Dining a la Carteret
Cru Wine Bar
by
Sherley Buckland
Upon entering the Cru Wine Bar and Store at
Don’t let the floor-to-ceiling wine racks or the thousands of
beautiful wine bottles fool you — this is not your average wine store.
Just a few steps past the counter and you are standing in a cozy little
dining and visiting area, perfect for a light meal or intimate conversation.
During my visit, Wanda prepared several dishes and appropriate wine
parings for me to sample, and any “fellow foodie” would have shared my
excitement. Wanda began by telling
me that the soup-and-half-sandwich combo varied daily.
Today’s combo was a seafood chowder, prepared that morning, and
served with a prosciutto, an Italian, thinly sliced ham, and Canadian bacon
sandwich that was topped with feta cheese (a personal favorite), Greek olives
and provolone, all on focaccia bread. This
delicious combo could satisfy anyone’s mealtime cravings.
It’s a good thing the combo comes with a half sandwich, or one might
be temped to overindulge.
Next was a choice of hot or cold smoked salmon; both are available
daily. The salmon is wild caught
and smoked in
After about two or three bites, you start to notice a little heat
or kick from the spices in the crust. The
spices were subtle enough to complement the fish and did not camouflage the
natural flavor of the salmon. I
highly recommend this entree to anyone looking for something fresh and
healthy.
This full-flavored course needed a nice pinot grigio to balance my
palate preferences. However, if
you prefer a red, let me suggest the 2003 Hop Kiln “Big Red,” which was
served with the course. This
The salmon was followed by warm brie with red onion relish and
cracked wheat crackers. Surprisingly,
the relish was as sweet as candy, and gave a nice mix to an old classic.
Paired
well with the warm brie was the 2003 SeaRidge.
This
Dessert at Cru Wine Bar is exclusive.
They serve Escazu Chocolates. Wanda’s
son Hallot Parson makes these artisan single-origin chocolate bars upstairs
from Cru Wine Bar. Not only does
Hal make the chocolates, he also hand selected the cocoa bean plantations and
processing centers in
Being a chocolate lover myself, I truly appreciate the rich but not
overpowering taste of the 61 percent pure chocolate bars.
These are not candy bars you eat in one sitting; Escazu is a chocolate experience.
Tasting chocolate is a lot like tasting wine.
The first thing you do is observe; the color will indicate something
about the chocolate. Darker colors indicate purer chocolate as is the case
with Escazu.
Second, you smell the chocolate (preferably with your eyes closed).
The scent of the chocolate will alert your palate to what’s coming.
Now you can taste it. Take
a bite of the chocolate, chew slightly and hold the chocolate in your mouth
for a few seconds before swallowing. If
you do this you will realize that you taste different chocolates in different
places on your palate; sweeter chocolates are tasted in the front, darker
chocolates are tasted more on the sides. Be
sure to clear your palate with water between chocolates.
Currently there are three Escazu Venezuelan Chocolate bars: Pure
Single Origin Venezuelan Chocolate, Pure Single Origin Venezuelan Chocolate
with nibs and Pure Single Origin Venezuelan Chocolate with dried bananas.
My personal favorite is the chocolate with nibs.
Nibs are coarsely ground cocoa beans mixed in the chocolate, giving
bold flavor and a difference in texture. Three
new Costa Rican bars are due out this spring, one of which will be
appropriately named, “The Beaufort Bar.”
Our Chocolates (and a little chocolate biscotti) were perfectly
matched with a 2005 Columbia Valley Cellar Masters Riesling from
Just as my dining experience was coming to a close, Wanda suggested
I try one more of her wines, the 1999 Boroli.
Boroli comes from the
My years of searching for “the perfect red” have come to and
end. As fellow wine enthusiast
Benny Anderson put it, “The Boroli pairs well with anything from a steak to
a front porch swing.”
Another interesting component of Cru Wine Bar is their selection of
microbrews and high gravity beers. One
such beer, Chimay, is a Belgian ale brewed by Trappist monks.
This Chimay boasts higher alcohol content than the average beer, and
three different types of Chimay are available at Cru Wine Bar, as well as many
micro brewed beers.
Wanda and Hal hope you will come and experience the greatness and
comfort of fine wine, light meals, soft music and a comfortable environment
perfectly suited for sharing conversations with close or new friends.
The dining and visiting space of Cru Wine Bar can be reserved for
meetings, parties or civic functions. Wanda
and Hal would like to invite everyone to their wine tastings, which take place
the third Wednesday of every month. Also,
through the winter, every Sunday evening at
If you are
looking for a light meal in a relaxing atmosphere, or you are interested in
sampling a new wine and fine chocolate, stop by Cru Wine Bar in Beaufort.
Wanda and Hal will make you feel right at home.
Quick
Bites
Cru Wine Bar
Address:
Telephone:
(252) 728-3066
Winter
Hours: Sun.-Wed.
Summer
Hours: Sun.-Wed. noon-11 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat.
Reservations:
Not required.
Payment: Cash, MasterCard, Visa, local checks.
3/10/06
See the previously reviewed restaurants on the Restaurant Archive page
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