Sipping Magic At Disney Springs: Wine Bar George
- Dan
- Mar 24
- 8 min read
Wine Bar George is a Must-Visit for ALL Disney Adults
Today I'd like to explore the unique charm and offerings of Wine Bar George, the perfect spot for adults at Disney Springs. I'll start by telling you that I was a sceptic about Wine Bar George. My Disney friends were telling me how great it was, but I wasn't really feeling it. Now a few years on, it is a destination for every trip. I've been here for drinks, brunch and dinner and there isn't a single thing that I dislike about this place. And it isn't just for wine lovers, as you will discover!
Let's start with some information about this premium wine bar, shall we?
The Concept & Location
Wine Bar George is the creation of Master Sommelier George Miliotes, who is widely considered as one of the leading wine experts in the restaurant industry. George was in fact on the team at California Grill, when it first opened at Disney's Contemporary Resort. He also managed California Grill from 1995 until 2002, where he was instrumental in developing an award winning wine list, with over 100 wines offered by the glass!
As a Master Sommelier, George has demonstrated expertise in his field, passing exams on wines from around the globe. This guy certainly knows his wine; in fact he is one of just 281 Master Sommelier's in the world.
Fast forward to May 2018 and Wine Bar George opens at The Landing at Disney Springs. It now offers over 200 wines from across the world, by the bottle, glass and even ounce! In addition to this incredible collection of wines, Wine Bar George also offers a delicious curated menu of food too. Of course you can also find a great selection of beers, ciders, cocktails, as well as some unique frozen drinks.
Wine Bar George offers some unique experiences too. There is a Wild County Brunch offering every Saturday and Sunday, a wine tasting experience with Master Sommelier George, a champagne tasting experience, as well as seasonal experiences throughout the year! This is more than just a wine bar!
Reservations
Reservations here can be quite hard to snag, so I highly recommend booking at 60 days out. There is a little cheat here though, where you can get your reservation earlier than 60 days ahead. As with some other Disney Springs restaurants, you can make your reservation on Open Table. You often can book further ahead and find greater availability options, than using My Disney Experience. You can find Wine Bar George on Open Table HERE
For larger groups, over 6 guests, I recommend e-mailing the restaurant at info@winebargeorge.com where the team will help with availability and booking.
The Food
The thing about Wine Bar George is that the food offerings here are different, unique and are made with great quality ingredients. You won't find the food here at too many other places across Walt Disney World and even where you will, Wine Bar George adds a little sophistication to every dish!
Whether you are looking for small plates, sharing plates, charcuterie or desserts, there is something at Wine Bar George to please every palette.
The Basket at Wine Bar George
Now I have no personal experience of the The Basket yet, but it is the quick service window of Wine Bar George. This does appear to be very worthy of a visit and I plan to on my next trip, later this year. Blog pending.
At this Quick Service Kiosk, you will find the frozen speciality drinks, as well as wine on tap, charcuterie, small plates and desserts.
My Wine Bar George Experiences
As I mentioned, I've been here a few times now. Every visit has been wonderful. The staff have always been incredible; friendly, attentive, knowledgeable and efficient. I have never been delayed being seated at my reservation time and there is always something on the menu that I really want to try.
The bar is themed as an estate style wine bar and provides a sophisticated and welcoming environment, reminiscent of a wine estate. There is an upstairs bar too, which provides a limited number of tables outside on the balcony, offering great views of Disney Springs. I especially like the corks in the staircase on the way up, so look out for this little detail if you do go upstairs.
Brunch
My last visit to Wine Bar George was for brunch. As I typically do, I always peruse menus ahead of my trip. And I went to dine here with purpose.
Carol from the WDWAO team, my fiancé David and our lovely friend Lee, booked brunch together one Saturday morning last year. We met at Disney Springs and were led upstairs to an inside table. Our server Amanda was prompt and friendly in her introduction and in getting us some coffee to start our morning.
The brunch menu was of little interest to me, as I had chosen what I was having some many weeks in advance. The menu was via a QR code and when clicking on some of the menu items, impressively, a photo of the dish appeared, giving an idea of what you would be getting. I hadn't seen this anywhere else at Disney before.
I went with my predetermined choice and had the pancakes. But these weren't just any old pancakes. These were light fluffy buttermilk pancakes, served with peaches and fresh cream. Lee decided to get in on the act and ordered the same.
The pancakes were super light, the peaches were slightly firm, sweet and sticky and then the whipped cream, which was light, with nodes of vanilla, was slowly melting against the heat of the pancakes. $17 is not an unreasonable price either, considering that you're at Walt Disney World. These pancakes were deceptively very filling. I cleared my plate, but was very full up afterwards as we headed to Epcot.
David and Carol also chose the same brunch option. They both had the Burrata. This softer, creamier, mozzarella type cheese was served on ciabatta with avocado, tomatoes and Neuske's bacon. As if this wasn't enough, they also ordered a side of scrambled eggs to share. The burrata was priced at $22 and the eggs were $6.
Now I mentioned some frozen drinks here. I know it was early in the day, but we were on vacation and I simply had to make it a boozy brunch! This wasn't my first time, and I had the $15 Frozcato, a frozen Muscato, Vodka and Pineapple cocktail made with Dole Whip. This is one of my favourite drinks across Walt Disney World. It's dangerous though, as you could sip it all day, without realising that it is alcoholic. I would recommend that you get this, especially if you like Dole Whip!
David and Carol went with Mimosa's and I think Lee was sensible and stayed on the coffee! The mimosa's were priced at $13 and I seem to remember them having different flavours.
In terms of great brunches, this one was well up there with the best of them. A great atmosphere, excellent service and delicious food for a decent, reasonable price. I highly recommend the brunch here, but book early!
Dinner
My dinner experience here was a couple of years ago. David and I met Jackie from the WDWAO Team and Taylor from This Happy Place (who was on the WDWAO Team at the time) and we enjoyed some amazing food! Oh and drinks too! This was my first experience dining here and I still think back very fondly on this night! Everything was really great!
The dinner menu isn't extensive and there isn't the greatest selection of food to choose from, but what they do do here, they do incredibly well. Again, I went in knowing what I wanted!
We were seated efficiently and for this meal we were on the ground floor, on a really large, high table. It was bar height and we had bar stools, despite being tucked away from the bar.
I had been wanting to try the Frosé for a very long time. For those wondering, a Frosé is a frozen, slushy type rosé wine, but it is blended with vodka and strawberry. This experience was also the first time that I tried the Frozcato mentioned before. These were both around $15 and were refreshingly delicious. Who doesn't like an alcoholic slushy?
For my appetiser I had the 'Saganaki on fire'. I am a huge halloumi lover and so this was very much up my street. Saganaki is actually derived from the Greek word "sagani" which means "little fying pan", referencing the small pan this dish is cooked in. Well it came out ablaze, flames coming from the pan and our server holding it with flame resistant gloves. A very cool spectacle, but an even more delicious flavour.
David had some house made meatballs to start. These were served on a triple cheese polenta and a tomato sauce.
We then we shared the skirt steak three ways, between Jackie, David and myself. It is meant to be for up to four people and with three of us sharing, there was plenty to go around. The steak was cooked medium rare and was full of flavour. It was served on a large long plate, with chimichurri, asparagus, roasted potatoes and courgette (or zucchini for the American readers). We
completed the mission in a record time!
Not a scrap was left over.
Now this was a couple of years ago, so it is probably more useful to tell you how much these dishes are now. The 'Saganaki on fire' is, at the time of writing, priced at $17, the meatballs are $16 and the skirt steak is $81. Of note, the steak now comes with caramelised celeriac and fennel, mushrooms, tomato, kale, roasted potato and chimichurri.
Taylor is a huge lover of the Olive Oil cake that is served here and she ordered it on this evening. It sounded a little grotesque to me, but she persuaded me to try it. I was very surprised as it was really really nice! This cake is topped with candied olives and lemon mascarpone. Don't judge until you taste it. Don't be me!
Discounts
Wine Bar George offers a 10% discount off of food and non-alcoholic drinks for all Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members, during lunch hours only. So if you want to save a little cash, then visit earlier in the day!
Final Thoughts
As you can tell, I pretty much adore this place. And surprisingly not for the wine! So whether you are looking for a great sophisticated bar, that offers an outstanding selection of wines, good quality well prepared food, delicious brunch options or even wine tasting experiences with a Master, then Wine Bar George is your place! I have nothing but love for this place, but would love to hear your own experiences here.
Have you been to Wine Bar George? How was it? And if you haven't been yet, have I enticed you to visit on your next trip?
If you would like to see the experiences mentioned in this blog, please check out these videos on the WDWAO YouTube channel -
Brunch at Wine Bar George
Dinner at Wine Bar George
I absolutely love brunch and feel I need to make a stop here now. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the comprehensive overview!
Wine Bar George never disappoints
This blog is so informative I have clicked on the open table link and booked a table for July. Looks amazing and as we are having a resort only holiday it is perfectly situated in Disney Springs- I can taste the Dole Whip cocktail as we speak 😀