Local Event Premier Host

WINE VAULT & BISTRO: Christmas Dinner

Sun, December 21, 2025 (5:00 PM - 7:30 PM)

Cost: $115.00 + tax and gratuity

Need a break from Christmas shopping? Undecided about what to pour over the holidays?

Wine Vault & Bistro is pleased to announce our annual Christmas dinner. We’re featuring some of our favorite wines with our flavors of Christmas dinner. It’ll be an amazing 6-course menu paired with real Champagne to start, three great wines with dinner, our legendary housemade eggnog with dessert and a finale Manhattan nightcap thrown in for good measure.

We hope you'll be able to join us for what promises to be a fun evening of tasting great wines paired with great food! Wine notes and bottle prices are at the end of this announcement and the menu is below.

MENU

Salmon Pasta: Capellini tossed in a lemon dill beurre blanc with smoked salmon and sun-dried tomatoes. Served atop a bed of thinly sliced grilled cucumbers.

Mumm Champagne (4 oz. pour)

Chicken Curry: Ginger and lemon grass poached chicken in a velvety Thai green curry. Served with a coconut and kaffir lime sticky rice.

2023 Stolpman “Uni” White Blend (4 oz. pour)

Wild Boar Spanakopita: Classic Greek savory pastry pie of spinach and feta wrapped in layers of crispy phyllo dough with crumbled wild boar.

2023 Foxen “SMV” Pinot Noir (4 oz. pour)

Beef Filet: Topped with melted Cambozola blue cheese and served with Pommes Ecrasées (smashed fried potatoes), glazed chestnuts and a caramelized mushroom demi.

2021 Mendel Malbec (4 oz. pour)

Blondies: Chewy white “brownies” made with macadamia nuts and white chocolate.

WV&B’s Legendary Eggnog (3 oz. pour)

Nightcap: Bourbon Pecan Truffle

WV&B’s “Covid Cuvée” Manhattan (1 oz. pour)

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RSVP (IF ON A DESKTOP COMPUTER)

Click the “Contact the Host” button in the “Tell a Friend” box on to the right and respond with the info below.

RSVP (IF ON A MOBILE DEVICE)

Scroll to the very bottom of this posting. Click the “Contact the Host” button in the “Tell a Friend” box at the bottom and respond with the info below.

RESPOND WITH THIS INFO

1. your cell number and best time to call so we can call you to update your credit card info

2. how many people are in your party, and

3. answers to the HEAD’S UP questions in the paragraph below if you’re a party of 1 or 2.

HEAD’S UP

Seating is EXTREMELY limited. We have a limited number of tables for couples who want to sit by themselves so please let us know if you’re willing to sit at communal tables as that will GREATLY increase your chances of getting in. We also have the two firepit tables on the patio for two (https://www.winevaultbistro.com/fire-pit) available if you don’t mind sitting at a lower, coffee table height table. Also, please consider inviting another couple or two to join you as if you’re a party of four or six there won’t be a problem getting your own table. We are currently limiting party sizes to a maximum of six.

LOCATION & PHONE

Wine Vault & Bistro is located in the heart of San Diego between Little Italy and Old Town at 3731-A India Street on the upstairs terrace. Follow the black handrail up the stairs from the sidewalk to our front door. Our phone number is (619) 295-3939.

PARKING

Metered and non-metered on-street parking is usually available within a 3-block radius. Try to find non-metered parking as the new meters are now enforced seven days a day until 8:00PM yet still only allow a maximum of two hours. You can also park in the free lot behind Shakespeare Pub two doors down, but do not park in El Indio's lot unless you want your car towed! If you can’t find parking next to the restaurant, there’s usually parking on the side streets behind the restaurant, on San Diego Avenue one block in front of the restaurant and on the adjacent side streets just past the Chevron station across Washington Street. If you plan to drive here make sure to allow yourself plenty of time to find a parking space but ideally use a rideshare app like Uber or Lyft so you don’t have to deal with it.

WINE SALES

Although some wines may be in limited quantities, all wines poured at this dinner will be available for purchase at the restaurant until sold out. We reserve the right to limit sales of any rare or allocated wines at our discretion.

WINE SALES

Although some wines may be in limited quantities, all wines (and eggnog and Manhattans) poured at this dinner will be available for purchase at the restaurant until sold out. We reserve the right to limit sales of any rare or allocated wines at our discretion.

WINE NOTES & BOTTLE PRICES

Mumm Grand Cordon Brut Champagne ~ $45

(France) Winemaker's Notes: 45% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay + 25% Pinot Meunier. Exuberant bubbles and a brilliant, golden color testify to the vibrancy of this Champagne. Lush aromas of ripe peach, apricot and pineapple cascade from the glass, chased by hints of vanilla and caramel, yeast, dried fruit and honey. Intense, complex flavors of fresh fruit and caramel that morph into a long, lingering finish.

2023 Stolpman “Uni” White Blend ~ $22

(Santa Barabara County) Winemaker’s Notes: 60% Chardonnay + 40% Roussanne. Despite the minority share of Roussanne, the grape shows itself dominantly in the dark golden hue of the blend. On the nose, the Roussanne’s deep concentration continues its march of honey suckle and golden pineapple. The Chardonnay comes through with an appealing, joyful brightness on the palate. The two marry into yellow mango flesh. Coating gourmet smoothie texture already envelopes any note of oak toast. Pear and apple through to kumquat on the finish.

2023 Foxen “SMV” Pinot Noir ~ $30

(Santa Maria Valley) Tasting Notes: A blend from Bien Nacido, Riverbench and Solomon Hills. Bright, vibrant and high-toned, it leans hard into its savory underpinnings and upright structure. Tarragon, truffle, tobacco and fresh watermelon create a distinctive profile that still feels very much like a Santa Maria Valley wine.

2021 Mendel Malbec ~ $22

(Argentina) Winemaker's Notes: Complex aromas of sweet French oak, espresso, black plum, ripe raspberry and violets. Full-bodied, dense, deep and chewy with flavors of black raspberry, plums, roasted herbs and mint. ~~~ Review by Tim Atkin ~ 93 points: "Freshness, freshness, freshness" is Roberto de la Mota’s aim in this comparatively large volume Malbec from 1928 vines in Mayor Drummond. Juicy, sappy and aromatic, it has restrained, elegant, one-third new oak, bramble, raspberry and black cherries, smooth tannins and engaging zip and palate length.

WV&B’s Legendary Eggnog ~ $39 (750ml bottle) or $49 (liter bottle - limited quantities)

An addictive concoction we’ve been perfecting for over forty years now. It’s a decadent combination of super fresh eggs with bright orange yolks (instead of the typical pale yellow supermarket ones) from an organic farm, pure vanilla, cream and nutmeg aggressively spiked with two kinds of rum, VSOP cognac and bourbon. We sell it in recycled wine bottles for thirty-nine bucks. And, according to lots of research I’ve done lately, it will actually keep for 1-2 years as long as it’s continually refrigerated. And it mellows and gets better with age. I know that it just sounds so wrong to keep anything with fresh eggs and fresh cream for more than a week or two, but once a certain level of alcohol is introduced, (and we’re waaaay above that level) all bets are off and it will keep for a much longer period of time as long as it’s continually refrigerated. I kept some of last year’s batch until May and it was truly amazing but, out of an abundance of caution, I’ve somewhat arbitrarily listed the shelf life as end of January. But I’ve had customers tell me that they’ve just now opened some of last year’s nog and that it’s amazing a year later. But then again, you’d have to have the self-restraint to actually keep it for a year!

WV&B’s “Covid Cuvée” Manhattan ~ $20 (200ml hip flask)

A magical blend of premium Bourbon, Antica Carpano Italian Sweet Vermouth, a touch of Rye and Luxardo Cherry Liqueur plus a splash of special Old Fashioned Bitters all seamlessly aged together in four charred oak barrels solera style since 2020. Affectionately called our “Covid Cuvée,” we started the first barrel in March of 2020 as a treat for our customers to enjoy while standing in line for their take-out winemaker dinners when dine-in was shut down. We gradually added more barrels over the years but have never let the original barrel go completely dry. So there’s always a little bit of every single year’s batch (going on six years now) in every single bottle. The result? The best Manhattan you’ll ever have with an unduplicatable level of complexity that just goes on and on and on ....

THE FINE PRINT

Due to fluctuations of supply, we reserve the right to make substitutions of equal or greater value in case any of the wines or foods become unavailable. Please, ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO ONE UNDER THE AGE OF 21 ... even if your babysitter flakes out on you at the last minute!

Hope to see you here. Buon appetito and cheers!

Chris

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