Wine Bar George opened this past weekend at Disney Springs. The highly-anticipated bar brings The Landing section one step closer to completion (once Terralina Italian opens this summer). George Miliotes is at the helm of this new wine destination. You may recognize his name from the team that led California Grill at Contemporary Resort to become one of the best destinations in the world for food, wine, and sushi (before it was cool). George brings his master sommelier skills to the table here with rare, tasty, and interesting wines and pairings. We stopped by on opening weekend to examine the new digs at Disney Springs.
The Exterior
There’s an area outside called “the basket” where they sell a few different beverages and snacks.
Outdoor bar which was not open due to inclement weather when we were there.
Upstairs covered patio for guests to enjoy the outdoors.
The Interior
Upon entering you are presented with a large U-shaped bar with open seating.
Most of the table seating is upstairs, with these very cool “barrel” tables that seat six people.
The outdoor area upstairs was open for guests and yes, the tables near the railing do get wet if it starts raining sideways.
A comfy couch area is at the top of the stairs.
There is also some traditional (non-barrel) seating upstairs.
There is also a secondary bar upstairs with a half-dozen seats.
The stairs are decorated with wine corks and are really stunning in person.
Back downstairs, there are a few hightops against the wall.
There is also a large marble table for bigger parties.
The Menus
Wine Bar George offers a relatively small food menu with small plates and cheese boards, and also offers three family-style plates (large plates?) that can be shared by 2-4 people. As expected, there is a very extensive wine menu with over 100 different type of wines, plus specialty cocktails and a selection of beers (although I’m not sure what demographic they are targeting with Bud Light on there).
Drinks
It would be impossible for us to cover every single wine and cocktail on the menu (at least in one weekend), but we had a few for the sake of the review.
Sabine (Rosé) – $9.00
One of the first wines we tried was this very popular rosé which was highly recommended by our waiter. This wine actually came from the tap which made it taste super fresh, like it just came from the winery. We really enjoyed this because it was very refreshing, although it was a pretty standard rosé with nothing exceptional to note.
Jorge’s Red Sangria – $14.00
Ordóñez Family Secret Recipe
A delicious and homemade red sangria that was super refreshing. It is a secret family recipe according to the menu. If you’re a fan of sangria, this is a definitely something you should try.
American 75 – $15.00
St. George Terroir Gin / Roederer Estate / Lavender
This tart and sour drink has a strong lemon taste and is extremely fizzy. It was highly recommended by our waiter and other guests, and with good reason: it is very refreshing and probably one of our favorite drinks of all we tried, You can also taste the lavender which adds a nice hint of flavor.
Small Bites
Wine Bar George offers a variety of small plates to try and we decided to pick a few that seemed the most appetizing.
House-Made Meatballs – $14.00
House-Made Meatballs / triple cheese polenta / tomato sauce
These meatballs are out of this world! They are made right there in the kitchen every morning and fresh to your table. The sauce was also delicious, and it is served on a bed of triple cheese polenta (which was fantastic, and I don’t even like polenta).
Crispy Mac & Cheese Bites – $11.00
Crispy Mac & Cheese Bites / tomato nage / pecorino
These Mac & Cheese bites were a favorite of ours, and a huge hit at the restaurant. The fried balls are filled with shells and pimento cheese so it does have a bit of a kick to it (be warned if you don’t like spicy foods).
Chicken Skewers – $13.00
Chicken Skewers / togarashi / Asian slaw
This one was a surprise – we weren’t expecting these would be anything special, but chicken was juicy and full of flavor, as was the delicious Asian slaw.
Dessert
It was recommended that we try The Chocolate Experience because it offered a few wines that most people normally wouldn’t try otherwise.
The Chocolate Experience – $22.00
Pairing demonstration of three wines and three chocolates
The Chocolate Experience offers 3 different chocolates: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. These are house-made and but are on the small side. The three different wines are as follows (from left to right):
- Mas Amiel 20-yr Grenache from Maury, France
- Seven Falls Merlot from Wahluke Slop, Washington ’13
- Ordóñez No. 1 Selección Especial Muscat from Malaga, Spain ’15
Overall we found the cost of this experience a bit pricey, especially since they wouldn’t tell you anything about the different wines (we had to ask about them separately). You receive a 1-oz pour of each wine which is really not enough for 2 people (although it is advertised as such), so we honestly would recommend skipping this and just ordering these (or any other) dessert-type wines by the glass.
Overall, we expected this new venue to be somewhat pricey, and in that regard it met our expectations. The food and the drinks we had were quite good, and if you’re a wine connoisseur, it would be hard not to like this place. But it’s more of a special-occasion destination than a place to just grab dinner.
Gorgeous place. Love the inside design.
I’ll have to try it out next visit.
I’d have liked to see a few more Pinot Noirs on the menu. Other than the one on tap, I only noticed 3. Are there more??
And the price differential went from $ 9, $ 13, all the way to $ 25 a 6 oz pour. And La Crema being the $ 13 isn’t really saying anything. Actually, that’s quite disappointing considering this is a wine specialty restaurant and I see La Crema all over my grocery store. I actually can find a better selection at Mizner’s, California Grill, and The Wave.
I’d love to know, with the by the ounce selections if you can request a new bottle. Ever have a red that’s been sitting around, especially for that price??
Will they give you a taste if you are not sure of a wine? From my standpoint, it would be to see if it is fresh more than adequate.
Do you have photos of the cheese and charcuterie plates? My wife and I share and I’m thinking of the plate for two, but at $ 54, I’d like to make sure I’m not chipping away at morsels of food.
I can recall when California Grill opened, everything, well almost everything was offered by the glass. We all know how that ended.
PLEASE do another review of Flying Fish.
I know it’s Disney and I know most table service restaurants are pricey, but sometimes the prices just get ridiculous! Unless I had a meal plan, I just can’t fathom spending $14 for 2 meatballs. Yikes!
Bud Light is one of the top selling beers in the country…and the only beer my fuddy duddy hubby will drink. Thankfully I can get him to try these places if they sell Bud Light and now I am looking forward to trying Wine Bar out on our next trip!
Another disgrace. And such a great touch with the wine bottle corks lining the stairs!! Maybe can paste wine bottle labels on the walls!! How about an audio animatronic Wine-o BUM laying on the floor outside in some corner for flavor of atmosphere! Great Picture with the kid in the Stroller as they are at the doors! It’s a FAMILY Place !!
Really looking forward to this place but at initial glance, the wine list doesn’t blow me away. I realize they’re trying to cover the world, but there doesn’t seem to be a huge selection of by the bottle wines, and it’s lacking some of the pretty reasonable gems you can find in a deep list like California Grill or Il Mulino. Maybe there’s a “reserve” list available too. Ah well – it will definitely require some significant “in person” reviewing when I’m there this August ! I certainly like the vibe of the place !
If there’s one thing George knows (who’s worked with Disney extensively), it’s that Disney Customers DO NOT expect value. They want a great experience, and you can give them the lowest quality, and if with a little ‘magic’, they will pay anything. Anything. They will stand in loooong lines for it as well. Disney Springs all said has some great restaurants, and that they’re NOT run by Disney is a GREAT thing. If it was run by Disney, it would be even higher priced, less value, though equally themed. That George only has to meet Disney minimum standards (not very high last decade or so), and has great competition there, this is potentially good for customers, but expect high prices, low values.
I will stick to Wine room and Eola wine company which this place can never live up to because its so fake and manufactored. Disney Springs can copy buildings from Orlando and Winter Park and buy bricks from Rollins College but it will never be authentic or charming like the local places it is trying to ripoff