Where the vines meet the pines you will find the hamlet of Somerset, the home of GOLD VINE GRILL. This region south of Placerville combines gorgeous mountain scenery, family run premium wineries, and great food. Gold Vine Grill Owners, Gregory and Mary Kemp, have created a great place to relax and enjoy fine dining in a casual family atmosphere.

After being greeted and seated by Mary, we made the difficult choice of appetizers from an eclectic list of nine. We settled on four. The Portabellini Mushroom stuffed with Italian sausage, spinach, ricotta and Parmesan cheeses were excellent. This fine delicacy incorporates the very popular Lockford Sausage, pairing well with local zinfandels. 

Their Grilled Artichoke is cooked over the broiler and served with Chipotle Aioli and Pesto Sauce dips. One of Chef Greg’s specialties is Smoked Salmon Quesadillas off the Grill. It is a flour tortilla filled with Monterey Jack and Havarti cheeses, smoked salmon and a tasty salsa.

Our final selection was Ginger Shrimp Ravioli. In this Thai influenced dish, Chef Greg uses wonton filled with Asian shrimp to create the ravioli, which then rest in a hot & sour coconut broth.

The soup of the day was Cream of Mushroom. We recommend it highly. The mushroom flavor comes through because rather than being heavily creamed, it has a flavor reminiscent of consommé and contains mushroom slices.

Dinner comes with a choice of soup or salad. The dinner salad consists of a variety of tender organic, locally grown greens and is generously complimented with tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, shredded carrots and a few shards of onion.

Gold Vine Grill offers 14 entrées priced from $10.95 to $18.95, which includes soup or salad, fresh vegetables, and potatoes or rice. There are also 3 entrée salads. On this evening, our quartet chose Cannelloni, Chicken Parmesan, Rib-eye Steak and Calamari Dore. Each proved to be a choice we would highly recommend.

Calamari Dore is another one of Greg’s signature dishes and it was a gastronomic delight. It is a tender sautéed egg-battered Calamari steak with capers, white wine sauce, lemon and butter. We found that it paired especially well with Sierra Vista 2002 Viognier.

The Cannelloni proved to be special. House made crepes filled with sausage, spinach, mushrooms, Provalone, Parmesan and Ricotta cheeses and topped with an outstanding marinara sauce made us want to shout, “That’s Italian!” The Latcham 2001 Fairplay Cabernet Sauvignon was a good match with this entrée.

Chicken Parmesan featured a lightly breaded chicken breast topped with Provolone and Parmesan. The flavor of the marinara sauce is what makes this dish exceptional. Everything we tried was very good and the nice sized Rib-eye steak was no exception. Once again, the sauce made the dish. The Mushroom Cabernet sauce is not to be missed by those who enjoy steak and mushrooms. Our compliments to the duo of Chef Greg Kemp and Sous Chef Dan Shmalz who created this remarkable meal.

It was now time for our favorite part, dessert. ($3.50-$5.00) If you enjoy Croissant Bread Pudding, you must try Greg’s. It is made with sun-dried cranberries and served with Crème Angláis. We paired a glass of Granite Springs 2001 Black Muscat with the bread pudding. The combination was superb.

The cheesecake of the week was butterscotch. It tasted cultured and refined and is mildly sweetened so that the butterscotch flavor can be savored.

We noticed the chocolate offering never goes unordered. If you are a chocoholic, the Chocolate Decadence with Raspberry Coulis is made just for you.

Gold Vine Grill’s lunch menu has an assortment of luncheon salads, a selection of hamburgers and specialty sandwiches. The burgers and sandwiches include fries, soup or salad and at $5-$7 are very reasonably priced.

The wine bar opens at 3 P.M. and boasts a wine list of about 50 selections and features a number of wines from the area.

Gold Vine Grill is located at 6028 Grizzly Flat Rd. at Mt. Aukum Road in Somerset. (15 miles southeast of Placerville.) They are open Wednesday to Sunday: Lunch 11 A.M.-2 P.M., Dinner 5 P.M-9:30 P.M., Wine bar 3 P.M to closing. Reservations are recommended and can be made at (530) 626-4042. Visit their website at goldvinegrill.com