Upcoming Events
The Reynaud Family: Four Decades of Rayas, Pignan & Fonsalette
There are great producers. There are legendary producers. Then there's Rayas.
For one night, we'll explore the Reynaud family's wines with a focus on mature vintages. The evening begins with a trio of white wines from Fonsalette, Pignan, and Rayas before moving through mature Fonsalette reds, a vertical of Pignan, and six vintages of Rayas itself, culminating in the extraordinary 1978, 1985, and 1990.
Three, Two, One: A Blind Burgundy Dinner
The Michelin Guide's new one-, two-, and three-grape classification has given Burgundy lovers an entirely new framework for understanding the region's greatest domaines. This dinner is an invitation to experience that framework firsthand.
Executive Chef Nico Russell presents a five-course celebration of autumn in Northern California, each course accompanied by three wines tasted entirely blind - one each from a Three-Grape, Two-Grape, and One-Grape domaine. Fifteen extraordinary wines, thoughtfully sequenced to encourage comparison, conversation, and discovery.
Truffles, Tar & Roses: A Piedmont Legends Dinner
Few wine regions, Burgundy excepted, have spent quite so much time arguing over how its greatest grape ought to be expressed.
Why argue when the wines themselves - and great wines at that - can do the heavy lifting? For this dinner, we're bringing together four of the names that have done most to define Piedmont over the last several decades: Gaja, Bruno Giacosa, Aldo Conterno, and Giuseppe Rinaldi. Each gets a course of its own (truffles included!), with fourteen wines spanning 1997 through 2016 and a lineup that moves between Barolo and Barbaresco, legendary crus and mature bottles, and four very different ideas of what Nebbiolo can become.
Chef Nico Russell will create a four-course menu around the wines, with truffles doing their magical work of bridging Nebbiolo’s subtlest and profoundest depths.
-aia / -ello / -eto /: A Tuscan Legends Dinner with Black Truffles
Super Tuscan, a category born of rebellion and relentless innovation, has today become a new classic. Anti-establishment has become beautifully establishment: Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, Ornellaia, and Masseto are not merely among Italy’s most famous wines, but among the world’s.
This dinner gives us the rare chance to consider how they got there - and, more importantly, what separates them once the catch-all Super Tuscan umbrella is taken away. Across three vintages each of Solaia, Sassicaia, Tignanello, and Ornellaia, stretching from 1997 through 2013, we’ll look at the very different expressions of place, variety, and ambition that came to define modern Tuscan wine.
Chef Nico Russell's five-course menu will highlight the best of Northern California's late-year bounty, built course-by-course around the wines.
Oh yes - twelve Tuscan legends being apparently not enough, we'll finish with the legendary 2013 Masseto.
Realm Cellars: A Study in Single-Sites
Joined by owner Scott Becker and Head Sommelier Jacob Brown, we'll explore three of Realm's most important vineyard-designated wines—Farella, Houyi, and Beckstoffer Dr. Crane—across the 2021, 2018, and 2015 vintages.
Tasted side-by-side, the wines offer a fascinating look at how both site and season shape the finished product, with each flight revealing what nearly a decade of bottle age brings to these remarkable sites.
François Raveneau: Four Decades of Chablisien Greatness
For many of us Chablis simply is Raveneau, Raveneau Chablis. This dinner attempts a love letter to our favorite producer in our favorite region, one whose wines are rarely given such spotlighting.
For one night we'll follow Raveneau across four decades through verticals of Butteaux and Montée de Tonnerre, a trio of Blanchots, and finally two vintages of Clos including the remarkable 1991.
Chablis can be many things, but at Raveneau it becomes something uniquely complete: intensity without weight, power without excess, and a capacity to age that continues to surprise even longtime followers. Expect the 1991 Clos alone to be worth the price of admission.
Four Decades of Harlan Estate with Founding Director Don Weaver
We’re thrilled to welcome Don Weaver, Founding Director of Harlan Estate, to Café Vivant on Wednesday, June 24th for what promises to be one of the most memorable dinners of the year.
The evening will feature twelve vintages of Harlan Estate, all drawn directly from the estate’s cellar and spanning four decades of production—from the 1990s through the 2020s. Presented in four flights of three wines each, the lineup offers a rare chance to watch one of United States’s most profound wines at every stage of its evolution.
Winemaker Dinner: Fifty Years Of Mount Eden
We’re very pleased to announce our upcoming dinner with Mount Eden Vineyards owner Reid Patterson. Across half a century, the dinner lineup will focus on a terroir and style demonstrating the ageability of California wines as carefully and persausively as any.
Many of the older vintages we’ll be pouring come directly from the winery’s cellar, bottles stored and undisturbed since release. The result will be a uniquely clear view into how these wines evolve over decades.
Across Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon, we’ll move from the 1970s through particularly strong recent vintages, with Reid guiding the evening and offering context throughout.
The dinner culminates with a 1974 side-by-side - Pinot Noir and Cabernet - showcasing perhaps the most legendary vintage inside its half-century.
The wines will be complimented (as always!) by a menu centered on poultry, with dishes shaped closely around what’s coming in locally and at its peak.
Barolo Legends Dinner: Bartolo Mascarello & Giacomo Conterno
Two of Barolo’s most revered and philosophically distinct producers share the table at this unique vintage side-by-side dinner.
Through 15 wines spanning nearly a half-century, we’ll be focusing on top vintages paired with five signature dishes from our poultry-focused culinary program. Seating is extremely limited.
Winemaker Dinner: An Evening with Rhys Vineyards
Join us for an evening of Rhys rarities - mature Pinots, Chardonnays, and a surprise or two - paired with a five course culinary experience.
Three Pinot Noir horizontals (2013, 2012, 2010) anchor the dinner, each of which will be introduced by Rhys Winemaker Jeff Brinkman and Assistant Winemaker John Fausz
Valentine’s Day Dinner
Valentine’s Day at Café Vivant
Join us for a Valentine’s celebration built around choice and indulgence—beginning with Shigoku oysters topped with Keluga caviar, the delicacy of our uni panna cotta with grilled abalone, or a wide selection of dishes designed for lingering at the table. Main course highlights include a Heritage Delaware chicken raised slowly on pasture and a Tomahawk steak for two.
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