Gino T.
Yelp
What a great experience! One of our group put together a wine dinner at this unassuming "winery" in an industrial park on the West Sam Houston Parkway, and it was a fantastic surprise.
Our evening started with charcuterie and cheeses, along with the $20 Nice Santa Julia Brut Rose Pinot Noir from Mendoza, Argentina, a pleasant sparkling wine, which carried over to the first course of crispy blue-cheese stuffed olives, presented on toothpicks to form a tree. While a little salty to my taste, they were a big hit at the tables.
The next course was a lemon-barley risotto with summer squash, paired with the $22 2012 Nice Sauvignon Blanc, also from Mendoza. This Sauvignon Blanc had a more subtle aroma and taste than most others we've tasted, and paired beautifully with the food.
We moved on to a pan-seared steelhead trout with tarragon butter, served with asparagus, paired with a $26 2011 Les Heritiers du Comte Lafon, a Chardonnay which matched very well with the fish.
The fourth course was a chicken cassoulet with fresh fava beans, paired with the $33.99 2010 Nice Malbec Reserve, another Mendoza wine, possibly the hit of the evening.
Next up was a roughly 4-oz prime beef tenderloin with shitake-gorgonzola sauce, served with two cabs: the $22 Nice Testamento, a lighter wine from Mendoza, and then the $60 Napa Valley 2011 Nice "Notorious", a noseful and mouthful of wine.
Our dessert was a delicious Alsatian plum tart, served with almond ice cream, and paired with the 2012 Nice Demi-Sec Muscat of Alexandria of Mendoza. Frankly, this wine was not well-received at our table, as it had an off-putting flavor.
The cost of the entire dinner--$110 per person, all-inclusive. Our group plans to do this on a roughy quarterly basis. Requirement is that you have a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 28 people, and that payment is in advance. As I understand it, the menu changes, based on what ingredients are freshest and available.
All wine prices quoted above are full retail. They have a wine club which offers members AT LEAST a 20% discount on bottle prices--in the case of the Malbec, the discount was 35% on the 750 ml bottles.