Pleasant Surprises.

We're always on the lookout for pleasant surprises that inspire us and finding this poster in the basement bathroom at one of Portland's more well-known restaurants was quite a treat.

Bonal is a quinquina, a bitter-laced and fortified wine made to be consumed before a meal to open the appetite. While it's not currently available in Maine (we're working our contacts to change that), we happen to snag a bottle for our home collection and have used it for years in other markets. It's fairly light, as far as aperitifs go, near a light-bodied sherry, and the bitterness is driven by quinine, but lends itself wonderfully to providing a punch up to a flagging spirit-driven cocktail.