When these wine-and-food-loving
friends and I were looking for a great wine dinner to attend, we ended our
search and just built our own…a Build Your Own Wine Dinner, so to speak. The first restaurant I thought to contact about this BYOWD was the Wine
Cellar in Rapid. I knew its regular
menu, which changes twice a year with the seasons, is always a special
treat. Plus, Pamela Light, Wine Cellar’s
owner and executive chef, also creates weekly features that her head chef,
Christopher McConnell, brings to life on customers’ plates. The wine list is also ever-evolving with
great selections from around the world.
This was the perfect place for me to browse the menus and pair items
with wines from the list.
The cozy and chic ambiance of The Wine Cellar.
The first difficult step was to
narrow down the items from the menu; my mouth was already watering. For the first course, the beef tenderloin
tacos, herb roasted potatoes, stacked caprese, and artisan cheese plate all
piqued my interest. Then for the main
course, there were so many choices! The
classic chicken pastry sounded delish. But
what about the house-made mushroom lasagna or the champagne risotto with
scallops? Both of which I personally
knew were topnotch. Don’t even get me
started on dessert. All house made (as
is everything served in the restaurant—the only item not made there is the
mustard) sweets from cheesecake to sorbet made it difficult to only choose one. The decisions were going to be tough.
Course One—Pesto and artichoke thin
crust pizza paired with Chateau Mayne Pargade white Bordeaux: the thin crust, European style pizza with
fresh basil pesto was divine. The rich
pesto and cheese blend on the pizza were great contrasting pairings with the
Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blend in the wine.
This was a tasty and refreshing pairing to start our meal.
Course one: artichoke pesto pizza with white Bordeaux
Course Two—Chef’s special filet served
atop a red-wine risotto with blue cheese crumbles paired with Point North
Oregon Pinot Noir from Sean Minor Wines:
Oh. My. Gosh!
I knew that the Wine Cellar’s Champagne risotto was amazing, but this
risotto, created with wine and blue cheese, was over-the-top! The filet was prepared perfectly. And the pairing with an earthy and fruity
Oregon Pinot was flawless.
Course Three—House-made vanilla
bean ice cream with cabernet hot fudge sauce paired with Croze Port. This was a very special, yet lighter,
dessert. The fact that the ice cream and
sauce were both house made is impressive.
The pairing with the port was spot-on, and even my fellow diners who are
still building a palate to properly appreciate port enjoyed the course.
If you love wine and food, don’t
wait for a formal wine dinner…build one yourself! Contact a great restaurant (like the Wine
Cellar) and a sommelier (like me) to help you out if needed, but great wine and
food should not be put off because of lack of opportunity. If you build it, your friends will eat…and
drink…well! BYOWD soon.
Build Your Own Wine Dinner!
My initial blog post about The Wine Cellar can be enjoyed here.
