D&D Wine Review

A few girlfriends of mine decided to have our monthly dinner out during Atlanta’s Midtown Restaurant Week - you really can’t beat it, 3 courses for $25 at some of the top restaurants in Atlanta.  I got to choose and I couldn’t resist the menu at Repast - and I am so happy to report that the food lived up to my expectations.  It was wonderful.

For this special its a fixed menu, but I was very pleased with the range of options.  I choose to start with a summer tomato soup and grilled cheese appetizer.  Those that know me know I’m not a huge tomato soup fan, but I had trouble resisting the grilled cheese - well the soup was amazing and I would definitely order it again.  The grilled cheese was a fun touch - just a small triangle to eat with the soup and the cheese choice (maybe gruyere?  or gouda?) was perfect - mild with a little tang to compliment the tomatoes.  I highly recommend it.  For a second course I went with salmon wrapped in grape leaves served on wheat berry couscous - wow was that a good choice.  The grape leaves were very flavorful and gave an unexpected twist to the salmon and it all was topped with a wonderful mustard-based sauce.  For dessert it should be no surprise I went with the chocolate cake option (served with Ginger ice cream I believe) - it was good though not exceptional, but a nice way to end the meal.  All in all I was very impressed with the meal and will definitely go back sometime with the hubby.

Restaurant week still has a few nights left - be sure to look it up!

Kelly

Note - I was going to write a seperate post to review the wine I had - a delicious Camenere from Chile - but their wine menu online isn’t the one we had last night, and I don’t remember any other details.  Wine Spectator did rate Repast as one of the best wine lists in Atlanta, so be sure to check it out.

Crusty French bread - sliced on the diagonal

1-2 Yellow Summer Squash - sliced

1 Zucchini - sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper - sliced

1/4 cup Vidalia onion - sliced

1-2 TBLS. garlic-infused Olive Oil

Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese

Put olive oil, salt, pepper and all vegetables into a bowl and toss until coated, Roast in 425 oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Let vegetables cool before dicing.  Toast French bread, top each slice of bread with roasted vegetable mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese before serving. Enjoy with crisp white wine, such as Lucas and Lewellen 2006 Chardonnay.

A co-worker of Chris gave us this white wine to try - and it was a great gift.  We really enjoyed it.  I had never even heard of Colombard Sauvignon - but it was clean, crisp and fruity.  We argued about what fruits - I said peach and can’t even remember now what Chris said - but regardless we both thought it was a very good wine and would definitely buy more.  This is a great wine for summer to have around, and from what I can find it is affordable in the $10 range.  For some reason I’ve had trouble finding much about it online, but it came from a local store so look around and see if you can find it.  Enjoy!

Winery: Domaine de Ballard

Vintage: 2006

Varietal: Colombard Sauvignon

Price: $10

Rating:

Back to an under $10 bottle of wine, the Oakley Five Reds is a blend of Merlot, Alicante Bouschet, Zinfandel, Mourvedre, and Sangiovese grapes.  It is a tasty, full-bodied red with berry flavors and a touch of spice.  It was a great match for grilled steaks and was priced well.  I picked up this bottle at Total Wine for $8.49.  As the vineyard suggests: “Round up your posse and enjoy” we think this is a great wine to keep on hand for a casual evening in with good food and good friends.  Cheers!

Vinyard: Cline Cellars

Region: Oakley California

Price: $8.49-$11.99

Rating: