Hugo's Frog Bar al fresco wine and dining

Hugo's Frog Bar al fresco wine and dining 

We dined at Hugo's Frog Bar in downtown Naperville for a summer afternoon al fresco dining experience. I must admit I had this place all wrong as I had pre-judged by what I considered a 'stupid and illogical' name. The kids all rave about it so we gave it a try for a special lunch with special friends in from out of town. We dined outside on the patio adjacent to the fountain. There is much to be said about dining outside amidst the sound of trickling water.

I admit, I didnt realize it was a sister restaurant to the notable Gibson's Steakhouse downtown Chicago along the Gold Coast nightclub and entertainment district, or, that they had been in business since 1997, or, that they specialized in premier east and west coast seafood, oysters, crudos, frog legs, lobster and seasonal fish and shellfish, in addition to Gibsons Prime Angus and Gibsons Grassfed Australian steaks.

Lastly, readers of these pages know I measure a restaurant and dining experience by the wine selection and the available pairing of food and wine. 

Suffice to say, I was blown away, very impressed with the food, wine, and overall ambiance and dining experience. 

My initial skepticism deepened and continued when I read from the menu about the Seared Hudson Valley Scallops. I was intrigued by their preparation and accompaniments - brie cheese polenta, wild mushroom bordelaise sauce, and toasted sunflower seeds. 

 

But Hudson Valley Scallops? Scallops are from the bay, or the ocean, or they would have to be farm raised, in an environment not conducive to delectable eating. 

 

I challenged the server who insisted they were Hudson Valley, wild caught, fresh scallops. I was still skeptical, especially when she insisted they were Bay Scallops. I mentioned Hudson Valley is the Hudson River in middle and upper state New York, not near any Bay, or the Ocean. 

 

She went to the kitchen to re-confirm and came back and corrected what she had said, that they were Sea scallops, not Bay scallops, but still, from Hudson Valley! One last challenge, not Hudson Valley foie gras?  No, Hudson Valley Scallops! 

 

I gave in, rolled the dice and gave it a try. They were spectacular - perfectly prepared and accompanied by an imaginative, delicious, delectable delightfully prepared and presented sauce. 

 

The wine selection - B-T-G (by the glass) was decent, respectable, a selection of a dozen chardonnays B-T-G (by the glass), a half dozen each Pinots, Cabernets, 'American Reds' and 'Imported Reds'. 

 

Wine List ? An impressive, imaginative, well thought out, carefully prepared wine list that touched all the bases from simple to complex, budget conscious to self indulgent - all American wines, with all the requisite varietals, regions and blends. I found no less than a two dozen bottles of wine that I would find suitable, reasonably priced, and appropriate accompaniments to the menu selections, for a primo optimal wine and dining experience. Kudo's! 

 

With our entrees, Linda and I each selected a glass of Chardonnay, each to our preferred style. 

 

Far Niente Napa Valley Chardonnay 2018

Far Niente has been producing this Napa Valley Chardonnay since 1979. It was their first varietal cultivated and bottled. Far Niente Chardonnay is a blend sourced from Napa Valley vineyards located in Coombsville. Nestled in the rolling foothills, protected by those hills east of the city of Napa, Coombsville offers the characteristic cool climate of Carneros, with less wind, with deeper, well-drained gravelly loam and volcanic ash soils - ideally suited from Chardonnay. 

 

Producer notes: "Aromas of melon, sweet citrus and white blossom floral layered with notes of flint, yeast and sweetly toasted oak. A smooth and focused entry is followed by a silky midpalate with ripe flavors of honeydew and lemon, supported by just of touch of wet stone, yeast and toasted hazelnuts. The finish is long and structured with citrus rind and mouthwatering acid." 

This is an amazing label given that they produce 40 thousand cases of this wine, year after year, amazing volume with consist quality.

This was awarded 90 points by Wine Spectator, "Rich and juicy, with oaky accents to the dried apple and glazed apricot flavors. The well-structured finish is filled with savory and buttery notes. Drink now through 2023. 41,970 cases made."

I liked it a lot, bright gold colored, medium bodied, round, full, bright expressive melon, wet stone, what the producer called 'yeast and toasted hazelnuts' with buttery toasted oak, rich mouthfeel and supple lingering finish. 

An ideal compliment to my entree - a perfect pairing, which only amplified the enjoyment of both! 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3413850

https://farniente.com/wines/varietals/chardonnay

Linda had the salmon entree and chose this Santa Barbara Chardonnay which she knows well as we have bottles from this producer (shown) in our cellar. The salmon was perfectly prepared and presented and was ideal with the Cambria Santa Barbara Chardonnay.

Cambria Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2017

We've had several bottles of this producer over the years and find it a high QPR, great value nice balanced dependable every day wine.  

 

From Santa Barbara, this was less buttery and oaky than many of the Napa Chardonnays that tend to be a bit bigger and fuller. This has more a clean citrus based layer than the Far Niente above, more to Linda's preference. 

Wine Enthusiast said of this Santa Barbara label. "candied or pie-filling pineapple jam, Mandarin orange zest, apricot brulee and vanilla custard flavors..."

 

I give this 88 points, but at a fraction of the cost of the Far Niente, one would argue it is a higher QPR and therefore better value. In any event, its what one prefers in character and style and this is Linda's preference. 

 

Prior to our entrees we had the Loaded Wedge with bacon, tomato & Blue Cheese. Bingo. 

 

Afterwards we had the two dessert selections, creme brulee and the flourless chocolate cake with berry sauce and creme fraiche, all the food groups, both large enough for sharing, and both delicious. 

As mentioned, I had the scallops, ideally accompanied by Far Niente Napa Valley Chardonnay. Spectacular! Memorable! Notable! 

I am still skeptical about the Hudson Valley seared scallops, and am still half believing they confused the Seared Scallops with foie gras with the Hudson Valley designation being a misnomer with the scallops. I stand ready to be corrected, or enlightened, or ratified. In any event, they were wonderful! 

After lunch I wondered into/through the empty mid-afternoon dining room. It looks delightful and inviting for a wonderful dinner experience and I can't wait to try it out, soon!

 

Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay 2018

Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2018

Last weekend I read the book A Man and His Mountain, the story of self-made billionaire Jess Jackson and his pursuit of his dream to build a brand of premium varietal based wine for the mass market. His accomplishments over the ensuring two and a half decades exceeded all expectations achieving the art of the possible building a multi-billion dollar wine empire. 

Starting with a single 80 acre farm to retire as a gentleman farmer, he became a grape grower after a successful law career. He saw an opportunity to create a new category of wines and graduated to acquiring the properties to source his growing demand for grapes, growing to owning two dozen top tier wineries and brands with thousands of acres of vineyards across the state. 

The brand that he envisioned grew to an iconic empire, Kendall-Jackson and the Chardonnay label created the whole category of varietal based mass market premium wine shipping millions of cases of wine annually.  

The book was so captivating I read it in one sitting plus a short follow up session at breakfast. It chronicled not only the business and the brand, but also the growth and maturation of the wine industry. It also followed his life, from childhood, through school, to his career from part time cop, to successful lawyer, to wine producer to wine industry mogul. It also featured his exploits into and his success in some of his hobby side ventures, that also achieved the highest level of success, and changed other industries. 

Lastly, its a human interest story about a man and his families, his initial nuclear family, it's demise, and his second family through to his death. Notably, the name Kendall-Jackson is the combination of his first wife's family name and married name. Alas, their lack of agreement on the degree of risk in starting a new business, and lack of shared vision and commitment lead to the disintegration of their marriage.

Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Santa Barbara County Chardonnay 2018

With the book and its vivid history and evolution of this wine as a backdrop, I went out and bought a bottle of this 'premium' mass market varietal based wine - Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Santa Barbara County Chardonnay.

Linda prepared salmon with brown rice pilaf for the occasion.  

Winemaker notes: Lush tropical fruit, lemon, lime and floral notes intertwines with nice minerality from the calciferous soils in the Santa Maria and Los Alamos Valleys. There is a touch of floral notes from the small amounts of Dijon and Rued clones, and a hint of vanilla and spice to round out the rich, long finish.

This is 100% Chardonnay sourced from estate (producer owned) vineyards from Santa Barbara County. The Santa Barbara wine region is renowned as being one of California’s coolest grape growing regions due to its unique east-west running valleys running along the coast. Santa Barbara’s cool, maritime climate results in a long growing season, with extended hang-time on the vines giving the grapes more balanced ripeness and intense flavors.

This was rated 92 points by Antonio Galloni, Vinous, Mar 2020, 91 points by Wine Advocate, 90 points by Jeb Dunnuck, and 88 points by Wine Enthusiast.

I found it acceptable for a $20 bottle, widely available for fifteen dollars, straw colored, sprites of lime citrus with notes of tropical fruit, minerality and hint of vanilla, detracted by a rather unpleasant funky barnyard aroma. I hope this was anomalous to the bottle we obtained.

RM 86 points.  

The following evening, with half the Grand Reserve left, I opened this Cambria Chardonnay half bottle for a mini comparison tasting. If I read it right in the book, this was a coveted vineyard of Jackson, sourcing grapes for his California Chardonnay. Jackson maneuvered a purchase of the property when the owners were seeking to sell, by splitting up the red wine Pinot Noir parcels from the white wine Chardonnay parcels. He was highly leveraged at the time and could not afford the entire property, and was only interested in that portion that grew Chardonnay grapes. The book details the maneuvering and negotiating that eventually lead to Jackson acquiring the Cambria Vineyard in Santa Barbara County. 

I believe the grapes in this wine would be the same grapes sourced for both these labels, the single vineyard designated select, and the blended broader appellation bottling, the Santa Maria Valley being a sub-appellation of Santa Barbara County.

There was a similarity in the profiles of the two wines with similar taste sprites in the citrus notes. Interesting and fun comparing and speculating the common genealogy of the grapes. Are the same source grapes in both bottles?

Cambria Benchbreak Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2014

This Benchbreak Chardonnay was golden butter colored, medium bodied with lively bright fruit flavors of citrus, peach, green apple and hints of sweet pineapple with a layer resembling butterscotch on a fresh, clean finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2263240 

 

The Kendall-Jackon Jess Jackson Story 

In 1974, Jess Jackson purchased an 80-acre pear and walnut orchard up in Lake County, California, just north of Napa Valley, and replanted it with Chardonnay grapevines. In 1982, Jess and his family set out to make a premium, yet affordable, California wine. 

In 1982, he set out for New York City to establish distribution for his new concept wine and unknown brand. He sold his first case of his Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay to the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station. That same year, that inaugural vintage of Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay won the first-ever Platinum Award for an American Chardonnay at The American Wine Competition. 

Soon thereafter, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy, native Californians, wanted to serve a California wine in the White House. Nancy discovered and fell in love with the taste of Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay and selected Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay as their 'house wine'. San Francisco Chronicle's Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and city icon, Herb Caen, caught wind of the story and wrote a column about the wine referring to the Chardonnay as "Nancy’s wine." The brand was established, demand exploded, and the company grew exponentially. 

By 1991, Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay had become the #1 selling Chardonnay in America, and remains so to this day. 

In 2007, Jess Jackson was honored with the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded each year to the individuals and companies that have made outstanding achievements in the wine and beverage world. Jess Jackson was one of the first and largest winemakers to introduce America to varietal-specific wine, not only increasing the public’s understanding and appreciation of wine, but also making it affordable. 

Jess Jackson passed away in April of 2011.  

In 2013, Wine Enthusiast named Barbara Banke, Jackson's second wife and long-time partner who helped him build the business, and succeeded him as its leader, as its 2013 Wine Person of the Year. The first woman to win the award, Barbara shares it with Jess, the magazine’s inaugural recipient in 2000.

In 2017 Kendall-Jackson was awarded Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

https://www.kj.com//wine/grand-reserve/chardonnay

Cal Wine Flight Highlights St Pats Dinner

Broad California Wine Flight Highlights St Patrick's Day Dinner

With several team members on extended visits to Chicago, we hosted a St Patrick's evening wine dinner to foster team building and to enjoy and showcase a broad cellar selection of fine wines. Linda prepared surf-and-turf lobster tails and beef tenderloin, accompanied by Kerrygold butter mashed potatoes and a medley of roasted  vegetables - yellow, white and purple carrots, beets, golden beets, broccolini and cauliflower.

For dessert Linda prepared a Dark Chocolate Jamieson Irish Whisky cake with fresh whipped creme and fresh blackberries and red raspberries. Tom and Melissa R attended and brought a mixed dinner salad. Mark B brought a selection of Vosges Haut-Chocolat truffles and Dan O' brought assorted cheddar cheeses with chive, herbs and spice.

Prior to dinner we opened a selection of white wines to accompany the assorted cheeses and the salad course. With the dinner courses we opened a diverse selection of California reds.

The white wine flight:

We served a selection of four whites in tasting order from lighter to fuller, bolder and heavier.
This allowed each diner to select their preferred selection and style for the white wine appropriate courses.

Cliff Lede Napa Valley Stags Leap District Sauvignon Blanc 2016
Cambria Santa Maria Valley Benchbreak Chardonnay 2014 (not shown)
Fantesca Estate Winery Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2008
Château Bastor-Lamontagne Bordeaux Sauterne 2003

The red wine flight:

As with the whites, we served a selection of red wines, for comparison tasting and pairing with the courses. 

Paloma Spring Mountain District Merlot 2003
Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
David Arthur Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 150 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 (not shown)
Warre Porto Vintage Quinta da Cavadinha 1995

Selection of Vosges Haut-Chocolat truffles - a perfect complement to dark wines.

Each truffle comes with a fine wine, ale or tea serving suggestion.

Cliff Lede Napa Valley Stags Leap District Sauvignon Blanc 2016

Light straw colored, light bodied, this vintage is more subdued and muted than recent vintages with moderate pear flavored fruit punctuated by citrus and grapefruit with only a slight hint of that peach flavor so predominate in some past years that reveals itself after a half hour or so from opening.

RM 88

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2616721


Fantesca Estate Winery Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2008

While the Fantesca Chardonnay was sourced from Sonoma County Russian River Valley, our friends at Fantesca are located on the lower reaches of Spring Mountain there above St Helena. Fantesca specialize in Estate Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon grown on their ten acre vineyard. We served two other Spring Mountain District wines this evening to showcase that appellation.

Fantesca also source grapes from the Sonoma County Russian River Valley to produce this bright crisp full flavored Burgundian Chardonnay, the first ever by Heidi Barrett. Initial 2002-2007 vintages of their cabernet were managed by winemakers Nils and Kirk Venge; then in 2008 they teamed up with legendary winemaker Heidi Barrett. 

As with earlier recent tastings of this label, the fruit in the 2008 was a bit more subdued than earlier tastings in 2010 and 2012 but this is still very tasty. Butter colored, light-medium bodied, nicely integrated, smooth, crisp and clean, subtle buttery flavors of pear, tropical fruits, hints of melon,  lychee and under current of subtle citrus with a pleasant long lingering finish.

This is a favorite of wine buddy, fellow Pour Boy, Bill C who wrote about this vintage release back in 2016: "Medium straw in color. A bit of perfume on the nose. Pear, peach, lemon zest and just a hint of buttery oak on the palate.  When I selected this from the cellar to accompany friend Linda's broiled salmon with dill I was pleasantly surprised to find there was still plenty of freshness left. I don't think this will get any better but it is awfully good right now."

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=872831

RM 91 points.  

This was a favorite of the whites by Tom, Melissa and some of the others. 

Cambria Benchbreak Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2014

This Benchbreak Chardonnay was golden butter colored, medium bodied with lively bright fruit flavors of citrus, peach, green apple and hints of sweet pineapple with a layer resembling butterscotch on a fresh, clean finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2263240


Château Bastor-Lamontagne Bordeaux Sauterne 2003

Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend that when I wrote four years ago at ten years old this was honey colored, medium to full bodied, rich unctuous full flavors of sweet peach, hint of apricot, citrus, grapefruit and ripe sweet pear on the finish. From a half bottle.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=19434

Paloma Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Merlot 2003

The Paloma estate sits high atop Spring Mountain in the Mayacamas Range on the eastern slope overlooking Napa Valley between 2060 and 2240 feet elevation. The property is five miles northwest of the town of St. Helena. The 20 acres are planted in 15 acres of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Paloma gained notoriety when the 2001 vintage of this wine was designated #1 in Wine Spectator's Top 100 wines of the year 2003. I last wrote about this wine in these pages back in 2013 when it was in its tenth year. At that time I wrote that it was likely at the apex of its drinking window, showing better than earlier tastings. Now in its fourteenth year, it seems to have turned the corner since then, starting to show its age with the berry fruits starting to give way to raisin and non-fruit smoke and leather flavors. Still this was well received and considered a favorite of some.

My notes from last tasting back in 2013: "I was worried at first when decanted as the color seem a bit dark with a slight brown hue but the aromas were pure berry. Medium bodied, silky smooth, elegant and polished with complex layers of raspberry, sweet current, blue and black berry highlights. This tasting was consistent with my last posted tasting notes from a year ago this week when I wrote, "Medium full bodied, smooth polished, complex harmonious symphony of finely integrated aromas and flavors - predominant sweet black currant, red raspberry, milk chocolate, a hint of ripe plum, sweet oak and a bit of burnt sugar caramel on the long smooth polished finish."'

Thankfully but also regretably, we only have about four bottles left. I extended my drinking window in Cellartracker which was listed as drink by 2011, to 2016.

Reflecting the diminution in fruit I lowered my earlier RM 93 points to 90 points.

Paloma Merlot is a blend of Estate Merlot with some Estate Cabernet Sauvignon that ranges from 12 to 18 percent depending on the vintage. It is aged in a combination of new and used French oak barrels for nineteen months of aging.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=109466

http://www.palomavineyard.com/

Having opened the Paloma Spring Mountain District Merlot, we had some fun opening this mystery bottle.

Ninety Plus Cellars Lot 150 Napa Valley Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

I recently wrote in these pages about Ninety Plus Cellars and their Negociant model of wine marketing, buying surplus juice or bulk wine, or bottled product, and then private-label branding it with a anonymized 'Lot' reference number tied to the source of the wine. Such arrangements are typically done under a non-disclosure agreement to shield the original brand/producer. That was not the case or was not followed in the case of this Ninety Plus Cellars, Lot 150, Napa Valley Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon.

Lo and behold, when one pulls the cork of these bottles, the cork reveals the true source of the wine, Spring Mountain Vineyards. In this case, apparently, the wine was bottled but not yet labeled for distribution, and apparently sold off to Ninety Plus Cellars who packaged it for retail sale under their negociant general brand that masks the supplier. But, the packaging reveals the original branding of the producer on the original cork in the bottle. According to the Ninety+ Cellars website, the "Source Label Price" for this wine was: $79.99, hence the need or practice of anonymity or not disclosing the original source of the wine. The Ninety+ price is about half of that - providing a high QPR (quality-price-ratio) indeed.


Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

We hold more than a dozen vintages of this classic Napa Cabernet dating back to the inaugural vintage in 1994. Our cave cellar barrel tasting at their magnificent Rutherford Estate winery was one of the highlights of our Napa Wine Experience 2017.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, blackberry and tangy black cherry fruits with slightly earthy leather, hints of tobacco leaf, anise and cedar on a moderate tannin finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=213638



 
David Arthur Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

This is another one of our Napa Valley favorites. Sitting on the opposite side of the Napa Valley from Spring Mountain, above the town of Napa is David Arthur vineyards. 

Our visit to David Arthur Napa Valley Estate Vineyards and Winery was a highlight of our Napa Wine Experience 2013. The property is situated up at the end of Long Ranch Road up atop Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range. The drive up offers some spectacular vineyard views and vistas of the Napa Valley below. The adjoining vineyards represent some of the premier producers of Napa Valley wines - Brand, Bryant, Colgin, Continuum, Montagna, the new Del Dotto property Villa Del Lago, and Ovid. Not (yet) designated an appellation, never-the-less, it is fast becoming one of the premiere wine growing areas of Napa Valley.  


Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, complex but nicely integrated and polished black berry and black currant fruits accented by notes of tobacco leaf, tea, hints of anise and bit of tar leading to a long silky smooth tannin finish.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=254331

Warre Porto Vintage Quinta da Cavadinha 1995

This was a perfect compliment to the Vosges Haut-Chocolat dark chocolate truffles and Linda's Dark Chocolate Jamieson Irish Whisky cake with fresh whipped creme and fresh blackberries and red raspberries.

Consistent with earlier tasting notes. Dark garnet coffee color - full bodied, a bit of an edge of sweet black fruits, layer of smokey creosote with hint of expresso, cedar and cassis and dark black cherry and notes of cognac on the finish. From a half bottle.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3721





More to follow....