D'Vine Wine

A few weekends back, we found ourselves at D'Vine Wine Bar, a newer place just around the corner from us. I'm not sure why we've been driving all over town & hadn't tried this wine bar, but I'm glad we did! They have a smaller room that you can use for semi-private events.



They have a full meal menu as well as great accompaniments for sipping on wine. We enjoyed the cheese selection & thought they had a great range on the wine bottle prices.



We went pretty early in the afternoon & had the place to ourselves for quite a while. My other favorite thing is that they are open at noon most days & 2PM on Sundays.



I can only dream about the fall when the death heat is gone & we can sit outside again enjoying wine.



They don't have a full bar, but do serve beer for the non-wine drinkers and their selections of desserts was wonderful.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The high today is only going to be 91- woohoo! We might venture downtown for the Houston Press Music Awards or the Intentional Jazz Festival or White Linen Nights in the Heights.

Cru Woodlands Wine Bar

We've actually been to Cru in the Woodlands quite a few times & I just haven't had the opportunity to take pictures & gather old photos for the blog. They are located in a great area of the Woodlands- right on the Market Street town square. Perfect for shopping & to people watch at they cruise the strip.

The serve a full menu & have some smaller snacks that they offer. including some great cheese plates. The bar is a great place to sit & I like that you can see all the wines in the cooler on the back wall.

There are a variety of wine flights that they offer & several times a week they have specials/events that add a nice variety. Sign up for their email newsletters to find out about all the fun stuff or see their bars in other cities (Denver, Austin & Dallas).

The restaurant/bar is decorated nicely, with touches of a wine theme all around. The cellar is visible on the wall & they have enlarged wine labels to poster size for the walls. A great bar, usually very busy & very active. It's convenient to meet up here with our friends before or after dinner somewhere else in the Woodlands.



Our first trip was actually last Christmas when we met up with some friends at night & the Christmas decorations added to the ambiance nicely.

And just because the night included some funny stories & I'll always remember being there with these two, I had to put this photo in the post.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: John has had 2 surgeries in 2 days to remove blood clots in his leg and hopefully will come home tomorrow feeling much better.

Wine in Wanaka

After coming down off the moutnain, our tour continued with a visit to the Rippon Vineyards on Lake Wanaka.



This has to be one of the MOST scenic vineyards I've ever been to- I can't recall another one on a lake like this, much less surrounded by moutanins on all sides.


It was approaching harvest time & the grapes were on the vines. In many of the places we visited, they were covered with nets to protect them from the birds.


I'm beginning to understand that the wine tourism is a very American thing & many vineyards around the country are just catching onto the trend to have lovely tasting rooms & a tourist attraction at their vineyard. Rippon hosts many weddings & special functions, so they are building a bigger tasting room.


And here's why they really needed something larger- the blue building on the left is their current tasting room & there is at least a nice tent outside to relax & enjoy a larger taste.


This was seriously awesome- bright sun, gentle breeze, stunning views, sipping on some Souvignon Blanc & hanging out with my hubby.




Us + winery = awesome

The inside of the 1 room building was tiny, but they managed to pack lots of wonderful wines & even a few snack plates in there.

Here's another really cool thing about the vineyard- it regularly gets covered in snow! I don't think I know of any other wine growing places where they get snow. They have some pictures on the walls of the place covered in snow & it unbelievable gorgeous.

Hubby likes to get all artistic with his shots....

Luckily, it was just the other couple on the tour with us & another couple in there tasting wine at the same time.

If we hadn't been there with a tour, I'd have bought a bottle and made myself a picnic outside to enjoy the view for the afternoon.

All of Wanaka is surrounded by these gorgeous mountains that make doing anything in town a great experience with stunning views.

This little tasting room is adorable, but they need something bigger so that more people can enjoy the great wines & beautiful vineyards.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Made it to Pittsburgh after a few hour delay in Houston last night & I'm so excited to explore the city and see a baseball game tonight.

Bacchus Wine Bar

While we were in Galveston, we got hot & thirsty, so we decided to stop into a new wine bar for us- Bacchus Wine Bar on the Strand.



There's a nice lounge area up front where you can watch people wandering up and down the Strand.



We were the only people there on an early Saturday afternoon, but the bar area was fairly large. I really wish it had been a cool oasis on a hot day, but it was fairly warm. We drank a few mimosas from their daily special.



They had a fairly nice wine selection & we picked out a bottle to give as a gift. The bartender was friendly and knowledgeable. Any wine bar named after the Roman wine god is off to a pretty good start & they are open on Sundays- another plus!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hubby comes home tonight from his last work trip for several weeks.

Valentine's Day

Several weeks ago, I received an email offering a very special Valentine's Day Lobster Lovers dinner at Cova. We decided to make reservations for the location on Washington to celebrate our 3 year anniversary (the previous Thursday) and enjoy some yummy food.



We took Mia to her last puppy class on our actual anniversary, and we thought this would be better than a crowded restaurant. We had 5 PM reservations & had the place all to ourselves for the first part of our meal.



The menu looked and tasted fabulous! Although they don't typically serve full meals at Cova, they do an amazing job with all their specialty dinners and classes.



It turned out to be a beautiful day & a few people were enjoying the patio before the sunset and the winds picked up to about 20 mph.



We'd killed a bottle of wine at Max's and were well into our 2nd bottle by the time the main course arrived. It was such a nice break from the uber-busy we have been lately. We just sat and visited for hours over wine and dinner.



It was well after dark when our dessert arrived, but it was delish too. I think as spring brings nicer weather to town, we'll be hanging out on the patio at Cova more often (especially since Corkscrew is closed for renovations).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Only one more day of dealing with loan applications, estimators, contractors, insurance quotes and paperwork!

Max's Wine Dive

Sunday afternoon, we headed down to the Houston Home & Garden show to check out ideas and look at some products for our new house. It was pretty much a bust- there were a few interesting vendors, but it mostly reminded me of an infomercial. We had some time to kill before our dinner reservation, so we decided to stop into Max's Wine Dive on Washington Ave.



Max's is actually one of the older wine bars in Houston & has been around for several years. We'd always drive by it, but decide to go somewhere else. I think it was the general formal feel to the place & lack of comfy looking chairs. I'm glad we stopped in though, because I was pleasantly surprised. They've got tables, a bar, a wall booth, a full service menu, some interesting music on the jukebox and a really diverse crowd.



They do have a few outside chairs, but nothing that looks inviting to lounge in for more than 30 minutes. The selection by the bottle and by the glass was pretty good, and they offered to open up any bottle we'd drink at least 2 glasses.



Since they are open on Sundays and are open at 11AM on Fri/Sat/Sun, I think we will add it to our list of stand-by places to chill out. It wasn't too crowded late-afternoon on a Sunday, but I was told it gets packed in the evenings.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Another beautiful day here in Houston & I'm so excited to pack for vacation!

Cork Wine Bar Downtown

A few weeks ago, before the Rockets game, we stopped off at a new wine bar downtown. This new area has some great restaurants and some fun things including the House of Blues & Lucky Strike Lanes (an adult only bowling alley).



Now, this is not the Cork Cafe on the northwest side of town or the Corkscrew off Washington Ave nor is it the Cork Wine bar in Webster, but a new wine bar without an imaginative name or any presence on Google search/Yelp/facebook etc.



We'd always wished there was a wine bar downtown & were excited to check this place out. They are in a great location & had only opened mid-January.



The bar is huge & the decorating is really nice. There are lounge areas in the front & back with comfy couches and tables.



The high ceilings are great & the floor to ceiling windows are great for watching all the people out on the town for the night.



This is about half of the back lounge area & they keep the lights down low for ambiance.



We enjoyed a bottle & a nice snack tray that had some good cheese and bites.



There is a big bar area with TV's for the guys.



Overall, I really liked the setup and hope they do well here. We spoke with a few people who were managers/owners & wished them well. They had a rather limited wine menu to get started, but were hoping to expand it shortly.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We're buying a new house! Negotiating is done, contract is signed, inspections are scheduled and a closing date is on the calendar....

Crush Wine Bar

A few weeks back, we had a free afternoon/evening and ventured out to try a brand new wine bar in the Woodlands called Crush Lounge.



Its set up on the 2nd and 3rd floor of a building right on the waterway and just a few blocks from the town square.



There is outside seating on the 2nd level and the entire 3rd floor is as rooftop lounge.



We showed up pretty early in the afternoon & on the first weekend in was cool enough to sit outside and be sort of comfortable. There were no seats downstairs inside or on the balcony, so we headed up. I loved the casual, lounge set up of the place.



They had some thumping music going on & people started to fill the place pretty quickly. We went back a few weeks later & the roof was standing room only by early evening.



They've got a great menu, with a variety of snacks, sweets & smaller dinners. We went for our usual cheese plate & some olives for H.



We snatched up the corner table & enjoyed the view of all the activities going on below. The waterfalls were putting on a constant show & watching the families play in the fountains was entertaining also.



At night, the view was quite stunning & there is a great breeze to keep you cool up there.



I didn't get to take too many photos of the 2nd floor & inside. It's fairly small, but has a nice bar area, a few tables & a couple of lounge type areas. Overall, we really liked this bar & it will be a great place to hang out with our friends who live up in the Woodlands.


GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Mom had her neck surgery today. It went well & she's hopefully coming home tomorrow.