Prisoner Wines at Arte Cafe

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Back to Arte Cafe this week for another wine dinner. Tonight's dinner including wine is $45. How Richard does this is mystery to me.  3 of the wines are from the Prisoner Wine Group which Constellation Brands bought out last year.

Tonight's dinner was another huge sold out crowd. Three very large tables with at least 12 to 16 people at each table and the rest of us at the smaller tables. Again they took over the outdoor patio area for dinner.

Started off with a Fresh Summer Salad of mixed greens, apples, pears and berries with toasted almonds. The dressing had nice citrus notes to it. Refreshing but again a real pain to each with all those friesse greens that are so cumbersome to eat. They may look pretty but not when they are hanging out your mouth. No matter how small you cut them is just not happening  The wine was a Steorra sparkling which was quite nice. Paired well the that citrus vinaigrette. This wine was not from the Prisoner group. It is made by Joe Wagner and is a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir from the Russian River Valley.

Second course is a Organic Mushroom Risotto with crispy pork belly. Risotto was done right with a nice earthy flavor. Pork belly was crisp and very tender. The wine is a 2014 Cuttings, a blend of 80% cabernet and the balance a mix of petite syrah, syrah and zinfandel. A nice  balanced wine with just a hint of spice, dark fruit and a bit of coffee.

Third course served is a Prime New York medallions in a peppercorn sauce with mashed potatoes and corn. Again the beef course is a disappointment. Not much flavor except for the sauce, sliced way too thin.  Arte Cafe seems to have an issue with beef. Dinner two weeks ago also had issues with the beef dish. Paired with a 2015 red wine, "The Prisoner". This was Dave Phinneys first wine he made. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, petite syrah, syrah , zinfandel and charbono. Nice blend , loads of berry flavor with some chocolate thrown in.

Dessert is a Cheesecake with fresh fruit and a chocolate covered strawberry. Don't know if this is house made or bought from an outside source. Cheesecake was very smooth and creamy but like a lot of other cheesecakes not anything overly special about it. The wine paired was a 2015 "Blindfold" a blend of chardonnay, roussanne, viognier, grenache blanc, marssane and chenin blanc. Way too many white Rhone grapes for me to enjoy this wine. 

A good  dinner for the price. Nice wines. But nothing to get me too excited. But a good evening out with good company and that makes my day.