Aureole Restaurant at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas is a lot more than just another Vegas restaurant.

The founder and celebrated chef, Charlie Palmer and Master Sommelier William Sherer so graciously took a few minutes out of their night to tell WineChannelTV what makes Aureole so special.

Besides the wonderfully delicious gourmet dishes Palmer delivers on a nightly basis, did I mention there is a 4 story wine tower with floating “wine-angels” that receive your wine!?

And as if things couldn’t get any more impressive, their wine list is on an electronic tablet, it sort of looks like the new apple iPad.

I was saying WOW before my meal even arrived! As for my wine, I went with the French Bandol Mourvedre 04‘ . The earthy dry, berry flavors wonderfully completed the earthy, grilled snapper with mushrooms I had.

This restaurant, along with Charlie and William, will definitely be seeing me again!

Thank-you for a memorable meal !

Cheers!

J

PS- THANK-YOU Charlie for the wonderful book, “The Art of Aureole” , I love it! I will see you soon for Pigs N’ Pinot!

The Salt Rock Grill in Indian Rocks Beach, FL is one heck of a place.

Yes I was on the hunt for a great bottle of vino, since I knew they had won many awards for their prize winning wine list.

However, I was momentarily distracted by the HUGE grill getting fired up as soon as I walked in… right next to the Giant catch of the day sitting in a frozen tub.  Now that’s what I call fresh !

Oh..  and I didn’t even mention all the fresh sides you could think of and desserts that were staring me down as well .

I knew this was going to be a great night !

Steak was on my mind, however Cabernet and Merlot were not what I was looking to fill my glass with.

A blended red, with a little zing would hit the spot I thought.

So the Cline Ancient Vine Mourvedre was my poison of choice. And boy did I pick a winner!

This baby has to be a new favorite of mine for the month. All the right notes hit at just the right spots in your mouth.

Smooth, dark chocolate, plum, and a hint of oak flavor with a kick of spiciness at the end made this a WOW wine. The zing went perfectly with my steak and the smoothness complimented the lobster.

And for around 30 Bucks my wallet was very happy too

Check out this video to see what I’m talking about!

Cheers!

J