Another Fabulous Night at Chester’s Chophouse

You may or may not know, but prior to taking our Certified Sommelier exam, we really needed to practice the service aspect of being a sommelier. Neither of us had ever actually worked in service. Georges and Ben, owner and manager at Chester’s, were incredibly kind to take a chance on us and let us come work at Chester’s as their intern sommeliers. We had the best time, worked with the absolute best people, and learned so much. We cannot thank them all enough.

As you might guess, Chester’s has a special place in our hearts. So when we wanted to go get drinks together one night before Bart graciously agreed to be in charge of Katie’s kids for a few days, Chester’s was the place to be. We headed over to their bar with Bart’s wife Melissa and their son and Katie’s brother, Fr. Adam, to catch up with our Chester’s friends and have a delicious experience.

Guys. WE HAD THE BEST NIGHT. Everything about Chester’s is always top notch, and this was no exception, and even raised the bar higher.

With Hannah’s help, we got ourselves some Wood-Oven Roasted Feta and Beef Carpaccio. Since there were four of us, we got to taste four different wines from the by-the-glass list!

First up: the Auntsfield Sauvignon Blanc 2022 from New Zealand. This wine is a delight. Stick your nose in that glass: it smells like grapefruit and nectarines and even celery (but not in a bad way at all, just a really interesting, complex way).

This is a light, bright, crisp, absolutely delicious Sauvignon Blanc. It’s exactly what you want a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to be. We all really loved this wine, even Melissa and Fr. Adam, who aren’t usually white wine drinkers. You will not be displeased with this wine.

To also go with our roasted feta, we got the Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay 2022. This one smells like overripe apples, with a little oakiness to it (but not overpoweringly oaky or buttery as some California Chardonnays are). It’s smooth and creamy and easy-drinking.

With the feta, this Chardonnay is FANTASTIC. The cheese and the wine both get smoother and creamier together. The feta comes with mushrooms, and this wine is amazing with the mushrooms as well. If you’re getting the feta (which you should, because it’s delicious), this is a dynamite pairing.

The Sauvignon Blanc, while just delightful on its own, is probably not the right pairing with this cheese. The cheese kind of overpowers it and makes the wine lose its brightness.

Now, on to the red wines!

We started with the Averaen Pinot Noir 2022 from Willamette Valley. Guys—this wine is fantastic. We all loved it! Katie in particular isn’t always the biggest fan of Pinots, but it would be hard to find someone who doesn’t like this wine. It smells like red fruit that’s got dirt on it, like red fruits you just picked in the garden. Just imagine that loveliness.

Tasting it, it tastes like bright red fruits with a little tartness that makes it bright and lovely. We paired this with the beef carpaccio, and in addition to loving the beef carpaccio on its own, this Pinot is just a beautiful pairing. The two together make the Pinot a little less taste and bring out the smoothness and earthiness of the wine, and the beef is just great. You will love this.

(Of note: Chester’s is updating their wine menu right now. The Averaen isn’t on the current printed menu, but it’s there for purchase in place of the Raptor Ridge Pinot)

We also tried the Felino Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 from Mendoza, Argentina. This smells smoky and like ripe black cherries, and it even tastes a little smoky and dark, like black fruits and tobacco. It’s a nice, smooth Cab, and if you’re a fan of California Cabs, you should definitely try branching out to Cabs from other countries like Argentina and Chile (bonus, they’re usually cheaper as well, but the quality is great).

This wine was probably a little too powerful with the lighter beef carpaccio dish, but we still enjoyed the two together quite a bit.

When you sit at the bar at Chester’s, you run into the nicest people. Not only behind the bar, like Hannah, but also sitting on the patron side with you. We found a great couple from our church who ordered us a cheesecake, and we are SO GLAD they did. We hadn’t planned on getting dessert, but not getting dessert would have been a huge mistake. This cheesecake was SO DAD GUM GOOD, it blew our socks off. And if we were eating cheesecake, we decided that we must go ahead and get a dessert wine to share as well.

Introducing: the Fonseca 20 Year Tawny Port.

As noted above, the cheesecake was DYNAMITE. And this port? Also DYNAMITE. It’s just what you want port to be: plums, butterscotch, sweet deliciousness. It smells and tastes like an absolute dream. And the combo of the cheesecake and port together? INCREDIBLE. It’s magic. You should make plans to go tonight and get this amazing combo. You will thank us.

Not that we expected any different, but we had the best night at Chester’s, once again. Tell us what pairings you love at Chester’s, and what we should go try next!!