Post UGCB Dinner Rosebud Chicago

Post UGCB Dinner Rosebud Chicago

Following a day working and then attending the UGCB (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux) wine tasting event at the Drake Hotel, Chicago, we 'Pour Boys' went next door and had dinner at Rosebud Steakhouse. 

I admit I am not a fan of Rosebud Restaurants and did not realize they had this iconic steakhouse as part of their group of nine restaurants spread across Chicagoland including our hometown Naperville. I associate Rosebud with their Taylor Street location in Little Italy and always thought of it as an Italian eatery. Founder/owner Alex Dana says of the group, "Rosebud (is), a real ‘Red Sauce’ experience! Every meal is prepared to order with authentic, 100 year old peasant style Italian recipes and our rare steakhouses are well done!"

Our dinner at Rosebud in the tony Streeterville Gold Coast neighborhood was wonderful - food, atmosphere, service, and the wine selections. The dining room faces the bustling street and is lined on one wall by the bar to the rear and an impressive wine wall in the main front dining room. Being footsteps away from the historic, iconic Drake Hotel, site of the annual UGCB (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux) wine tasting event set the stage for the evening. 

Rosebud Steakhouse Chicago wine wall

Dan ordered pork chop, Lyle a prime filet of beef, and Ernie and I both ordered the Dover Sole and it was fabulous. Served in a heavy butter creme sauce, it was best of the preparations I had of this dish recently at a favorite seafood restaurant, and an upscale Italian eatery in New York. 

We ordered side dishes to share of creamed corn, brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. Our Sole dishes were served with a side of brown rice. 

From the winelist we ordered a red and a white to accompany our entree selections.  

Brewer Clifton Santa Rita Hills Chardonnay 2016

Midway between a crisp Burgundian and a rich creamy oaky Northern California style, this was perfectly matched to the sole in its flavorful sauce. 

We ordered an ultra-premium California Chardonnay from the Reserve Wine List and it turned out to be unavailable. The Sommelier offered up this moderate priced alternative and it proved to be a good choice. This was rated 93 points by Decanter, and 91 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator and Vinous. 

Medium-bodied, straw colored, nicely balanced with quite a bit of alcohol, but the acid stands up to it nicely, Decanter writes of' a touch of hazelnut signals masterful and very restrained handling of oak - only neutral barrels were used', notes of citrus, apple, passionfruit and what Vinous calls 'a whole range of tropical inflections'.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2914293

https://www.brewerclifton.com/ 

With the steak and pork chop entrees we ordered this Napa Valley red.

Pine Ridge Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

We were torn between several offerings from the basic but carefully selected winelist, and opted for this 2016 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the Stags Leap District nestled against the vaca range along the eastern ridge of the valley on the Silverado Trail.

Dark garnet, purple colored, medium-full bodied, it spent 16-18 months in American oak, big full ripe, nicely integrated and balanced notes of sweet blackberry and plum fruits are highlighted by spice, hints of cassis and vanilla bean, with  pure, full but approachable tannins on the pleasant lingering finish.

This got 91 points from reviewer Jeb Dunnuck.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3211242

https://www.pineridgevineyards.com/

Napa Valley California Cabernet Tasting

Napa Valley California Cabernet Tasting

Featuring 2006 Horizontal

Pre-dinner 2006 Horizontal Napa Valley Cabernet Tasting -

Cliff Lede Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Bill's tasting notes:

"Deep, opaque,purple color. Long legs. A bit of perfume, tobacco and spice on the nose. Big and fruit forward, this is a complex wine with layers of black raspberry, plum and blueberry, evolving to chocolate, clove and a hint of tobacco. Drinking very well now but certainly has 5 to 8 years left. Throwing a surprising amount of sediment it's age but this seems to be a Cliff Lede trait. Nicely accompanied by assorted flatbreads, Spanish cheeses and green apples. Drank with Beth, Rick, Linda and Peter with a terrific South Loop view of the Chicago skyline from Peter's apartment."

WCC 90 points. 

Winemaker's Notes: "The 2006 Cabernet lights up out of the bottle with a precocious bouquet of exotic spices and old leather. Given a moment to rest, aromas of sweet marjoram, rose oil, cardamom and blackcurrant jam evolve into exceptionally sweet floral notes of star jasmine and a touch of trumpet vine. Initial flavors of cherry deepen as fine tannins expand and unfold. Dark stone fruits mix and integrate with sweet tannins and fleshy acidity, giving way to a persimmon inspired finish that coats the mouth."

Blend: 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 2% Malbec
Alcohol: 15.2%

Cliff Lede was a featured producer during our Cliff Lede Stag's Leap District Vineyard & Winery Visit - Autumn '09.

Pine Ridge Epitome Stags Leap District Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Epitome is sourced from grapes grown higher overlooking the valley from the ridge, typically with lower yields, more concentrated with higher extracted fruits. It showed a profile and flavors similar to the Oakville Cab below but I found it to be a bit tighter with more subdued fruits, perhaps due to being slightly more concentrated and firm thereby requiring more time to open and reveal itself.   

Pine Ridge Oakville Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Dark garnet color -aromatic with flavors of dark blackberry and hint of blueberry followed by red cherry, raspberry, mocha, soft oaky spice and bit of bramble.

RM 91 points.

We enjoyed dinner at May Street Cafe, a quaint trendy neighborhood restaurant that features Neuvo Latin and contemporary American cuisine that is American, part Mexican, part Cuban with accents of Asian - steaks and seafood, that is more sophisticated and stylish than its Pilsen Little Village industrial neighborhood location on Chicago's near southwest side would indicate. At dinner we took BYOB and tasted two other Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons that were perfect accents and complements to the char-grilled steaks.

Del Dotto Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 from Magnum

Medium to full bodied , deep dark ruby color - black berry and sweet black cherry fruits accented by clove spice and a hint of English toffee on the 'Rutherford Dust' moderate silky tannin finish.

RM 91 points.


Del Dotto is one of our perennial favorite Napa Cabs that we have featured in many Napa Valley visits and is a vertical collection in our cellar going back to the inaugural 1993 vintage. See our Del Dotto features on unwindWine.com including Del Dotto - Napa Valley,  Napa Wine Experience 2003 and Napa Wine Experience 99 to mention a few. Their spectacular winery and cellar tour right on Route 29 at Zinfandel Lane as you enter St Helena from the south are a must see for everyone during a visit to Napa Valley.  

This same wine is featured in their extraordinary Connoisseurs Series in which they age the same wine in a variety of oak cooperages to highlight the different oak influences on the wine. We featured a horizontal tasting of the 2001 Del Dotto Connoisseur Series last year as listed on unwindWine.com site. 


https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=485814


http://www.deldottovineyards.com/

La Sirena Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

Bill and Beth brought this classic Heidi Barrett Napa Cabernet selection - his tasting notes as shown on Cellartracker:

"Deep garnet color. A bit perfumey on the nose, much like a Margaux, with some evidence of spice. Opened a bit sweet with notes of raspberry and cherry. After about 30 minutes this smoothed out significantly to become much more elegant and balanced with notes of leather, spice and tobacco with silky tannins. A more delicate contrast to the big 2001 Del Dotto served with wonderful seasoned NY strip with chipotle mashed potatoes and broiled mushroom at May St. cafe in Pilsen."

WCC - 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=45242