Yurt dining in Avon: Vin48 offers an exquisite, exclusive culinary experience

It’s difficult to remember a time when there was no Vin48 in Avon. The wine bar and restaurant has been such an essential part of the landscape, building a following of locals who’ve had to consistently make more room for visitors who include it on their vacation itineraries. Such is the path of well-executed creative momentum. Though it’s not just “ours” anymore, the wine bar’s energetic success allows its crew more freedom to explore, share and create. And this winter brings something entirely new: a chef’s tasting menu in a yurt. Two yurts, to be exact.

“We have two yurts, and each yurt will be seated with one party up to six guests,” said Greg Eynon, founding partner. “They will have the yurt for the night and Chef will offer a weekly alpine-inspired five-course tasting menu.”

“Chef” is Executive Chef Tim McCaw, an experienced, passionate guy who walks (or hikes) to the beat of his own drum. He likes to keep it fresh by taking on new challenges.

“The menu’s going to change weekly,” McCaw said. “I’m going old-school, Alice Waters Chez Panisse-style. Of course, she does that for the entire restaurant, we’re only doing it for 12 guests a night. It’s going to be so fun — hard, but fun. Basically, we’re giving a Beaver Creek or Vail experience in the heart of Avon. You’re in the yurt, it’s your own setting, you choose your own music. We do the food and wine, but the ambiance and the friendship in your group provide the rest of the experience.”

Located on the patio, the yurts are decorated with cozy details like fur throws and candles. Nothing on the tasting menu will be available in the main dining room — and Chef McCaw has a whole slew of things he wants to provide. Diners will have the option of adding wine pairings created by Eynon.

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“The wine pairing for each menu will utilize wines from the cellar, many of which are not on the regular list,” Eynon said.

As Vin48’s wine program continues to deepen and evolve, the restaurant’s wine cellar gets more and more intriguing and robust. Eynon continues to seek out wineries that reflect what he and his partners are doing in Avon: running a small, local operation sustainably and creatively. Also searching and exploring, he is currently excited by what’s happening in Champagne with the younger winemakers bringing the vineyard back into focus, instead of a house style.

“My palate always draws me back to Italy, and we have been trying to focus on wines with a similar aesthetic to our surroundings in the Vail Valley,” Enyon said. “So we are all about drinking mountain wines in the mountains. From the volcanic heights of Mt. Etna in the south to Valle’D’Aosta and Valtellina in the north — there is freshness and versatility, especially with the reds from these high-altitude regions, that naturally work with our alpine-inspired cuisine.”

For the yurt experience, pricing is $125 per person for the tasting menu with an optional $75 wine tasting. Check Vin48’s social media for the new weekly menus.