Wine menu value: Out to dinner Telluride, CO

Enjoying family vacation in beautiful Telluride, Colorado and headed out for an “adult” dinner with friends, Maren and Michael Doherty (of FLAVR Fame) and Jennifer and Brett Kennedy. Maren set us up with reservations at the New Sheridan Hotel, a hotel and dining room that is more than 100 years old and great place for dinner out with friends.  The atmosphere was great, the food was all excellent, and the wine list was extensive, but plenty of overpriced wines to catch the excited vacationer. I chose to look for some value on the list. I ended up picking out two great selections for a fraction of the price of the normal “Go-To’s” like California cabernets, many of which were well over $200 a bottle. I chose to go with something a little less popular and picked the 2016 La Fortuna, a Rossa Di Montalcino. Often you can go to the Italian section of the list and pick a medium priced Montalcino and get a pretty good wine. This one was only $65 and was definately the favorite of the group. Relatively young and still plenty of fruit, but this was a great option for the money.  Next, I picked the 2014 Azelia Barolo from Luigi Scavino.  The Barolos are often the more pricey Italian selections, but his one was $85, well below those Cabernet prices, but no one complained. Great dinner and experience at the New Sheridan Hotel. Thumbs Up, check it out next time you’re in Telluride.

Jennifer and Brett Kennedy and Meredith McBee

And next time your out to dinner, look for those less popular options and find the value. Don’t be afraid to let the sommelier help you with this, they are often happy to help you pick a value find, they enjoy that.  

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!