Hey folks,
A new wine bar/bistro/market has opened in Fredericksburg, Texas! It's at West Main and Milam and is called Cuvee (342 W. Main Street, tel 830 990 1600,
www.cuveewine.net). Dropped some dollars there last night and loved every second of it.
First, the atmosphere. Some great jazz playing in the background. Exposed limestone block walls and wood - very rustic and all with a lovely patina. VERY comfortable leather furniture (that great old carriage leather) and big tables with room to spread out, or bistro tables if you prefer. They have a private party room in the basement/wine cellar that is PERFECT for tasting dinners, etc. (reservation only). The front part of the place is where you eat and drink. The back part is the kitchen and market. They sell all the tough to find olive oils, salts, spices, some wines, and some of the best artisanal bread I've ever had - baked on site.
Absolutely fantastic wine list that is something like 10-12 pages long, single spaced. Spigelau stems. Lots of wines are available by the glass, more by the bottle. VERY reasonable prices (read, not 100% markup). They don't have their wine list on their website yet, but Len White (owner & sommelier,
len@cuveewine.net) is a terrific guy with a passion for the grape and he's very knowledgable but unassuming - unlike a lot of fake sommeliers that I have run into. I ordered a bottle of Vueve Clicquot Yellow Label and, yes, I drank the whole thing myself (been a while since I had it). The munchkin had a Sprite in a Spigelau glass - she loved drinking from a wine glass like a "big person".
We started with a bread/cheese sampler board. I can't name all the cheeses we had - there was a brie, a Stilton, some goat cheese to die for, and what I think was a Spanish cheese with green peppercorns. The breads were light and dense at the same time with that wonderful texture and great crust good bread can have.
For "regular" food - they serve smaller, simpler dishes there than you normally see in high-end restaurants here. All perfect with wine, of course. I had crispy duck breast with white bean ragout (perfectly prepared), my daughter had grilled jumbo shrimp with field greens (she loves the crustaceans). The shrimp's piri piri sauce was served on the side. We were in HEAVEN!
I walked out of there with a good buzz, a doggie bag, and two loaves of their bread (potato & rosemary, and "super" bread with all kinds of healthy stuff).
And this is all within a mile of my house!! I'm so happy!!!!!!!