Eating in Denver

I originally intended this blog to focus on wine, what I was drinking, what I like to drink, and what I was thinking about what I was drinking and like to drink, although the last several posts have focused on food restaurants. At least I am drinking wine while I am eating!

On Thursday I had dinner at Black Pearl. This was a great restaurant and eating outside at the communal table, near the fire pit, in beautiful Denver weather, really made for a great experience. The wine list was really well done, focusing on smaller producers or limited releases of the major varietals but also some really nice grapes you don't see a lot. I started with a beautiful Rose from Provence. Speaking of Rose, it's a great summer wine, with the structure of a red but with the refreshing acidity of a white. It's typically associated with crappy, low quality blush wines, as they have light to medium pink color, but Rose is nothing like that. They can well balanced, structured complex wines, that generally pair with food pretty depending on the producer and the vintage, but knowing that is not required to find a good bottle. You typically can't go wrong from anything from Provence.

Dinner was great. They post weekly "Seasonal Menus" with 3 courses at a fixed price. Thursday nights included a refreshing salad, some very well done scallops and a clean, lemon tart for desert. A very solid white burgundy, minimal oak and a nice apple nose, paired very well with the scallops. I also ordered truffle mac and cheese, because I have been on this mac and cheese thing recently and everyone loves truffles. Great meal, great atmosphere.

If you are in Denver, which is quickly becoming on of my favorite US cites, go down to Little Raven Vineyards, a great wine store focusing on great wines, representative of where they are from, but offering uniquness that really makes them stand out.