Showing posts with label Picque Callou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Picque Callou. Show all posts

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Thanksgiving feast and wine flight

Thanksgiving feast and wine flight

We gathered for customary Thanksgiving dinner feast with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, cranberry salad and fresh baked crescent dinner roles. We served an accompanying wine flight.

From the cellar I pulled a classic Champagne, then a white Bordeaux blend, a California Zinfandel, then friend Jared stopped by and opened a Barbaresco Nebbiolo. Jared Gelband is wine director at the legendary Italian Village restaurant. When he stops by, we can often count on him to bring an interesting label to share and compare.

Bertrand Senecourt Beau Joie Special Cuvee 'Sugar King' Demi-Sec NV Champagne

A blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, & 20% Pinot Meunier for the sweetest of champagnes.

This Beau Joie Champagne is distinctive in it's packaging with the bottle 'wrapped' in a basket-like shroud of 100% copper — Triple Black Limited-Edition Bottle. The 'Suit of Armor' is inspired by the Armor worn by the knights that protected the Kingdom.

From their website:

The copper scrap in transformed into artwork – In order to avoid the unnecessary waste of valuable copper, Beau's encasing is uniquely created from 100% second-generation copper scrap and turned into a functional piece of artwork.

Functionality – Beau's innovation-driven, functional design was specifically designed for the hospitality industry. No one knows more about serving the finest products and creating an experience than the industry itself.

Beau’s suit of armor keeps the champagne colder longer, reducing the amount of energy required to bring the bottle to serving temperature and eliminating the need for ice bucket storage during consumption. It also provides improved grip when opening and serving, while the bottle’s rubber punt ensures enhanced stability when pouring.

The bottle’s patented design also allows for decorative enhancements such as flowers or plumes to complement the distinct design aesthetic of individual venues.

Light golden straw colored, light, refreshing, clean, crisp, flavorful, nicely integrated and balanced fruits. Delicious.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=1762719

http://www.beaujoiechampagne.com/

Château Picque Caillou Blanc, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux 2011

We recently pulled from the cellar this white Bordeaux and took it BYOB to local seafood eatery Chinn's 34th Street Fishery in Lisle (IL). As I wrote that night, we hold a half dozen bottles of this White Bordeaux Blanc, too oft overlooked in the cellar, passed over for something more exiting as we're Red Bordeaux drinkers. That night, we pulled this to try and actually brought a back-up wine in case it wasn't up to the call. The gals liked it a lot.

This was a nice accompaniment to turkey, dressing and the potatoes and veggies.

Golden colored with slight brownish hues, nose of citrus and stone, notes of mineral melon with a layer of slightly grassy undertones, yet pleasant with nice balance and acidity. A nice match for the seafood entrees.
Time to drink.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=1372699

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/11/chinns-34th-street-fishery.html

Carlisle Sonoma County Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2014

They say Zinfandel is ideal with turkey, the balanced forward full bodied fruit goes well with the dry white meat. It sounds awkward when it is also ideal for BBQ, but it seems to be so. This zinfandel is supplemented with 11% Petite Sirah.

This wine was highly rated getting 92-94 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Vinous, 93 points from Wine Spectator, and 92 points from Wine Enthusiast. I don't necessarily share their enthusiasm although it was tasty, easy drinking and a nice compliment to our holiday dinner. 

Dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, bright, expressive forward complex black berry and black raspberry fruits, notes of anise, pepper, hints of vanilla and oak.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2291450


Friend and wine buddy Jared stopped by and brought this Barbaresco Nebbiolo to share. Readers of this blog will know Jared Gelband as the Wine Director at Italian Village, whom we visit often for wine dinners.

Pertinace (Cantina Vignaioli) Barbaresco Vigneto Marcarini Nebbiolo 2013

This producer Cantina Pertinace is a winegrowers' cooperative which identifies with its territory, the region and DOCG appellation of Barbaresco. The label is named after a great historic local personality, Elvio Pertinace, who was born in Alba, in the hamlet in which the winery is located.

 The winery is located in Pertinace in Treiso, Piedmont, one of the four villages in the Langhe famous for the production of Barbaresco DOCG. The coop and Vignaioli winery was founded in 1973 and is comprised of thirteen members. They all shared a tie with the Langhe hills and the same objective, to build a business and brand based on the best wines possible, produced from the Nebbiolo grape from Barbaresco.

The started to bottle their wine the late 70's, expanded their facilities in the 80's, upgrading to the latest state-of-the-art technologies, and added their own bottling in 1990.

Today, the coop consists of fifteen members including the original historic founders, the winery producing 700.000 kg of grapes, totaling around 450 thousand bottles in the name of Barbaresco. Their distribution now reaches globally with presence in the United States, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Poland, South Korea and Hong Kong.

The wine, 100% Nebbiolo spends 18 months in Slavonian oak casks.

Bright Ruby red color, medium-full bodied, bright black cherry and red berry fruits with notes of plum, prune and black tea with hints of nutmeg, clove and cinnamon with round velvety tannins on a fruit filled finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2456929

https://www.pertinace.com/en/

Monday, November 11, 2019

Chinn's 34th Street Fishery

Chinn's 34th Street Fishery JetFresh Seafood and BYOB Picque-Callou Blanc

Casual Monday night dinner with Sister Jan visiting from SoCal, we took her to a local favorite dining site, Chinn's 34th Street Fishery in Lisle (IL) featuring their JetFresh Seafood. Chinn's is a local treasure that is under the radar and under-rated.

As I've written in these pages, Chinn's features "jet fresh" seafood, literally jetted in daily from quality providers in the leading seafood markets - Hawaii, Alaska, the Atlantic, the Pacific, Florida, Louisiana and other centers where they have something to offer on any given day. 

Having a taste for something light and refreshing on a Monday night, and hosting Sister Jan in from Huntington Beach, it was a challenge worth taking, to showcase seafood selections in the flyover Midwest interior to someone living adjacent the California Pacific coast.

The menu at Chinn's is prepared daily, featuring that day's catch from the source seafood markets. I've often said that if you live in a coastal area that is a seafood producer, you are subjected to the day's catch from that port. Here, we have access to the day's catch from a number of ports from all the coasts.

Chinn's not only offers the broadest variety of fresh seafood, but they prepare a daily special 'Seven Ways' in their daily "7-way fish" - PREPARED ONE OF 7 DIFFERENT WAYS - CHARGRILLED • BLACKENED • BATTER FRIED • SAUTEED • BAKED GRECIAN • STEAMED ORIENTAL • STIR FRIED.

This nights fresh seafood offerings included:

Scampi - Grilled, Stuffed, Dejonghe, Stir Fried, Chili, Coconut

On this day, three of us ordered the Hawaiian Monchong, the fresh catch from Hawaii. Tacked to the wall in the entryway was the bill of lading showing the shipment arriving at O'Hare overnight delivered the previous day's harvest. It was delicious and the portion was huge - easily sufficient to share. Sean and Michelle order the Grouper, blackened. It too was delicious. Dinners are served with choice of potatoes, coleslaw and Chinn's signature garlic bread rolls.

Lastly, to top of the dinner, we brought BYOB from our cellar this French White Bordeaux. Chinn's have a liberally generous corkage policy making it an even greater dining bargain value.

Château Picque Caillou Blanc, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux 2011

We hold a half dozen bottles of this White Bordeaux Blanc, too oft overlooked in the cellar, passed over for something more exiting as we're Red Bordeaux drinkers. Tonight, we pulled this to try and actually brought a back-up wine in case it wasn't up to the call. The gals liked it a lot.

Golden colored with slight brownish hues, nose of citrus and stone, notes of mineral melon with a layer of slightly grassy undertones, yet pleasant with nice balance and acidity. A nice match for the seafood entrees.
Time to drink.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=1372699

https://chinnsfishery.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Chinns34thStFishery/

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Château Picque Caillou Pessac Leognan 2010

Château Picque Caillou, Pessac Leognan, Graves, Bordeaux 2010

We just attended the 2010 Bordeaux release tasting of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux  tasting in Chicago a short while back.One lesson learned was that the 2010 vintage, here-to-fore overshadowed by the legendary 2009's, is a high achiever, one to be taken seriously and provides some good notable wines, even from some of the lesser labels. The 2010 Bordeaux vintage was monumental with dry conditions, cool temperatures, and sunny days. It produced wines displaying a ripeness, freshness, and concentration found only in the finest vintages. As expected in top vintage years, the most famous estates produced memorable wines, but so did some lesser estates as well. 

Pessac Leognan is in the Appellation of Grave, a vast region, spanning over 50 kilometres directly south of the town of Bordeaux. Its name originates from the gravelly soils deposited there in the last ice age, which impart much of the character associated with their mineral whites and sophisticated reds. Grave is the only Bordeaux region that produces quality reds, whites as well as sweet desert wines. The region encompasses several smaller communes including Pessac Leognan, Sauternes and Barsac.


Chateau Picque Caillou was built in 1780 in what was then the countryside outside of Bordeaux. It is situated near the Rocade just a few hundred metres from legendary First Growth Chateau Haut Brion. Isabelle and Paulin Calvet took over the management of the estate prior to purchasing it in 1997. Having brought in superstar winemaker Denis Dubourdieu, Picque Caillou is now producing award winning wines that are are a worthwhile discovery. With the addition of winemaker Paulin Calvet, a former employee of negociant J-P. Moueix who learned from both Christian Moueix and the now-retired winemaker of Chateau Petrus, Jean-Claude Berrouet, they are now one of the emerging rising stars producing some of the best deals in the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. 

The 2010 Chateau Picque Caillou, is what one might call a diamond in the rough, a nice wine for the value conscious wine enthusiast.

This Pique Caillou is medium bodied, delicate, nicely balanced and polished. yet packing a backbone of moderate tannins - it presents expressive blackberry, a layer of spice and cassis with touch of smoke and well integrated soft oak. The tones of of blackberry are accented with hints of dark plum and a touch of cracked pepper before giving way to the lingering tannin finish. It provides for sophisticated yet pleasurable easy drinking at a modest price. The rather soft delicate nature may be a result of the blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot.

RM 89 points.  

This represents a good value high QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wine, hard to find from Bordeaux at this price point of $25.   

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1166238 

http://www.picque-caillou.com