diners to step outside their wine comfort zones.
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