Wine, like a handsome academic, is complex, often dry, and looks best in glasses. Study the grape's older brother with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of wine-inspired fare and beverages at The Wines of Colorado in Cascade.

Exquisite wines, a sunny outdoor patio, and a classic-filled menu earned The Wines of Colorado several awards and a feature in the Wall Street Journal. After a complimentary tasting of local wines and a complimentary lute-backed serenade by local troubadours, diners can bite into a Colorado-wine burger bearing grilled onions, roasted green chilies, and sautéed mushrooms ($8.95). Tantalize taste buds with the sweet-and-savory raspberry-chipotle-chicken dinner ($11.95), or grace plates a regal 14-ounce rib-eye steak festooned with a crown of blue-cheese crumbles, grilled onions, or sautéed mushrooms ($19.95). The signature dessert is a mammoth slice of moist, cheesy carrot cake ($8.95) that serves up to four diners or one forgetful diner four times.

Epicureans can enjoy their eats in the shade of wispy willows and fragrant pine trees near the bubbling Fountain Creek or sun themselves on the wooden deck overlooking the waterway. Colorful murals of grapes, garlic, tomatoes, and teens skateboarding in the Oval Office grace the walls of the eatery, which also contains a gift shop brimming with elegant wine wares and gifts.