Featuring wines from Stags’ Leap; limited ticket availability

For more than four decades, the Eldorado Resort Casino at THE ROW has been known for its incomparable restaurants with hand-crafted menus designed by noted chefs from around the world and with a motto that if it can be made from scratch, it is to be made in house. With that reputation in mind, THE ROW’s Executive Chef Ivano Centemeri has designed a one-of-a-kind, one-night only menu as part of the 2019 Wine Dinner Series. Featuring wines of Stags’ Leap, the second part of a four part wine series will take place on Thursday, June 20 at 6 p.m. inside La Strada at the Eldorado.

Paired with a 2017 Chardonnay is an amuse-bouche of fried zucchini blossom with ricotta cheese and buffalo mozzarella with zucchini coulis. For the first course, roasted rabbit with cotechino sausage, dried figs and rabbit demi-glace amarene cherry gastrique with a 2015 Merlot. For the second course, roasted breast of duck with roasted parsnips wrapped in bacon and Spanish white bean purée paired with a 2016 Petite Sirah. The final course is a setting of charred, 160-degree slow cooked short ribs, toasted pinenut butter, artichoke confit and charred artichoke ash in extra virgin olive oil complimented by a 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon. For dessert, grilled peach pie with toasted almond gelato and a 2017 Viognier.

Established in 1893 on the watershed of the Stags Leap Palisades, Stags’ Leap Winery is one of California’s earliest wine estates. The 240-acre property is located nine miles north of the city of Napa and is planted to 90 acres of vineyards. A unique terroir and ideal microclimate support a classical standard of viticulture, land use and winemaking that is as relevant today as it was over a century ago.

The Stags Leap Palisades are the most prominent geographical feature in the area and are part of the Vaca Range that stretches along the eastern side of Napa Valley. Erosion from the palisades is the source of the volcanic soil acknowledged as a contributing factor to the modern reputation for Cabernet Sauvignon in the Stags Leap District.

From the hand-picked and hand-sorted fruit to the oak barrels gaining in caves carved out of the solid rock of the mountain, the Stags’ Leap winemaking methods are time-honored and simple. Their goal is to convey the essence of this world-class terroir from the grape to the glass and to create handcrafted wines that tell an authentic story of the land on which they are grown. 

Tickets for the Stags’ Leap Wine Dinner are $125 per person and can be purchased at EldoradoReno.com or by calling 775-786-5700. The next events in the Wine Dinner Series will feature Trefethen Family Winer on September 19 and Chimney Rock Winery on December 19.