I thought it would be interesting to take a week-long look at the wine offerings at each of six local restaurants in Coppell and compare them on quality, cost, markup and overall value. The first post in the series is an overview of all six restaurants. This is the final of the detailed reviews of the restaurants. You can find a list of all restaurants at the bottom of each post.
Victor’s Wood Grill was recently renamed from Daddy Jack’s, but has the same location, staff, upscale atmosphere and menu as it has for more than a decade. Established well before the other five restaurants in this evaluation, Victor’s has been the culinary and service benchmark in the city since 1998 and remains a very worthy dining location for date night or special events.
Best Splurge: Cakebread Chardonnay. One of the early winemaking families in Napa Valley, the Cakebreads (yes, that is their real last name) didn’t strike it rich and buy into a winery, they built their label with the sweat and acquired skills of family members. Today, the Cakebread Chardonnay is consistently one of the highest-rated Napa Chardonnays, known for it’s lush fruit harvested from the northern part of valley blended with the ripe and more acidic grapes that are grown in the cooler south end of Napa. Expect from the Cakebread a rush of pear and apple, followed by layers of melon and spice. At $76 a bottle at Victor’s, the limited markup above the average retail price of $47 also makes this wine one of the best values in Coppell. If you are looking for red only, the $40 Annabella Pinot Noir ($17 average retail) and $86 Faust Cabernet ($49 average retail) are also solid choices worth recommending for a splurge.
Best Budget Bottle: Simi Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc. The $34 Simi Sauvignon Blanc ($14 average retail) is a really nice example of a Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, which is more traditional citrus than the grapefruit-driven New Zealand productions. This is a wine that would go very well with shellfish or lighter seafoods. The weakness of Victor’s wine list is that there are several outstanding bottles that are worth splurging on, but I find the list to be limited in quality budget options both by the bottle and by the glass, especially on the red side of the menu.
Best Red by the Glass: Joel Gott 815 Cabernet. The 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Joel Gott 815 is blended from fruit from five different California appellations. Soft tannins and blackberry fruit a little cherry and vanilla, make this Cabernet worth the $11 price per glass ($15 average bottle retail). A close second in red by the glass is the Michael Pozzan Annabella Pinot Noir.
Best White by the Glass: Cuvaison Chardonnay Carnaros. Also an $11 glass of wine ($24 average bottle retail), both the quality of the wine and limited markup make it a really good value. Cuvaison is an estate winery located in the rolling hills to the southwest of Napa. The winery grows all of the grapes it uses in its Chardonnay on it’s certified sustainable Carneros estate. From the Cuvaison Chardonnay you can expect flavors of peach and apricot with a pleasant buttery feel that isn’t overly oaked.
Wines I Would Avoid: I would skip the El Portillo Malbec, which is an overly tannic version of a Malbec that at $32 per bottle ($9 average retail) carries with it a 256% markup above retail (400% bottle-equivalent markup when purchased by the glass). I would also pass on the Black Opal Shiraz and the Cavit Pinot Grigio based on each being of much lower quality versus other similar options on the list.
Final Note: The wine list at Victor’s Wood Grill has some quality options at the upper end of the price range, including the Cakebread Chardonnay, Faust Cabernet, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and Cuvaison Chardonnay, and several nice by-the-glass options. The list on whole balances well with the restaurant’s numerous seafood and chicken dishes.
If you have any comments or questions on any of the posts in this Coppell restaurant series, please feel free to leave a comment to these posts or hit me up on Twitter at @erikj. Also, if you have other area restaurants that you would like to see evaluated for wine offerings, please let me know! The links to all posts in this series appear below.
Six Coppell Wine Lists in Seven Days: