Greetings from Carrboro,

Naming a business is hard. Naming a winery is next to impossible. It’s too fraught.

There was a good stretch in the 80’s and 90’s where the rule was pick a romantic animal, provide a suitable adjective and, voila, your winery was named. You know the ones. Wild Horse. Screaming Eagle. Flying Fox. It has that untamed California vibe, the rugged individualist as winemaker and all-around good dude.

Then came the foreign language push. Mer et Soleil. Belle Glos. Castello di Amorosa. Because of course using foreign words imply: 1) old world sophistication 2) new world wealth 3) pass the foie gras.

Either way, the hard part is backing it up. Like you don’t get a personalized license plate that says “BEAST” and then put it on a Camry. So when you put the word Eden on your wine label, you better not mess around. No way.

And, well, Mount Eden Vineyards certainly lives up to their name. And then some. So much so that their Pinot Noir was served at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. In England. With a certain queen at the table. Not bad.

On Wednesday, September 25th we may not have a queen at the table, but we will have those oh-so glorious wines. And some remarkably delicious food. We can let Mount Eden’s own Michele Duckett fill in for her excellency. But I think it’s probably smart if I let Michele decide if she wants to wear a crown or not.

Mount Eden’s wines have been some of my very favorite bottles from California for a long time. The wines really are flat-out delicious. One of California’s true legacy boutique wineries, Mount Eden makes small amounts of extraordinary wines — chardonnay, pinot noir, and cabernet sauvignon — from their perch high in the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking Silicon Valley. Obviously, there’s a certain rampant success in the soil. And the bottle.

The Acme Wine Dinner with Mount Eden Vineyards. Wednesday, September 25th. We will get started at 6:30. Price for the dinner is $75. Tickets for the evening are very limited and can only be purchased on our website here. (There is also the option for an additional glass – their stunning Estate Cabernet – for $20 with the final course.) Menu is below. It will be a great night. I certainly hope that you can join us.

This weekend @ Acme: Peel-N-Eat Carolina shrimp. Pecan-crusted fried chicken. Acme tomato plate. Spaghetti squash carbonara. Wedge salad. Blackened salmon. 24 oz bone-in ribeyes. Bourbon pecan pie. Watermelon sangria. Acme cornbread. Smashburgers. Barrel-aged manhattans! Fried okra and shishito peppers. Southern tomato pie. Frogmore stew. Brussels’ sprouts. Fig handpie. Shooting Point oysters on the half-shell. Flash-fried Pamlico Sound flounder. Sweet corn ribs. Cold beer. Colder martinis.

Well, that’s all the news from Carrboro. The staff at Acme look forward to serving you soon.

Cheers,
The Staff at Acme
Reservations: 919 929 2263 or online

Click HERE for tickets

Mount Eden wine dinner
Wednesday, September 25th at 6:30 in the evening
with Michele Duckett

1st
smoked diver scallops
collards, coconut, charred sweet peppers, chili oil
2016 Mount Eden Chardonnay, Edna Valley

2nd
line-caught NC tuna
butternut squash, soy, grapefruit, ginger
2015 Mount Eden Estate Chardonnay

3rd
grilled carolina quail
silver queen spoonbread, wild mushroom
2015 Mount Eden Estate Pinot Noir

4th
filet mignon
brussels sprouts, caramelized onion, mustard cream
2016 Domaine Eden Cabernet Sauvignon

4th course bonus wine ($20 add on)
2015 Mount Eden Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
The wine is wildly allocated. Along with its neighbor, Ridge Vineyard’s Montebello, the estate Cabernet Sauvignon is one of my very favorite expressions of the varietal from California. Just stunning.