Flights of fancy: Twist at Hanohano's new wine bar

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Twist at Hanohano, the Sheraton's made-over restaurant located in the Hanohano Room, unveiled its new wine bar yesterday. The term "wine bar" is actually a bit misleading — this is more like a conceptual wine menu that is offered nightly in the lounge at Twist. Sticking resolutely  to the theme of flying first class (and perhaps slipping into gimmick territory, but it's forgiveable), the creators of the "Flights @ Twist" wine bar have taken the concept of flying high and run with it. The Hanohano Room is located on the 30th floor of the Sheraton, and with two of its four longs walls being made of glass, letting in a spectacular, almost aerial, view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond head, it is indeed similar to being in an airplane — albeit a posh one. It's the feeling of being high above the earth — or being in flight — that prompted the minds at Twist to create their flight-themed experience. In addition to the flying high theme, Flights @ Twist is also a play on words: flights of wine, flights of fancy.

Flights @ Twist is essentially a wine tasting bar, which makes sense, given the flight theme of the place. There are five wine menus, each consisting of three flights of wine that share varietal and/or regional charactersistics.

Menu 1: Thunder From Down Under
A menu of Southern Hemisphere wines (bold reds): Casa Lapostolle Cabernet Sauvignon from Colchagua, Chile; Green Point Cabernet-Shiraz from Victoria, Australia; Terrazas De Los Andes Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina
$12 for the trio of flights

Menu 2: Europe
A menu of European wines (smooth reds and whites): Boutari Moschofilero from Mantina, Greece; William Favre "Champs Royaux" Chablis from Burgundy, France; Fattoria Le Corti Chianti Classico from Tuscay, Italy
$13 for the trio of flights

Menu 3: ABC (Anything But Chardonnay)
A menu of various white wines from around the world: Sokol Blosser "Evolution" White Blend from Oregon, Feudi Di San Gregorio Falanghina from Campania, Italy; Eroica Riesling from Columbia Valley, Washington
$15 for the trio of flights

Menu 4: ABC (Anything But Cabernet)
A menu of various California red wines: Au Bon Climat "Le Bon Climat" Pinot Noir from Santa Maria Valley; Ferarri~Carano Merlot from Sonoma County; Ravenswood Zinfandel from Sonoma County
$17 for the trio of flights

Menu 5: Go Green
A menu of sustainable and organic wines from Mendocino County, California: Parducci Sauvignon Blanc; Sterling Chardonnay; Paul Dolan Vineyards Zinfandel
$11 for the trio of flights

In keeping with the theme, natch, the wine menus are presented as boarding passes and the trio of flights come with a "passport," that gives some background on the wines. For a limited time, the restaurant is offering a 25 percent discount on all of the wine menus between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. daily. Considering that the wines are very reasonably priced to begin with, the hapy hour special is a steal.

A pupu menu is also available, with good wine-pairing food, including ahi sashimi skewers with rice crackers for the Down Under wines, salumi, cheese and figs for the Euro wines, baked oysters and shrimp-stuffed zucchini blossoms for the white ABC menu, Peking-style duck and foie gras steamed buns for the red ABC menu and Kona kampachi and abalone salad for the green wines. Though the food and wine aren't officially paired, the Twist staff is able to make good food and wine pairing suggestions.

Flights @ Twist does just about everything right, which has a lot to do with the creators being willing to build an experience for their customers — the concept is well formulated and it's presented with style. The only factor that made the event last night less than perfect was the fact that the room was incredibly warm. Too warm to be comfortable. And there's something about eating raw seafood in a warm room that's less than appetizing. Plus, if it's about relaxing, sipping wine and taking in the view — which it is — having to stop and fan yourself, or worrying about your melting make-up is distracting, to say the least. But that's a minor misstep that can easily be remedied. But without a temperature intervention, people are going to have to escape into the air conditioned elevator for some reprieve.

Flights @ Twist
Seraton Waikiki's Hanohano Room
4:30-11 p.m. daily
Happy hour: 25 percent off all wine flights between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. daily
921-4600