What a great place...The Newport Wine Cellar and Le Petit Gourmet

Ever go somewhere new and the whole time you're thinking to yourself, what a fantastic place this is! How did I not know about it before? Why haven't I been here? What a great place to have a little get together? I didn't know they have events?

I said all these things to myself on Saturday night as we gathered for a wine and cheese tasting for our friend, M's, 40th birthday. We all met up at the Newport Wine Cellar and had a wine and cheese tasting in it's adjacent shop, Le Petit Gourmet.

There were so many things I loved about this night. I loved Le Petit Gourmet. For someone like me, who loves to cook and use good ingredients, there were so many different products to browse. Everything from olive oils to cheese paper to jams, olives and pates.I always want to learn more about cheese and how to pair it with wine, and this tasting was the perfect opportunity to learn a couple of things! Before I go on and on about how much I loved everything, here are a couple pics of our night out!

This was how our group was set up for a wine and cheese tasting in the store

This was my tasting plate that I wanted to gobble up. I'm bad with remembering my cheese names, but I remember the darker orange one in the top right hand corner was a smoke Gouda and my favorite was the cheese in the bottom right hand corner covered in pineapple confit.

And...then the wine started flowing....

 Since we are experiencing "Siberian" cold temps in RI right now, we did a tasting of four different Cabernets

The chalkboard behind the cheese counter....Mr. Allan is going to make that Latin proverb his new motto

 Of course we needed to buy our favorite bottle...a Spanish Cabernet

Once our friends cleared out from the cheese case...everyone was buying a triple cream Brie that seemed like a crowd pleaser

Overall, what a great experience! The Newport Wine Cellar has tastings each week. You can check out their Facebook Page for more information. Click HERE

You can also visit their website at http://www.newportwinecellar.com/ or click HERE

There are weekly tastings Friday and Saturday from 4-7pm and they're available for private tastings (like we did) as well! There are also different wine classes scheduled that are $35/pp. Some that are coming up:

January 26- Yes We Love Beer Too!- Derek Luke from Coastal Extreme Brewing Company (aka Newport Storm Beer) will have a tasting of their beers and they will be paired with different cheeses

February 2- Designing a Menu around your Wine- designed for people who want to enhance their meals or dinner parties with wine. Chef Peter Lucas will pair a bistro style meal that will be enhanced by affordable and interesting wines.

February 9- Cabernet Sauvignon- a sampling of Cabernets from the New and Old World Regions

Here's a cute little blurb from Edible Rhody about the Newport Wine Cellar. Click HERE

I can't rave enough about these two shops. I thought it was a perfect place to get together with some friends to celebrate, learn about some wine, and enjoy some delicious cheese!