MCBEE'S WINE DIARY: A Night Out at The Charles

THE MCBEE WINE BLOG DIARY

My mother, Camille McBee, partnered with Bobby G. Smith, Winemaker, in North Texas for over 30 years. Together they worked to develop a National and International name for Texas Wines. In 2009 she passed away too young, but she left behind a Texas Wine Industry that was better because of her dedication and she left a family with a deep rooted love and appreciation for wine and entertaining. This blog serves as a diary of my adventures in wine and as a lasting toast to my mother. -Cheers!

This blog is NOT intended to be the authority on tasting notes, or a professional guide for wine experts; it's simply a place for me to share some of my opinions and findings about wine with my friends and other wine lovers.

I truly hope you will use this blog to help you the next time you are thinking about what to buy at the wine store or deciding what to order at a local restaurant or when you travel to the wine country. ENJOY!

Sunday, July 1, 2018

A Night Out at The Charles - Dallas

Chas Martin’s “The Charles” is absolutely amazing. From the second you enter the restaurant you feel almost transported back in time or maybe off to a small cafe off the Amalfi Coast. It feels like Art Deco meets Italian fine dining. The staff’s attire and the decor are really just great, I do love this place. The clientele range from the young hip foodie crowd to the older sophisticated wine lovers. The place was packed full, but not too loud. There is also a great bat with seating.

The appetizers were great, including the special house special flat bread (if you call it that) and we tried the octopus and the baked oysters, both a hit. We opted for family style ordering an basically tried half the menu, the pastas and the fish were all perfect. Now one of my favorite things about The Charles is that they have a large moderately priced wine list, with a few high dollar guys in there just for good measure, but the wine list here offers some really fun great options, for restaurant prices at $60-70 which is pretty good in Dallas these days. The waiters are super helpful in helping make a choice.

Probably too big for a starter, but couldn’t resist starting out with a Montapulciano, the Marina Cvetic D’ Abruzzo. For the price, this one was about $63, this was a great wine. It had a dark ruby red color and some tobacco and other dark flavors. Probably a little too much with the octopus and baked oysters but the wine was great, so who cares, but should probably just save this one for the entree.

Second I picked the Terre Nere Edna Rossa. This is a lighter option, a Sicilian style wine. We all agreed this was a great wine and a nice compliment to the main dishes, especially the fish, but I think I messed this up, should have flipped the order of these two. Nevertheless, bright fruit, berries and some spice made it a great second wine.

You heard it here, check out The Charles!