Palisade Fun: Burger Night at Maison La Belle Vie Winery
Burger and Wine in the Maison Courtyard
As I prepare for another long weekend in Palisade, I’ve been contemplating what I enjoy doing when we visit for the weekend and the first thing that came to mind, other than tasting wine of course is food! If you are in Palisade for a Friday night, I highly recommend checking out Burger Night at Maison La Belle Vie Winery! We’ve gone numerous times over the years and have never been disappointed, although since Covid I think you now must schedule a reservation.
Our strategy when we go is to arrive before the tasting room closes so that we can taste their wines and figure out what bottle we want to compliment our burger. As with all the tasting rooms in Palisade we enjoy them both for the wine as well as the people we converse with while we are tasting. Over the years I’ve given many a recommendation regarding wineries to visit and wines to taste, to newbies we’ve encountered while tasting wines, not that I am an expert by any means. I just know what I like, and I make a point of inquiring to their tastes before steering them in the direction that they might enjoy.
Maison has several lovely wines that we’ve enjoyed over the years both as a wine club member and not, these wines include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, a Rose (not my favorite), a sweet Muscat (which my mother loves), as well as a Reserve Petit Verdot (very tasty) and a Vin De Peche, also very good. They also have some lovely blends. I’m a fan of their Cabernet and that is what we most often order with our burgers (well that or their blend). During the summer months they have a killer frozen wine beverage that I’ve always referred to as a Frose but in actuality I think they call it a Frozen Peach Bellini and when I say killer I mean killer… when its 90-100 degrees out that drink is heaven, it is refreshing and goes down way too easy so that after drink number three you just might not feel your knees anymore! Of course, by then you also might not care if you feel your knees, just saying!
But on to the burgers! Maison offers Friday burger night most Fridays from 5 – 8 pm in the courtyard of the winery. Their burgers are locally sourced beef from Ranch Molina and you have a choice of Brie (always my go to), Blue (Andy’s go to) and Swiss cheese. The burger comes with lettuce, tomato and onion on a Focaccia bun with side options of local mixed green salad with a house vinaigrette, homemade pasta salad or chips. All that tasty goodness for a mere $16.5. In addition, they serve a wonderful Charcuterie board that like their burgers is to die for! The boards serve either two people ($35) or four ($60).
Prior to Covid, what made burger night so much fun was the people and talking with them as we ate and enjoyed our wine. The conversations were always fun, often times we’d meet people who work at other local wineries that we recognize from our visits to their tasting rooms or they’d recognize us, other local wine makers who were off the clock and looking to enjoy a good burger or folks visiting the valley for the first time.
The last time we were there (when this picture was taken) I met a fellow artist I was exhibiting with at the Craig Gallery in Palisade (he is the man in the background if this picture, Doug Monroe… great artist and super nice man!)
So, there you go, if you are looking to have in my humble opinion the best burger in town under the stars with twinkling bistro lights, enjoyable conversation and delightful wine and it’s a Friday night I highly recommend Burger Night at La Belle Vie Maison Winery! Prior to dinner their tasting room is open: 11am – 5 pm Monday – Thursday, 11 am- 8 pm on Friday (although I think the cut the tasting off once Burger night starts), 11 am – 6 pm on Saturday and 11 am – 4 pm on Sunday. Maison is located at 3575 G. Road, Palisade, CO 81526, 970-464-2244 or their website is maisonlabellevie.com.
Bon Appetite!
