For anyone who has a love of wine and food, and the people who know exactly how to serve it, the PlumpJack Café at Squaw Valley is the perfect place to spend an evening. The PlumpJack Café has been open since 1994 with the premise that wine is one of the premier pleasures of life and the café is known for selling their bottles at retail prices.
Enjoy wine by the fire at the PlumpJack Cafe in Squaw Valley — Photo courtesy of PlumpJack Cafe
It's a good thing the PlumpJack has an educated sommelier. Their wine selection is extraordinary (the wine menu is 37 pages) and they offer everything from Champagne and sparkling wines to Port and Grappa. The prices also run the gamut from nearly $900 a bottle to about $25 a bottle. Some of their most interesting wines include Saxon Brown "Cricket Creek Vineyard" Semillon for $29, Pfeffingen Kabinett Pfalz for $29 and Châteauneuf du Pape Andre Brunel "Les Cailloux" for $79.
In addition, they serve cocktails and beer just as well. Their unusual cocktails include the PlumpJack martini with Ciroc vodka, Jackson Triggs Ice Wine and grapes, the Smokey Dog with Blue Ice Vodka, grapefruit juice and smoked sea salt and the delicious Blood Orange Pisco Sour with fresh lime. They serve a wide selection of beers like Alaskan Amber Ale, Guinness and the fun Mad River Jamaica Red Ale.
Of course, you will want to have some food with your wine. The PlumpJack's unique dinner menu items include appetizers like Warm Marinated Olives with Garlic and Herbs for $4 and Seafood Poke Cones with Wakame Seaweed, Avocado and Meyer Lemon Ponzu for $15, salads like their Albion Strawberry Salad with Wild Arugula, Pistachio-Chevre Croquette and Golden Balsamic-Tarragon Vinaigrette for $15 and entrees like Pan Seared Tofino Inlet Salmon with Spring Vegetable Ragout and Stinging Nettle-Malt Vinegar Aioli for $18.
The Cafe's Albion Strawberry Salad — Photo courtesy of PlumpJack Cafe
Their special events include Sunday Bloody Sundays with Bloody Mary drinks from 11:30 to 3:00 p.m. and Woodfire Wednesdays with wood-fired pizzas from 3-6 p.m. The PlumpJack also offers unique private event options that can accommodate groups of all sizes and summer farm to table dinners served outside in the wonderful Tahoe air.
