The Spot: The Bistro at Kokopelli Winery, 35 W. Boston St., Chandler, 480-792-6927
The Hours: To celebrate the winery's 10th anniversary, they will be offering Happy Hour from 11am-6pm, seven days a week all summer long. You did not read that wrong, Happy Hour is ALL DAY, EVERY DAY ALL SUMMER.
The Details: Kokopelli knocks $2 off all wines by the glass and all appetizers and noshes. The appetizer choices were predictably cheese heavy (it is a winery, after all) such as a Mac and Cheese wedge, Baked Feta, cheese topped "Treasure Shrimp", as well as Crab Cakes, and Artichoke and Crab dip. Noshes include a cheese plate (not surprising), a plate with a choice of spreads (pesto, feta, artichoke, etc.), or soup. Bottles of wine are $5 off, and $2.50 off beer.
Kokopelli gets graded after the jump.
The Conclusion: When we saw a glass of wine the color of Green Jello go out to the table next to us, we had to try it. Like many of the wines on the menu at Kokopelli, it was syrupy sweet. And, it tasted like a dead ringer for Green Jello. Our server informed us that they began mixing Chardonnay with lime and agave syrup at the request of a group of diners, and since then kept it on the menu. While it is especially popular at St. Patrick's Day, it tastes like what it is, a gimmick.
There was no surprise that the Sweet Lucy was sticky sweet as well. The Twin Bliss (a blend of Cab and Red Zin) was an easy to drink dry wine that had a peppery finish and was by far our favorite.
As for the appetizers, we tried the Baked Feta and the Crab and Artichoke Dip. Frankly, we were confused by the big ball of feta floating in marinara sauce. We couldn't tell why or how it was baked and ended up mixing it all together and dipping the crostini in it.
The Crab and Artichoke Dip was a stand out. Artichoke Dip is a standard at many Happy Hours around town and is mostly cheesestuff with a few chunks of artichoke. Not at Kokopelli. They bring out a bowl of tender artichokes with a big scoop of crabmeat on top. There is a creamy base, but it serves to help scoop up, rather than to fill out the artichoke and crab pieces.
The Grade: B-
