Beringer Wine at Arte Cafe

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Unusual to have  a restaurant host a wine dinner so close to the holidays but tonight Arte Cafe was full with both dining areas being used.  www.artecafe.com.

Started out with 3 glasses of the Beringer Napa Chardonnay. A tad oaky but not that undrinkable. They served this with a  Diver Scallop, cooked perfectly, and Pistachio nut cream sauce Very good dish.

Next up was a Scottish Salmon wrap with braised leeks and potatoes in a creamy vanilla sauce. This again was an excellent dish. Salmon was moist and wrapped with thin slices of potatoes. Paired with a Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay. Not as oaky as the first wine. Went well with the dish. Only had two glasses of this wine.  They are very generous tonight with their wine pours.

Third course is a Lamb Shank Ossobuco . Lamb was very tender and slid right off the bone. Good flavor A Beringer, Knights Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon was the wine choice. Again two glasses. A good pairing.

Main course I did not eat. Had them box it up for me to take home. I had reached the saturation point.  It was a Petite Filet with pearl onions and fingerling potatoes. Watching the others eat it looked very good. Cooked medium rare and was very tender by the way the knife cut through it. Pain getting old and cannot indulge like I used to. But I just cannot force myself to keep eating after I reach a certain point.  They paired a Beringer Quantum red blend (bordeaux). This was a very good wine. It was chewy and talked to you. Another two glasses. I ended up splitting a six pack. Priced very well.

Dessert was just what I like. A Chocolate Mocha Ice Cream. Just enough to cleanse the palate and not enough to fill you up.

So the food was very good tonight. Service was better than it usually is. And even the wine nazi server was more generous than usual. Maybe because  it's the holiday season and it  is rubbing off on people Nice evening, good dining companion.