By Tracy Dietlin
We recently stopped in to a new venue called Vine Wine Bar, which instantly has become our new favorite place. Nestled at the end of the Ralph’s Shopping Center on Country Club Dr. in Palm Desert, this place is surely to win you over too.
When you think Wine bar you think flights of wine, and yes, they have many flights to choose from, but what I found both interesting and exciting is the fact that they have flights of Vodka, Tequila, Rum and Whiskey. They also have a good selection of beers, with a tasty one called the Wells Banana Bread beer that is so delicious, even though I’m not a big beer drinker.
Owner Cathy Serif, who was the most delightful hostess, actually went next door to Ralph’s to buy my husband a piece of banana bread to eat with the beer. How many owners go that extra mile to do something like that? Cathy does! It’s obvious how passionate she is about her business by the way she dotes on all of her customers. It was a real treat to be taken such good care of and she had no idea we were going to write a review. Neither did I, but we were so impressed I had to. Our waitress Josie was equally attentive and was at our beckon call.
Now let’s talk about these flights. We started off with a red wine flight for me and white wine for my daughter, to enjoy with the food we selected, which was the fresh lump crab meat cocktail (simply divine), the Italian Meatballs (so delicious) and The Mixx, which included 3 cheeses (we chose Gouda, Brie and Goat cheese), and 3 meats (Prosciutto, Salami and Soppressata) grapes, olives and crackers. This spread perfectly paired with the wine flights.
Moving on to the hard alcohol flights, I, of course, partook in the martini flight which was delivered to the table in the most darling little martini glasses and included a mango, white peach, coconut and Godiva white chocolate mini martini, with the latter 2 being my favorites, but all 4 being delicious. So tasty, that I ordered a customized second flight with just the coconut and Godiva white chocolate. My daughter and husband tried out the Whiskey, Tequila and Rum flights and were equally impressed.
The menu boasts several other items including an array of meat and cheese selections, paninis, flat bread pizzas, salads, artisan cheese and tomato fondue, along with many other items that will pair well with whichever flight you should choose.
They boast over 125 varieties of wine with over 60 that you can order by the glass. And if it’s a sweet tooth you have they have several delectable desserts to choose from as well.
Also making this a perfect outing was the fact that one of our favorite new performers in the desert, Vinny Berry, was playing his acoustic set there that night. They have entertainment several nights a week and you can check their website for the schedule of performers.
There is also a separate back room perfect for throwing a private party or event. Yes, CV Weekly will definitely be taking advantage of that in the near future.
I could go on and on about this classy, comfy and cozy little place, but you really must see it for yourself.
The Vine Wine Bar is located at: 74868 Country Club Dr. in Palm Desert 92260. Call 760-341-9463 or visit thevinewinebar.com.
