Fun Times and Fine Wines at Savor Dallas Arts District Wine Stroll

Lines were long but spirits were high as Savor Dallas kicked off, starting with the Toast of Town Series and the Arts District Wine Stroll. My husband and I were among the happy throngs last Thursday evening that threw off the drab chill of winter to revel in the fine spring weather and sip and stroll at various Arts District venues. From my point of view, a good time was had by all, but don’t just take my word for it: go on Twitter and check out the thread on #SavorDallas, where you can see real-time photos and read giddy comments from attendees.

Some of Dallas’ most talented chefs were on hand to dole out nibbles and bits to the crowd, including Executive Chef Donald Chalko of Omni Dallas Hotel, who was dishing up a spicy mac-and-cheese with pico de gallo at the Crow Collection of Asian Art. My husband and I washed our pasta down with Llano Estacado Viviano and 1836 poured by James Floyd next to an exhibit of Chinese carvings—it was sort of an East-meets-Wild West foodie adventure.

We wanted to make sure we hit all the Texas wineries featured at the wine stroll, and so we paid a call on the Nasher Sculpture Garden. The Nasher is probably one of our favorite places in all of North Texas, and for us, it just doesn’t get any better than walking around beautiful works of art under spring skies and tasting pours of Becker Vineyards Chardonnay and Duchman Family Vineyards Aglianico. Our favorite snack samples there were from Hypnotic Donuts—feathery, sugary morsels with hints of lemon and vanilla that practically melted in our mouths. You may be wondering which wine went best with the donuts, but to be honest, I don’t recall nor do I particularly care. All around me and on my taste buds, I was experiencing high art, and that was my key takeaway.

Our evening wrapped up at the Meyerson Symphony Center, where there were no Texas wineries, but being wine lovers in general, we tried some other wines from California and South America. I’ll leave it a mystery which ones we sampled, in my opinion, the Texas wines we had at the Savor Dallas Arts District Wine Stroll held their own and possibly surpassed anything else we tried. Maybe it’s just the Texas pride talking, but there is a quote attributed to Dizzy Dean that says, “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”