Labor Day weekend, the Husband and I made plans with friends to head out to Lake Las Vegas where a wine tasting event was scheduled to occur: Wine Walk We originally learned about it thanks to Groupon and recruited friends that might be interested in enjoying a night of wine on the lake. The event details advised that there would be wines as well as foods from local restaurants for us to sample throughout the night. It was set to start at 7pm and we arrived about 30 minutes early to find parking and check-in and hopefully not fall too far behind in the crowd (like our experience at the Las Vegas Beer Festival). We actually arrived a bit too early so we first enjoyed walking around Lake Las Vegas and took in the views.
When registration opened, we got in line, bought our tickets, and received our wristbands, glasses, and wine cards.
One of the things I enjoyed at this event over the Las Vegas Beer Festival was that it was spacious – not confined in a courtyard. As you walked to each tasting table, you were able to walk in and out of shops (some shops had the tasting table inside), restaurants, and a concert that was going on at the same time on the grass.
The four of us decided to start with whites and search out the tables with them. Each table gave only one 1-oz pour and punched a hole in the card so we were able to keep track of where we went and where to go next. A downside, however, was that the tables were not all easy to find (there was no map), but we got to a reasonable amount of the tables throughout the evening. The more wine I had, the less pictures were taken 
Apparently Prosecco was the tipping point for photos (and reds never had a chance). All of the individuals working the tables were volunteers unassociated with the winery so whether we learned anything at a table was dependent on how into the event the pourer was, but they were fun to interact with.
After finishing the whites, and realizing that only one table existed with food (a misleading bit of info was included in the website), we decided we needed dinner. There were a number of restaurants to choose from and for one reason or another, we decided to go with Bernard’s Bistro.
The restaurant was quite crowded but the wait was only about 20 minutes. The restaurant was cute with a handful of French touches throughout.
Since we were full of white wine, we focused on water with dinner. And then we started our wait for food… Which seemed to go on for quite some time. I’m not sure if it was in our wine-filled heads, if was due to the unusual crowd from the wine walk, or just normal slow service, but it felt like forever till our food came.
First out, some of us ordered a first course. For mine, I had the French Onion Soup which was quite good. The broth was beefy and salty, but not overly so. Each spoonful I was able to get a good ratio of broth, bread, and cheese. It was one of the better French onion soups I’ve had in some time.
For his first course, the Husband ordered the Caesar Salad which I ordered for my entrée so I’ll tell you more about later. For his entrée, he had the Marinated Shrimp and Avocado Sandwich. What came out was a cold shrimp salad mixed with “flavored sauce” on top of four slices of baguette, topped with avocado and olives. The Husband wasn’t expecting a cold salad nor mostly “flavored sauce” which he couldn’t quite place (that’s what it’s called on the menu). Overall, it did not settle well with him and he would not order it again.
As I mentioned above, I ordered the Caesar Salad as my second course (which the Husband also ordered for his first course). At first it looked pretty good – a mix of romaine, Caesar dressing, shaved parmesan, and some avocado (and I 
avocado!). As I got into the salad, though, it was more dressing than anything else. (The Husband had a similar experience but not to the same extent.)
Throughout a lot of the salad, I spent time shaking and scraping dressing off of the lettuce 
A little more than halfway through, I couldn’t stomach it anymore and gave up.
So much dressing!
Once we made it through our entrees, we got the bill as quickly as possible so we could head back outside for the red wine. Unfortunately, a number of the tables were out of red wine by the time we got to them so the group missed out on some of the preferred tastings of the night. The event was generally fun, and proceeds go to the New Vista Community, a charity helping provide independence to the disabled community. They have a handful of events at Lake Las Vegas and Town Square including both wine and beer events. If you’re interested in a night out with wine or beer and raising money for a good cause, check them out – just be sure to have food before you go!
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