Beefsteak and wine dinner at legendary Angus Barn Raleigh, NC
We traveled through Raleigh (NC) enroute to Fayetteville, NC to visit extended family. Laying over overnight, we dined at the historic Angus Barn Restaurant.
The Angus Barn in Raleigh, North Carolina, is an institution with its award winning Wine Cellar that has over 25,000 bottles of wine from around the world. We dined at Angus Barn and toured the wine cellar during a previous visit back in 2009.
The Angus Barn was founded in 1960 by Thad Eure, Jr. and Charles Winston with the objective to provide “incomparable hospitality; excellent value; a meal of impeccable quality; and the rich, rustic Americana ambiance”.
In 1959, they bought 50 acres along NC Highway 70, halfway between Raleigh and Durham near what would become Research Triangle Park and Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). At the time, RDU was little more than a landing strip with fewer than 20 flights daily. Twelve years later Crabtree Valley Mall was built down the road near Raleigh.
When banks declined Eure and Winston search for funding, politely referring to their venture as “impossible” and “a poor risk.”, Eure turned to his father, the late North Carolina Secretary of State Thad Eure, Sr., for the capital to pursue their dream.
In 1960, Eure and Winston opened their restaurant with a steak-and-potato-based menu serving highest quality aged western beef.
Today, that legend continues under the ownership of Van Eure, daughter of the late Thad Eure, Jr. The Barn serves an average of 22,000 steaks per month, but the menu also features poultry, seafood and pasta.
The Angus Barn is consistently one of the nation’s 50 highest-grossing independent restaurants, consistently ranked as one of the 100 best restaurants in the US.
In February, 1964, the Angus Barn was destroyed by fire. They rebuilt a new Barn doubling the seating capacity. Eure and Winston, vowed to provide jobs to each Angus Barn employee during reconstruction, finding jobs for employees at other area restaurants or in construction jobs. To open within one year of the fire, shifts were created to rebuild around-the-clock. They beat the one-year deadline reopening in January, 1965.
Its a great story that in November of 1983, after eighteen years in partnership, Eure and Winston decided to part ways. The quandary: Who would sell his share of the Barn to the other was resolved in a Southern gentlemen way. They agreed to a coin toss. The person who won the toss would decide whether to buy or to sell. Winston won. And Winston decided to sell. Winston went on to become one of the most respected hoteliers and restaurateurs in the southeast.
In 1979 the “liquor by the drink law” changed in North Carolina, allowing restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages by the drink. The owners sacrificed their offices and converted them into the Wild Turkey Lounge, named for Thad’s extensive wild turkey decanter collection.
The collection of more than 400 turkeys grew by another 200 to today’s collection of more than 600 decanters, displayed throughout the Wild Turkey Lounge, and is the largest private collection in existence.
Thad Eure, Jr., who earned a reputation nationally and statewide as “Mr. Hospitality,” succumbed to cancer in November of 1988 at the young age of 56. Numerous honors and tributes followed. Having served as president of both the North Carolina Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association, annual awards were established in his honor.
Thad Eure, Jr., who earned a reputation nationally and statewide as “Mr. Hospitality,” succumbed to cancer in November of 1988 at the young age of 56. Numerous honors and tributes followed. Having served as president of both the North Carolina Restaurant Association and the National Restaurant Association, annual awards were established in his honor.
In 1989, Wine Spectator magazine awarded its coveted Grand Award upon Angus Barn, an honor to be repeated each year for the next twenty-plus years. Built on Thad, Jr.’s vision to build a wine list to rival the best California restaurants, in 1991, Alice and Van transformed the stacked boxes and cases of wine in a place called “the cages” into a spectacular, 28,000 bottle wine cellar complete with in-cellar dining rooms. The legendary cellar rivals celebrated restaurant wine cellars throughout the US and the world, featuring 25,000 bottle of 1,200 different labels.
We toured the Angus Barn wine cellar during a previous visit with daughter Erin back in 2009.
After Alice Eure passed in October, 1997, many speculated that Van would simply sell the Barn. The Angus Barn continues under the stewardship of their daughter Van Eure, who continues expanding and building upon her parents’ dream.
In 2008 Van and husband Steve Thanhauser opened The Pavilion on the Angus Barn property, a 400 seat lakeside venue to accommodate special events.
For dinner we each ordered steaks which were excellent, prepared perfectly and served hot with delectable accompaniments - mashed potatoes and fresh veggies.
From the extraordinary extensive wine list I ordered a Napa proprietary red wine. Dining with Sis/in-law Pat, I ordered a wine from a producer we visited together, the David Arthur estate up on Pritchard Hill in the southern Vaca Mountain Range sitting at about 1000 feet overlooking the Silverado Trail of Napa Valley during our Napa Valley Wine Experience in 2013.
David Arthur Napa Valley Proprietary Red 2019
After nearly forty years of farming grapes up on Pritchard Hill, David Arthur released this new label, “the Next Generation of David Arthur Vineyards wine ~ DAV, a wine crafted for accessibility and near-term enjoyment in its youth, yet offering greater nuance and complexity afforded with cellaring.”
This Bordeaux-style label is a blend of mountain-grown Bordeaux varietals from the David Arthur estate along with “the best of surrounding vineyards within the Napa Valley”.
This wine is aged an average of 20 months in French oak barrels.
Producer’s Tasting Notes - “A dark cerise color offering an array of fruit and spice aromas; bright cherry, red raspberry, baked cassis, and plum followed by notes of anise, baking spices, garrigue and cherry cola. The palate is soft and plush with fine-grained tannins offering beautiful acidity and structure. The finish is long and silky with flavors of candied plum, tamarind, brown sugar and molasses.”
This label was awarded 94 point by James Suckling, 92 points by Vinous, and 91 by Wine Spectator.
This is a traditional Bordeaux varietals blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot - 2,568 cases were produced.
Bright garnet colored, medium to full bodied, nicely balanced, bright vibrant, smooth and lush, ripe black berry, black currant and plum fruits with notes of spice, sweet tobacco, cassis, with hints of mocha and herbs de Provence turning to fine grained tannin on a polished finish.
RM 92 points.
