Christner’s Orlando Teams Up with Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery to Provide Optimal Pairings
If you have lived in the Central Florida area for at least a year, there is a good chance that you’ve eaten at, or at least heard of, Christner’s Prime Steak and Lobster. For the latest installment in their Cutting Board Dinner Series, the award-winning steakhouse paired up with Washington-based winery Chateau Ste. Michelle for a 4-course dinner, complete with – you guessed it – lots of wine.
A few of our tasty wines from the evening.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by the Christner’s (of course!) along with a host from Chateau Ste. Michelle. Our welcome bubbly, the Domain Ste. Michelle Brut, was crisp, tasty & just right for the fall season. The cheese platter (shown above) was next, complete with insanely perfect candied bacon. Paired with Ste. Michelle’s Antica Chardonnay, I would have been pleased to just snack on that all evening. Christner’s famous warm bread completed the first course.
Second course called for some appetizers. A crab cake, extremely well-seasoned and -cooked, was served in a delicious cajun sauce; this was alongside a Caesar salad, and paired with North Star Merlot. Both were tasty and not too filling – always good, when you know there is a steak waiting for you! The cajun sauce is definitely worth noting, having a lovely flavor and consistency. The merlot was a perfect match – it was interesting to learn about the combination of different grapes – not just merlot – that went into the batch.
Crab cake in cajun sauce.
Christner’s classic Caesar.
Finally, the big moment arrived: what Christner’s Orlando is known for. Our main course, a perfectly medium prime strip. With osage spinach and chateau potatoes, and paired with Antica Cabernet Sauvignon, there was not a dry eye in the house. Steak and cabernet is, truly, a beautiful match.
Christner’s Prime Strip.
Despite the unanimous food coma, we still had one final course. Dessert at Christner’s is not taken lightly. I mean that literally. The enormous slab of orange cake seen here is the actual size served daily. Paired with Antinori Vin Santo, a dessert wine with flavor, I could barely force half down, but enjoyed what I could.
Christner’s famous (and gigantic) orange cake.
All in all, I left extremely full of amazing food, wine, and newly obtained knowledge. We learned not just about Chateau Ste. Michelle, but wine-making as a whole. One fun fact: one of Ste. Michelle’s California vineyards sits higher in Napa than any other, and therefore gets dramatically more sunlight – changing the entire flavor palate of the grapes.
Christner’s Orlando is open Monday-Saturday. For more information on their upcoming events, stay tuned to their website.