Lunch at The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop DG

Lunch at The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop DG

We lunched at the The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop in Downers Grove, (IL).

The Cellar Door offers a wide selection of wines BTG, by the glass, or by the bottle for purchase, to take home, or drink in the store with food, for a nominal corkage fee of $10. 

The Cellar Door was founded by Sean Chaudhry in 2005 and purchased by longtime General Manager Ryan Jansky in 2021. Sean also owns The Hinsdale Wine Shop in nearby suburban Hinsdale, IL. Sean has traveled the world, developing personal relationships with winemakers and exporters who specialize in small wineries that still hand-pick grapes and personally tend to the day-to-day management of their craft vineyards. It’s because of these relationships, he’s able to provide remarkable wines at a good value.

The Cellar Door was created to offer enthusiasts a place to relax and enjoy great food and wine, at reasonable prices.

The Cellar Door consists of a literal wall of wine, opposite a tasting bar, with casual seating inside, at the bar, or out front outside on the patio. 

The Cellar Door Bistro & Wine Shop seeks out interesting wines representing all the popular and designated varietals, to pair with a selection of food options, at agreeable prices. 

Besides Daily Specials, the food menu includes ​​Salads, Sandwiches, Cauliflower Crust Pizzas, and Cheese & Charcuterie Flights, market portions served with toasted focaccia bread, GF crackers, and three accompaniments and Warm Meat Options - Chicken Liver Pate (Brandy & Sage), and of course, Desserts. 

For each food selection, there is a suggested Wine Pairing.

For lunch we ordered a Cheese & Charcuterie Flight with toasted focaccia bread, GF crackers, and olive oil. We also ordered the ​Truffle Burrata Bruschetta - grape tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic & truffle oil, burrata, balsamic fig glaze, toasted baguette, Maldon salt, and the Bacon Wrapped Dates (g/f) goat cheese, medjool dates, Benton’s bacon, red pepper coulis, dressed greens.

All were artfully prepared and presented by friendly, attentive, knowledgeable staff, and were delicious, actually exceeding our expectations in all respects! 

In addition to the Truffle Burrata Bruschetta and Bacon Wrapped Dates, we also selected a cheese and pate’ plate. Our selections:  

- Delice de Bourgogne (soft triple cream, cow's milk, Burgundy, France)
- Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk (soft triple cream, cow's milk, California)
- White Stilton with Mango and Ginger (sweet semisoft cow's milk, UK)
- Benning's Goat Gouda (aged, firm goats milk, Holland)
- Warm Meat Option - Chicken Liver Pate’ (Brandy & Sage).

For a wine accompaniment we selected this interesting Napa Valley Red Blend - 

Robert Foley “The Griffin” Napa Valley Red 2019

Winemaker Robert (Bob) Foley began his wine making career in the Napa Valley in 1977, after graduating from UC Davis with degrees in both Viticulture and Enology. He spent his first year working for Heitz Cellars, followed by 15 years as the founding winemaker for Markham Vineyards.

In 1992, Bob began another 15 years as the founding winemaker for Pride Mountain Vineyards. During this town, he also created the highly acclaimed Switchback Ridge, Hourglass, Paloma, and School House wines. 

In 1998 he founded Robert Foley Vineyards where he is predominantly focused, as well as serving as winemaker for Padis Vineyards, Herson Family Vineyards, and JennaMarise Wines.​

In 1998 he produced Robert Foley Vineyards flagship Claret and has since expanded to offer a diversified portfolio of big reds including Petite Sirah, Merlot, Charbono, in addition to the limited-release estate bottled Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and Howell Mountain Merlot, as well as a Carneros Pinot Noir, a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon, and this interesting blend wine that we drank, “The Griffin”. 

Bob has also bottled four of his favorites: a medium-bodied Chablis-style Chardonnay, a Syrah he calls Kelly's Cuvée, a Cabernet Franc, and a Port-style dessert wine named Conclusão.

Bob’s reputation for producing very expressive wines that finish gracefully continues to develop at his winery facility on Napa County’s Howell Mountain, where more than 1,000 barrels are housed in an extensive cave system (completed in 2008) for the production of Robert Foley wines.

When Bob's not making wine, he spends time with his wife (and RFV's business manager) Kelly Kehoe, and his children and granddaughters. You can also find him mountain biking local trails, singing and playing guitar in The Robert Foley Band, or SCUBA diving.

“The Griffin” is a blend of the best in the red cellar that changes varietal composition each vintage. The Griffin on the Foley family crest in Irish heraldry combines the strengths of the lion, king of beasts, with the eagle, king of the skies. A winemaker’s dream is to be artistically free to combine characters into wine that is purely hedonic and non-compliant with varietal regulations, so The Griffin’s blend changes with every vintage.

Winemaker notes for this release of “The Griffin” - “Ripe black and red berry fruit abound! Full-bodied and mouth-coating, this fine red blend is all about fresh clean fruit with ultra-soft tannins and a long lingering finish. The Griffin blend will satisfy every need for a red wine.”

Like its namesake, this Griffin ’is a powerful combination of strengths.’ This year’s blend is 57% Syrah, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Petite Sirah.

Jeb Dunnuck rated this release 93 Points,. 

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex concentrated brambley black berry fruits with notes of cassis, creosote and hints of black pepper and spice with full tannins on a rich finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?5012401

https://www.robertfoleyvineyards.com/about

https://www.cellardoorwine.com/

BÖEN Tri-appellation Pinot Noir

BÖEN 'Tri-Appellation' Pinot Noir for pleasant casual high QPR sipping

We opened this casual sipping Pinot Noir with biscuits, crackers and artisan cheeses. This is from Joseph Wagner, fifth generation Napa Valley winemaker, who grew up in the wine business working alongside his father Chuck Wagner, famed legendary founder and winemaker at Caymus Vineyards. 

One of the cheeses we enjoyed was Delice de Bourgogne, a French classic triple crème cheese that originated in the Burgundy region of France. Authentic Delice de Bourgogne has a white, bloomy and pungent rind because of the Penicilium Candidum mold.

A tribute to small scale industrial French cheese-making, this is from Murrays Cheese on Bleeker Street in Greenich Village, New York. We discovered it there during several of our dining experiences at their wine and cheese restaurant there, then were surprised and delighted to see it available at our local Mariano's grocery cheese department, after they sold out to their parent Krogers. Mariano's Delice de Bourgogne is a pasteurized triple creme (75% butterfat in dry matter) that marries full-fat cow milk with fresh cream, producing a rich forward cheese. Unlike many straightforward triple-cremes, this one has a thin, pungent mold rind that imparts straw and mushroom aromas, complementing the buttery yellow, sweet cream interior. 

While this is best served with Champagne, being from Burgundy it is also enjoyed with Burgundian Pinot Noir such as this one. We found its pungent forward sharpness is softened for pairing with red wine by adding a bit of honey. 

Joseph learned his way around a vineyard long before he was able to drink wine. By the time he was nineteen, he knew that he would continue his family’s winemaker legacy, working alongside his father at Caymus Vineyards. 

In 2001, Joe created Belle Glos, with a focus on vineyard-designated Pinot Noirs from California’s best coastal regions.

This is another Joe Wagner project; he chose the name BÖEN, a translation of ‘The Farm’, as a constant reminder that the wine he produces is indivisible from the land that it comes from, that "first and foremost, I am a farmer.” His wines are crafted to reflect the vineyard sites where they are sourced.

BÖEN wines are produced as an expression of  Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made in his signature style of rich, ripe fruit flavors balanced with bright acidity and judicious hints of toasty oak. The BÖEN portfolio consists of several vineyard or appellation specific wines that tend to offer high QPR - quality price ratios.

BÖEN Tri-appellation Sonoma County, Santa Barbara County, Monterey County Pinot Noir 2020

This 100% Pinot Noir is actually a blend of grapes from three different California counties, netting out to be 45% Sonoma County, 29% Santa Barbara County and 26% Monterey County, hence referred to as a Tri-Appelation blend. 

This is the entry level Pinot of the line-up and offers great value in this every day sipper. 

We first discovered this wine as the WBTG - wine by the glass offering at a favorite fine dining local restaurant. We have since found it at Cosco, which tends to be quite discriminating in their wine selections and offerings, generally providing significant QPR throughout. I wrote about COSCO and their wine offerings in a recent blogpost.

Winemaker Notes for this release: "Dark Plum in color with ruby red highlights. On the nose, luscious notes of raspberry swirl along side dark plum notes accompanied by hints of rosemary and sage. Rich and well balanced with bright blackberry, Bing cherry, dark chocolate and a hint of caramel on the palate. This wine is sure to please with its rounded mouth-feel, and long, smooth, velvety finish."

Not your typical fruit forward California style, it leans more toward old world style, ruby colored, medium bodied, bright dark cherry fruit with vanilla, herb, tobacco and earth, with nice body and mouthfeel.

RM 88 points. 

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