When glancing from the left to your right you will notice walls upon walls of various wine bottles. Even some of the dining booths featured walls of wine as a lovely backdrop. All the wine was quite fitting since I was in for a treat for the Buena Vista Winemaker Dinner. During the dinner, wine aficionados would have the opportunity to try a variety of wine from the night’s featured winemaker. For our dinner, we had various wines from California renowned winery Buena Vista.
Buena Vista Winery has quite the unique history. Not only is it the first premium winery in California; but how many wineries can say that their founder died in Alligator infested waters in Nicaragua? Color me intrigued once I learned of this little fun fact. It wouldn’t be long before we could have the opportunity to see why California raves about Buena Vista.
To start off the wine dinner, guests were invited to the opening reception in which we sipped on Sauvignon Blanc. This wine went well with delicious cheese and crackers available at the bar. I may have been starving, but I could not stop myself from eating the cheese and crackers. My friend and I had to have had about 5 packs each. It was truly addicting, but the crisp, lemony, and refreshing Sauvignon Blanc really set it off. This wine is best served with Thai or Asian inspired dishes. But if you ask me, due to the light acidity, this went perfectly well with cheese and crackers.
For the next portion of the meal, we were then served the Chardonnay to best complement our cheese fondue course. During this course, we were presented with melted swiss cheese. Food selections such as grapes, apples, and various breads were to be dipped in the melted cheese. The Chardonnay went perfectly with this course since there were remnants of pear, apple, and almonds that went well with the fruit offerings. The flavors of this course blended smoothly together since one flavor was not overpowering the other. As a lover of cheese, I knew this would be a favorite portion of the evening for me.
Next up was the main entree and to compliment this course we would be served Buena Vista’s signature drink “The Count” Red Blend. First let me be honest, as I have never been a huge fan of red wine. While I’ve dabbled in quite a few, my preference lies with white wine. Nevertheless, certain wines do complement certain dishes better. The Red Blend featured remnants of dark fruits and exotic spices which went well with this portion of the meal. I would say that this course was quite intriguing because servers brought out raw pieces of meat such as seafood and raw vegetables. Using our skewers, we were to dip our items into the hot oil and cook our own food. Yes, you read that right, we were put to work. While this initially made me nervous since I’m not the best cook, I’m thankful that the servers instructed us as to how long we were to prepare each item. To accompany the meats and veggies were a variety of sauces ranging from spicy to mild. The spiciness of the Red Blend coincided in perfect harmony with the spices present in the sauces.
Since we were at a fondue restaurant, I already knew what dessert entailed and that was a steaming hot pot of chocolate. When the servers came out with the chocolate, we were given selections such as marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and sugar. If you are thinking that this sounds like a sweet lovers dream it was. The chocolate was presented with an intense blue flame that was lit even as we dipped our marshmallows in the chocolate. Later the flame died down, but it was quite the spectacle. For dessert, we were presented with the Legendary Badge Red Blend. This complimented the chocolate as the wine had remnants of dark fruits and chocolate. I had become incredibly full at this portion of the meal, so I’m ashamed to admit that I did not leave enough room for dessert. However, what I did have was quite delectable.
For great wine and delicious fondue, I cannot recommend enough Geja’s Cafe. If you want to have a similar experience like mine, their next wine dinner is April 13th. Currently, they have their Perfect Pairing Wine Festival going on throughout the end of March. Which means more wine!
I’m glad some of you confirmed to me that Geja’s is guaranteed to be a great time, and I am so glad that I went. I enjoyed my meal which was a courtesy on behalf of Geja’s Cafe and I encourage you all to check it out.
P.S- Don’t forget to sit at the bar for their cheese and crackers before you do anything else 🙂
