Birthday celebration dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse Naperville

Birthday celebration dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse Naperville

Last week we had a birthday celebration dinner with two of our kids and spouses, featured in these pages in this blogpost - Birthday dinner celebration at Petit Vie Western Springs.

 

Tonight, we had another birthday celebration dinner with son Ryan and his family, dining at Morton’s Steakhouse, Naperville for a festive dinner. 

Naturally we ordered steaks, all prepared and presented perfectly, including my special “‘Pittsburgh style’, hot pink center, charred”.

For starters each couple share a wedge salad. 

For sides we ordered the Mashed Potato’s and the spinach and Brussels sprouts. 

I brought BYOB from our home cellar a couple special bottles from which to choose for pairing with dinner. We opted for this premium Washington State Columbia Valley Right Bank Bordeaux Blend. 

Force Majeure Épinette Red Mountain Red Blend 2015

We discovered, tasted and acquired this label while visiting the producer during our Walla Walla Wine Experience in 2018, which we featured in this blogpost - Force Majeure Vineyards Site Visit and Tasting.

Épinette is Force Majeure's Right-bank Bordeaux-inspired blend, and was named after an avenue in Libourne that leads to Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, the home of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Épinette is also the name of a musical instrument akin to a piano, as well as a word for pine tree, which is a fitting nod to the locale's in Washington state.

Bordeaux blend in the 'Right Bank' style meaning it is primarily Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

The 2015 is blended in a Pomerol style, 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Petit Verdot

The Merlot and Cabernet Franc are grown in the lower areas of the Red Mountain vineyard with its  deep, well-drained soils.

The Red Mountain Right-bank Bordeaux inspired blend, “Épinette,” spent 22 months in 75% new French oak after a long maceration and fermentation in both concrete and stainless steel vats. 

The blend changes each vintage, either being dominated by Merlot or Cabernet Franc, but in 2015 it is driven by Merlot grown in deep, loamy soils found in the heart of our vineyard. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The Force Majeure Épinette was the perfect complement to our aged prime steak dinner, perfectly prepared 'Pittsburgh' style, served with mashed potatoes. 

This release was rated 95 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, and  90 points by Wine Spectator 

Silky tannin' 'Legs' of Force Majeure Epinette

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, bright vibrant forward black berry, ripe black raspberry and black current fruits with notes of cigar box, mocha chocolate, hints of leather, anise, graphite and spicy oak with gripping but approachable silky tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 94 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4507644

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/

https://www.mortons.com/location/mortons-the-steakhouse-naperville-il/#menus

Tonight tasting was consistent with another tasting recently of this same label that we took BYOB at another steak dinner, featured in detail and replayed below. 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2025/08/vintij-sandestin-food-and-wine-dinner.html

Vin’Tij SanDestin Food and Wine Dinner 

After a fun-filled afternoon of wine paired with foods at Vin’Tij Food & Wine, we booked a table for a follow-on Saturday night dinner. I wrote about that wine tasting in this blogpost - Wine tasting at Vin’Tij Grand Boulevard (San)Destin.

The plan was to drink BYOB one of the ultra-premium bottles we purchased in the Vin’Tij Wine Boutique for the occasion.

I write often in these pages about the price charged by restaurants for their wines, often expressed as a function of the retail price of the wine. It is customary that a restaurant charges 2 times the retail price of a wine. Often the restaurant price is 2.5 times or more. 

Establishments that combine a restaurant with a wine retailer provide the best and most economical scenario for the consumer whereby the restaurant price equals near the retail price - a 1:1 ratio. In this scenario, the restaurant is relying solely on the gross margin uplift between the wholesale price paid and the retail price charged the diner. 

Two such establishments exist in Destin, Vin’Tij and also Chan’s Wine World that is connected to and associated with the adjoining Wine Bar restaurants. Diners seeking a food and wine experience can leverage these policies for great value dining. And, they can take the opportunity to upgrade their wine choices with higher premium or ultra-premium wines they otherwise not be able to afford or justify for wine experimentation or appreciation!   

For our Saturday Night Vint’Tij dinner, we were joined by Richard and Victoria, friends and neighbors in our Destin residential community. 

Planning to order grilled beefsteaks for our entrees, I took BYOB a Washington State Columbia Valley Red Bordeaux Blend from Force Majeure. 

This is from Force Majeure Vineyards, originally called Grand Reve, founded in Woodinville, near Seattle, in 2004, a collaboration between businessman Paul McBride and vineyard manager Ryan Johnson who spent a decade managing vineyards in Eastern Washington’s prestigious Red Mountain AVA. 

McBride and his wife Susan then changed the winery name to Force Majeure, and hired winemaker Todd Alexander to oversee winemaking. Alexander was previously winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard in Napa Valley. 

Jeb Dunnick of Wine Advocate has called Force Majeure “One of my favorite estates in Washington…”

We tasted and acquired this wine during our Force Majeure Vineyards Site Visit and Tasting back in 2018 as featured in these pages, and excerpted below.

One of the inspirations for and objectives of that Walla Walla Wine Experience 2018 was to visit Force Majeure vineyards. We first met Force Majeure winemaker Todd Alexander and marketing, distribution and branding exec Carrie Alexander during the Chicago stop of their promotion tour in 2016 when we hosted them at Italian Village in Chicago. Since then we've acquired a respectable collection of Force Majeure wines, hence, they were one of our shortlist priority visits when we planned our Washington State, Columbia Valley wine trip.

Force Majeure Carrie Alexander and Linda

Following our Woodinville (Washington) tasting experience where we tasted several fabulous  Red Mountain AVA wines, we were targeting there for our first Washington State wine appellation visit. Carrie convinced us to visit Walla Walla and we followed her guidance and were amply rewarded as it was a spectacular wine travel experience. Our Walla Walla AVA visit provided the opportunity to visit a vibrant wine region, meet some legendary winemakers on the Washington wine scene, and still experience the best of Red Mountain appellation wines as well!

Force Majeure have vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA where they grow Rhone varietals on the upper slopes and Bordeaux varietals on the lower blocks of the site. According to Carrie, the varietal blocks are based on the selection and matching of the grape varieties to the appropriate soil composition in the eight different soil types on the site.

The Red Mountain site was the very first vineyard on the steep, rocky upper slopes of Red Mountain. Developing the Red Mountain estate vineyards involved carefully matching varietal and clonal selections and vineyard trellising and irrigation to the eight distinct soil types in the vineyard.

The site was formed by the ancient Missoula floods, winds and volcanic activity resulting in many small “micro-blocks,” each uniquely suited to specific grape varietals. The rocky upper-slope with shallow soil is well suited to the cultivation of Rhone varietals such as Syrah and Grenache, while the lower blocks of the vineyard are comprised of deep, well-drained Warden soils, where Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc excel.

This Force Majeure Épinette Right Bank Bordeaux style blend was a perfect complement to our aged prime steak dinner, including my perfectly prepared 'Pittsburgh' style, served with mashed potatoes, haricot verts and mushroom Bordelaise sauce. 

Force Majeure Épinette Columbia Valley Red Mountain Red Blend 2015

Épinette is Force Majeure's Right-bank Bordeaux-inspired blend, and was named after an avenue in Libourne that leads to Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, the home of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Épinette is also the name of a musical instrument akin to a piano, as well as a word for pine tree, which is a fitting nod to the locale's in Washington state.

Épinette is a Bordeaux blend in the 'Right Bank' style meaning it is primarily Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

The blend for this 2014 vintage was 58%  Merlot,  22%  Cabernet Franc 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and the remaining 5% Petit Verdot.

The Merlot and Cabernet Franc are grown in the lower areas of the Red Mountain vineyard with its  deep, well-drained soils. The wine was aged for approximately 22 months in mostly new French oak.

It was rated 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93-95 points by The Wine Advocate, 92 by Stephen Tanzer and 90 points by Wine Spectator.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, bright vibrant forward dense black berry, ripe black raspberry and black current fruits with notes of cigar box, earthy leather, anise, graphite and spicy oak and hints of dark mocha chocolate with gripping but approachable silky tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 94 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4507644

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/

https://vintij.com/

Big Red Wines for Christmas & Birthday Celebration

Big Red Wines for Christmas Lights Tour and Birthday Celebration Gathering 

Alec and Vivianna hosted a gala second birthday celebration for daughter/grand-daughter Millie, that included for the second year, a bus tour of neighborhood Christmas holiday decoration light displays. 

Highlights of the Napeville Christmas Lights tour including the “Believe” house and the Taylor Swift Tribute display. 

The gathering provided an opportunity to share a broad selection of festive food and wines. 

Alec served a flight of whites and reds ….

Alec served a favorite label, Venge Vineyards Scout’s Honor from a large format magnum, paired with another Venge, Stagecoach Vineyard Shiraz, that I brought from our home cellar. 

We have fun with the Venge branded portfolio of wines with their prominent “V” on the label, in regards to daughter-in-law Vivianna! 

Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Scout’s Honor Red Blend 2018

This is a mainstay of our cellar that we keep on hand for such occasions. We have a half dozen vintages of this label in our cellar, drinking and cycling the oldest, replacing it as we go with the latest current release. This is the latest, most current release in which they introduced the new branding of a painted wine bottle as opposed to the more traditional and modest glued paper label. This was our first tasting of this vintage release that just appeared in distribution in Chicagoland in recent weeks and is slated for general distribution this winter. 

This wine is based on a tradition of producing a full bodied, robust, fruit filled red wine based on old-vine Zinfandel and blended with dry-farmed Petite Sirah, old-vine Charbono, and finished with mountain vineyard Syrah. 

The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.

This is unique Red Blend is always a crowd pleaser! 

The blend for this release is 63% Zinfandel, 16% Charbono, 12% Petite Sirah, and 9% Syrah; aged in 50% new American Oak and the balance in once-used tight grained French Oak for 14 Months.

Grapes were farmed and harvested from four single vineyards in Napa Valley. The Zinfandel was picked from two, old-vine (60 to 100+ years old), dry-farmed vineyard sources: Venge’s newly acquired “Signal Fire Vineyard” estate, and the Frediani Vineyard—both located in the heart of Calistoga. The Charbono is from old, dry-farmed vines (60 to 100+ years old) also planted in the Frediani Vineyard. Robbie Mondavi’s Oso Vineyard located on Howell Mountain supplies the Petite Sirah; the Syrah from  Napa’s finest, from Stagecoach Vineyard, high in the mountains of the Atlas Peak AVA.

The Winemaker notes sum it up perfectly: "The result is an unpretentious, generous mouthful of red wine that we recommend be opened and enjoyed immediately upon release.' 

"This vintage has a gorgeous, concentrated assemblage of violets, anise, honeysuckle, blue herbs, and a touch of vanillin. The palate is pure richness with loads black fruits and currants, pepper spice, and an enveloping masculinity of char and tannins from the Syrah, Charbono and Petite Sirah. A seamless balance and mouth coating deliciousness lead to a wine that is quite pleasing to the senses. Cellared correctly it will age for 5 to 8 years."

Everyone loved this wine, especially with the tangy BBQ ribs. 

RM 92 points.  

https://www.vengevineyards.com/ 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3525137

I took from our home cellar another Venge “V” wine - a favorite label that we all enjoyed together last month as part of another family celebration that was featured in this blogpost, Venge Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz, which is excerpted here.

Venge Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Lot 1-4 Shiraz 2015

As we did when we visited our newest grand-daughter, Ryleigh, home from the hospital/delivery, and took from our cellar this big bold ‘sipping’ wine to enjoy with artisan cheeses, for the occasion. Shown below, proud grand-mothers and the new grand-baby.

We took one of our Venge Vineyards wines, with their signature “V” branding, that we have fun with daughter-in-law Viviana, now able to drink again after her maternity abstention. 

Venge Vineyards up in Calistoga, Napa Valley, is owned by Kirk Venge, son of legendary Nils Venge, whose family emigrated from Denmark four generations ago. Originally in wine and spirits importing, the family became winemakers in the 1960s, when Nils studied viticulture at the University of California at Davis. By the 1970s Nils was producing wine in the Oakville district of Napa Valley. He started Saddleback Cellars and became one of the valley’s leading winemakers. 

We visited Nils at Saddleback and at other wineries, several times during the nineties. One of our more memorable days, featured in this blogpost, Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils Venge, we toured Saddleback, then lunched together at Tre Vigne in St Helena, then we drove up to Calistoga to meet Kirk at the new Rossini Ranch location where they were digging wine caves. 

The old Rossini Winery in Bell Canyon, had a historic stone building that dated back to 1891. The Venge’s purchased this property in the mid 1990s and completely restored this old ‘ghost’ winery which had sat vacant from prohibition until their purchase. 

They produced their wines there until they sold the winery in 2008 to the Foley Wine Group, (although they kept the rights to the Venge brand and name). Nils sold that property to vintner William Foley and it is now home to Merus Vineyards. 

After selling the Rossini property, Kirk acquired their Calistoga property including the Bone Ash Vineyards, as well as taking over the Venge Vineyards brand from Nils. They built a new winery that was completed two years later. In the fall of 2020, the winery survived a very close encounter with flames from the Glass Fire burning right onto the property and almost up to the winery itself. 

Venge wines are popular and highly allocated, the most premium labels exclusively to their wine club, appropriately titled “In Venge Veritas” and now is called the Wine Guild; it is limited to 1,000 members and is at capacity, subject to a waiting list. 

We hold numerous Venge labels spanning a dozen vintages, including a few dating back to the early days when Nil’s was still principle. We acquired a mixed case of several vintages, from 2013 through 2017, of this limited release label at auction. 

This vineyard and Lot specific designated label is sourced from the notably Stagecoach Vineyard that sits high in the Vaca range on the east side of Nape Valley, high above Oakville and St Helena, about eight miles up Soda Canyon Road sitting about 1,800 feet above the valley floor. This was considered some of the last frontier of the Napa Valley – a wilder, more rugged country, fragrant with wild herbs and dotted with rare native plants.

The Stagecoach site rugged terrain first made history when gentleman bandit Charles Earl Bowles, known as Black Bart, robbed the daily stagecoach that travelled over the hill from St. Helena to Monticello. The hills were planted to vinis vinifera (wine grape vines) by early German settlers in the late 1800’s. They were abandoned during Prohibition and the remote ground lay fallow until 1995 when Dr. Jan Krupp purchased the 1,100+ acres that stretches from the southern edge of Pritchard Hill overlooking Oakville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak Appellation. 

Today, nearly 600 acres of the vast site are planted to various varieties, most notably stagecoach is Cabernet-focused however Syrah is planted in the highest elevations. Venge has a long-term contract on the I-4 Block, that sits on the highest peak of the vineyard, adjacent Pritchard Hill. It is considered one of the most ideal areas for growing mountain Syrah.

The property was acquired in 2016 by the E. & J. Gallo Winery. Today the 600+ acres of Stagecoach vineyard planted to vines, is the largest contiguous vineyard in the Napa Valley. The 1,300+ acres of rocky, volcanic terroir extends from the south-eastern of Pritchard Hill area overlooking Oakville and Yountville to the westernmost regions of the Atlas Peak appellation.

Over 80 Wineries source grapes from Stagecoach Vineyard, with over 30 wineries featuring the Stagecoach name on their labels, and over 25 produce vineyard designated labels specifying the  Stagecoach Vineyard. 

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner.

Venge Napa Valley, Atlas Peak, Stagecoach Vineyard “Block I-4” Syrah 2015

We hold a half dozen vintages of the Venge Single Vineyard designated labels. This particular vintage is from the year that the new parents, Alec and Vivianna first met. 

This single vineyard, select block designated label is 100% Syrah from the iconic vineyard high up in the Vaca range near Atlas Peak. 

Winemakers notes for this label - “Goodness, this is pure, volcanic mountain Syrah at its finest! This wine possesses a bold, deep, dark color that opens the door to an array of black fruit aromatics. Cassis, blackberry, warm toasted bread and French Oak vanillin all fill the glass with purpose. While still young and in development, the palate shows superior promise with minerals, tongue swirling acidity, cherry and black plum. The tannins are firm and support the back palate for several moments beyond the initial taste. If cellared correctly, this wine will continue to improve for over a decade. Limited production runs make this single-vineyard Syrah all the more precious”. 

This was produced according to the “Method, Pellenc Destemmed Via Gravity to Open Top Fermenters, 5-Day Whole Berry Cold Soak, Slow Cellar Temp Fermentation Over 19 Days On Skins, 100% Carbonic Native Primary and Secondary Fermentation, Free Run and Press Fractions Combined to Build Structure and Durability”.

This was aged in 100% French Oak, 60% New Francois Frères, then bottled Unfiltered

Typical annual production for this label is about 400 Cases

Various releases of this label were rated 95 points by The Wine Independent and 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93 from The Wine Enthusiast and 92 from Wine Spectator. Wine Advocate gave the 2011 release 96 points, while the 2010 got 94 points from The Wine Enthusiast.

This was dark inky purple colored, full bodied, rich, dense concentrated, super sweet ripe black berry and plum and blue fruits, with notes of cassis, bacon fat, clove spice, cigar box and tobacco leaf on the full round tannin lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3223878

https://www.stagecoachvineyard.com/map/index.php

https://x.com/vengevineyards   @VengeVineyards

View Regional Map of Stagecoach VIneyard site, from the vineyard owner. 

The George Tavern Naperville Replay

The George Tavern Naperville Replay

We loved the atmosphere and vibe of The George Tavern in Naperville so much, the other day, that we returned for late lunch, casual small bites and wine. 

As featured in an earlier blogpost of our visit, The George American Tavern, Naperville, we sat in the tony, chic, comfortable, cozy Pontiac Lounge. 

We wanted to treat, and share the experience with sister Jan, visiting from SoCal. 

We ordered the BRÛLÉE FRENCH ONION soup, 12-hr onions, gruyére in rich beef broth, and the THAI CURRY MUSSELS, coconut broth, red curry, lemongrass, ginger, cilantro, lime, with charred bread. Both were delicious. The creative Thai Curry Mussels exceeded our expectations and were especially good.  

As I wrote in that blogpost of our recent visit, The George American Tavern, Naperville, excerpted below, The George is named for several historic Napervillians, all named George. As we left the restaurant and walked down the street, we revisited the historic mural painting and marker plaque affixed to the adjacent building, outside neighboring Sullivan’s Steakhouse, at the opposite end of the block. These have new significance now, given the history of the site, and the memorializing of the earlier Georges, proprietors, citizens and patrons that frequented there, namesakes for The George.  

The mural shows Judge George Knoch, and the plaque memorializes George Laird and the Preemption Inn & Tavern that stood on the site, nearly two centuries earlier. 

Like our earlier visit, we tasted the Russian River Valley Chardonnay, this time from bottle, which was an ideal pairing with the soup and mussels. 

Davis Bynum River West, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay 2022

The Davis Bynum estate and River West Vineyard, is located on Westside Road on a low riverside bench in the far northern end of the valley. 

Initially they combined grapes from Napa with local Russian River Valley fruit, until they sold the Napa property in 1976. Their first Pinot Noir, the 1973 Davis Bynum Pinot Noir was sourced from the Rochioli Vineyard and was the first Pinot to carry a Russian River designation.

Today, Davis Bynum Winery produces about 15,000 cases of wine annually under the Davis Bynum label. While Davis oversees the vineyards and business, winemaking in managed by winemaker/producer Gary Farrell and Bynum winemaker is Greg Morthole. Bynum’s son, Hampton, manages daily operations, sales, and assists with winemaking and production.

Davis Bynum crafts wines that showcase the estate with its Yolo sandy-silt loam soil with a pocket of gravelly Cortina soil in one block, and near coastal moderated climate cool foggy climate.

This is the entry level, basic Chardonnay, part of the broader Bynum portfolio of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir labels. It offers good QPR (quality price ratio) for every day casual sipping and enjoyment, ideal for a WBTG (wine-by-the-glass) selection. 

It was rated 90 points by Wine Spectator

Winemaker’s tasting notes - Aromas of lemon curd, apple pie and graham cracker, along with flavors of baked golden apple, pie crust and a sweet floral undertone. French and Eastern European barrel aging brings a measure of dusty oak tones and notes of butterscotch, tempered by a balanced acidity. 

Light straw colored, light medium bodied, crisp, nicely balanced, zesty green apple, pear, citrus and notes of pineapple with floral, vanilla, stone fruit, toasted almond and mineral notes on a bright lingering finish.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4865246

https://www.davisbynum.com/

https://www.georgenaperville.com/

The George American Tavern, Naperville

Casual Dining at The George American Tavern, Naperville 

Downtown Naperville for a business meeting and shopping, we had an impromptu late lunch at the new, recently opened “George American Tavern” and adjoining Pontiac Lounge. Stop in for a trendy lunch, casual dinner, or late evening snack, and drinks, in a comfortable, cozy, stylish setting. 

The George is the rebirth and renovation of long time eateries at this landmark (pun intended) location, dating back decades - the Landmark, then Jimmy’s Grill that occupied the space for 24 years, then Bev’s, from 2022 thru late 2024.

The property, in the heart of downtown Naperville, was acquired by the Empire Restaurant Group, operators of Empire Burger & Brew, the Northcott and Hizemans. It is a project of Will Cullen and partner Dave Miller, operator of the Elements event space in the nearby Hotel Indigo, and Chef by Request, a special event catering company. 

The George is named for several historic Napervillians including local landmark names, early settler and first pre-emption house hotel/tavern owner, George Laird, (19th century Circuit Court Judge George) Knoch (Park), early settler (George) Martin (Avenue), and in recent times, the gregarious popular long-time native, former policeman turned Mayor George Pradel.

The decorating is stylish, clubby, warm, cozy and comfortable, akin a polo/country club lounge, bar and dining room. 

The dining room was decked out in festive holiday decor.

We sat adjacent the cozy fireplace in the adjacent Pontiac Lounge. 

One of the Georges, the late, former Naperville Mayor George Pradel, is memorialized in a couple of namesake entrees, and is pictured amongst the many stylish, whimsical, comical and historic prints and photographs that adorn the walls. 

The all-day menu is club oriented, upscale ‘tavern’ food, small bites, starters, and a focused set of special entrees such as Short-rib Stroganoff, served with pappardelle noodles, cremini mushrooms, in a mushroom-ricotta sauce, Fish & Chips, Smash Burgers, Sliders, and Bourbon-Maple Salmon with crispy onion straws, french haricot verts and whipped potatos.

There is a craft cocktail list, and a small but carefully and thoughtfully crafted wine cellar/list featuring a few selections by the glass, and a bottle selection of mostly premium and ultra-premium California labels from popular producers such as Cade, Darioush, Lewis, Plumpjack and Shrader.

Linda had the Sliders with a craft cocktail and I ordered the Salmon with a California Chardonnay BTG (By-the-Glass). 

Davis Bynum River West, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley, Chardonnay 2022

Davis Bynum was a pioneer and champion of the Russian River Valley producing award-winning Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for over fifty years.The Davis Bynum Winery initially began in 1951 when Davis Bynum, a young journalist with the San Francisco Chronicle, bought 50 pounds of grapes from Robert Mondavi and made 3 1/2 gallons of Petite Sirah.

In 1971, Davis acquired vineyard land near St. Helena in Napa Valley. Unable to develop the property due to the anti-growth moratorium on new winery construction by the Napa county planning commission, the Bynum Family purchased the 83-acre River Bend Ranch in the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County where they established a winery and permanent home.

The Bynum estate and River West Vineyard. is located on Westside Road on a low riverside bench in the far northern end of the valley. 

Initially they combined grapes from Napa with local Russian River Valley fruit, until they sold the Napa property in 1976. Their first Pinot Noir, the 1973 Davis Bynum Pinot Noir was sourced from the Rochioli Vineyard and was the first Pinot to carry a Russian River designation.

Today, Davis Bynum Winery produces about 15,000 cases of wine annually under the Davis Bynum label. While Davis oversees the vineyards and business, winemaking in managed by winemaker/producer Gary Farrell and Bynum winemaker is Greg Morthole. Bynum’s son, Hampton, manages daily operations, sales, and assists with winemaking and production.

Davis Bynum crafts wines that showcase the estate with its Yolo sandy-silt loam soil with a pocket of gravelly Cortina soil in one block, and near coastal moderated climate cool foggy climate.

This is the entry level, basic Chardonnay, part of the broader Bynum portfolio of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir labels. It offers good QPR (quality price ratio) for every day casual sipping and enjoyment, ideal for a WBTG (wine-by-the-glass) selection. 

It was rated 90 points by Wine Spectator

Winemaker’s tasting notes - Aromas of lemon curd, apple pie and graham cracker, along with flavors of baked golden apple, pie crust and a sweet floral undertone. French and Eastern European barrel aging brings a measure of dusty oak tones and notes of butterscotch, tempered by a balanced acidity. 

Light straw colored, light medium bodied, crisp, nicely balanced, zesty green apple, pear, citrus and notes of pineapple with floral, vanilla, stone fruit, toasted almond and mineral notes on a bright lingering finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4865246

https://www.davisbynum.com/

https://www.georgenaperville.com/

Family Celebration Dinner at Mesón Sabika Naperville

Family Celebration Dinner at Mesón Sabika, Naperville

We hosted a gala family celebration dinner at iconic Mesón Sabika, the historic mansion restaurant in Naperville, one of the favorites of the kids. The restaurant is housed in a mansion that was built in 1847 and sits on a four-acre estate near downtown Naperville.

The highly acclaimed restaurant was awarded Best of Naperville “Most Romantic, Outdoor Dining” and “Best Banquet Facility” and “Best live music”. 

It was named among the “100 most popular restaurants for outdoor dining in America”, one of the “100 Most Popular Brunch Spots in America”, and among “America’s 100 most romantic restaurants” by Opentable.

The special gathering was to embrace d-in-law Vivianna and son Alec who are expecting a daughter next month. 

To everyone’s surprise and delight, they used the occasion as a ‘reveal’ event to announce the name of the upcoming newborn. 

Playing on the theme and names of brother Ryan, and sister Erin and niece Lucy’s middle name Leigh, and niece Marleigh, they unveiled our new grand-daughter will be named Ryleigh. What fun and how wonderful! 

Early release of the name was prompted due to three year old daughter/grand-daughter ‘leaking’ the upcoming disclosure. 

Our core family of twenty-one will soon be twenty-two! 

Wife Linda organized the gala dinner and the Mesón Sabika team delivered an exceptional dining experience with delicious food courses, outstanding attentive service, in an ideal outdoor garden court setting - akin to having a private room.

The personalized special menu started with cold then hot Tapas, followed by dinner, then desserts  … 

Pitchers of Mesón Sabika signature red and white Sangria were served before and throughout the dinner. 

Four delicious Tapas appetizers, two cold and two hot, were served - potato salad followed by salmon, then lamb, veal and pork meatballs, and mushroom caps. 

Patatas con Aioli - Robust garlic potato salad

Salmón Curado con Queso - House-cured salmon rolled with dill cream cheese, served on toast points spread with sour cream

Albondigas con Almendreas - Lamb, beef, and pork meatballs served with spicy tomato sauce, toasted almonds and parmesan cheese

Champiñones Rellenos - Mushroom caps filled with spinach and cheese, served with tomato basil sauce

Main course featured choice of chicken or filet medallions of beef with red wine peppercorn sauce, mashed potatoes and asparagus spears. 

Solomillos a la Plancha - Grilled beef tenderloin medallions, served with mashed potatoes, drizzled with a red wine sauce

Dessert included a delicious broad assortment of Mesón Sabika Specialty Desserts … served with coffee.

Crema Catalana de Meson - Creamy vanilla custard with bittersweet chocolate and caramelized sugar

Profiterol del Pirineo - Light and airy pastry filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce

Plátano con Helado -Sautéed banana topped with caramel sauce and pistachios, served with vanilla ice cream

Flan del Dia -Featured flan of the day

Cazuelita de Chocolate - Soft-centered, warm chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream

Tarta de Pera - Almond and pear pound cake, drizzled with caramel sauce, served with vanilla ice cream

Tarta de Pacanas - Pecan cheesecake served with chocolate and caramel sauce

Delicia de Chocolate - Chocolate terrine with honey roasted walnuts and fresh raspberry sauce

Tarta de Chocolate y Caramelo - Warm bittersweet chocolate and caramel custard baked in an almond and hazelnut tart crust with vanilla ice cream

For a wine accompaniment with dinner, Ryan selected from the Meson Sabika Spanish centric winelist this highly acclaimed Spanish Big Red Blend.

La Rioja Alta Viña Ardanza Reserva 2019

This is from Spanish producer La Rioja Alta, S.A., ranked by Drinks International among the 50 most prestigious wine producers worldwide, the highest-ranked Spanish winery and the second in Europe. The list of Top 10 of the world’s greatest wineries includes iconic names such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Antinori, Vega Sicilia, Penfolds, Gaja, Catena and Sassicaia.

The La Rioja Alta 2019 vintage of Viña Ardanza, was an extraordinary year on par with the best of the 21st century and this label is considered an international benchmark for great Rioja wines. 

Following a short vintage in 2017 and the decision not to produce Viña Ardanza in 2018, the renowned Haro’s Barrio de la Estación winery produced an extraordinary highly acclaimed vintage in 2019.

Julio Sáenz, head winemaker, highlights the greatness of this vintage: "This is one of the best vintages in our history—possibly on the level of 2001, 2010, or 2015.” 

Pundit John Gilman said “It is one of the finest recent vintages of Viña Ardanza that I can recall tasting!”

Viña Ardanza 2019 was its typical signature blend of 80% Tempranillo sourced from estate-owned vineyards over 30 years old in Fuenmayor and Cenicero in Rioja Alta, and 20% Garnacha from La Pedriza estate vineyard Tudelilla, Rioja Oriental, located at an altitude of 550 meters, where the vines have reached optimal maturity to produce grapes of extraordinary quality.

The wine was aged in handcrafted American oak barrels, lasting 36 months for the Tempranillo and 30 months for the Garnacha. 500,000 bottles were produced.

This was awarded 96 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 94 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Decanter and John Gilman, and 93 by Vinous. 

Winemaker Notes - “Bright and vivid cherry red, medium-high intensity, garnet rim. Aromas of redcurrant, plum, and cherry, complemented by balsamic and spicy notes of black pepper, licorice, vanilla, clove, and nutmeg. Fresh and balanced on the palate, with sweet, elegant tannins and a long, lively finish, reflecting the wine’s distinctive balsamic and spicy character.”

Dark blackish garnet colored, full-bodied, the warm year and small crop produced a powerful and concentrated, structured yet balanced wine, complex deep blackberry, black cherry and plum fruits with a layer of black pepper and Garnacha’s spicy clove, tobacco leaf, cassis and creosote, and balsamic herbs on a long firm tannin laced finish revealing a bit of heat from it’s 14.5 percent alcohol.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4512275

https://www.riojalta.com/

https://www.mesonsabika.com/

https://www.mesonsabika.com/dinner-menu/

https://www.mesonsabika.com/wine-menu/