A Weekend of Wine...

Friday night Chad and I attended a 7-course wine-paired dinner at the Grafton Winery & Brewhouse.  Yummy...and very reasonable!  The place is fairly new and very cool.  It was up on the second floor of the building where the winery is located, so it overlooked the river.  (The brewhouse is down on the first floor.)  I wasn't sure how the seating was going to work out but we ended up sitting with 2 older couples who were quite friendly...and became funnier as the night went on...and the wine went down.  LOL!  The owner was in attendance and the chef came out to tell us about each course.  Surprisingly it wasn't stuff feeling at all.  The employees had a great sense of humor!
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures but I listed the menu below. 

Course I

Four Artisan Cheeses 

~ Pinot Gris ~

Course II

Watermelon, Cucumber & Tsatsiki Salad

~ Apple Crisp ~

Course III

 Seared Scallops, Pomme Puree, & Roasted Red Pepper Coulis

~ White Cabernet ~

Course IV

Herb-Encruste French-Cut Lamb Chop, White Bean Cassoulet, Zucchini Strings & Balsamic Reduction

~ Harbor Red (dry red blend) ~

Course V

Pan-Roasted Halibut, Shrimp Chowder, Steamed Mussels & Crispy Pancetta Bacon

~ Chardonnay ~

Course VI

Peppered Tenderloin Medallion, Mushroom Ragout & a Trio of Asparagus

~ 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon ~

Course VII

Spiced Plum & Raspberry Turnovers

~ Raspberry Kiss~ 

Can you believe that this took 4 hours to get through???  The winery wasn't skimpy on the amount of wine (half a glass per course) or the food (sooooo full)!  I can't wait for Grafton Winery to schedule the next one.  I think in June they have a 4-course beer-paired dinner planned.  I'll be in attendance at that one too!

We decided at the last moment to reserve a room for the night, so we wouldn't have to drive the hour home after all that wine.  There are plenty of B&Bs in the area (very few hotels), but most of them were booked.  I think that was because of all the eagle watching going on in he beginning of the year.  Anyway, we ended up at the historic Reubel Hotel...not the best place...but adequate for what we needed given that we didn't get home until after 11pm!

On the way back home Saturday, we stopped at this little wine place in Fairview Heights that I had been wanting to visit for quite some time...Olivia's.  How cute is this place???  They specialize in all types of wines including hard to find wines...and wines of all prices.  They have free wine tasting on Saturdays from 12pm-6pm...2 white & 4 reds each week.  They post this on Saturday mornings.  We lucked into the wine tasting!  Rick, one of the owners, was quite knowledgeable about the wines and could answer every question we asked.  There's a little bar in the back where they do the tastings and everyone just converses with each other.  The owners, a husband and wife, are so personable!  They make you feel right at home.  The tastings aren't skimpy and they don't mind giving you a second taste of something you might like!  Woo hoo!  You can bet I'll be back again next weekend!

This was just the weekend I needed after such a crappy work week!  I'm hoping for a better week this week...and get back to the gym.  I totally blew the diet this past week.  Have a good one!