Showing posts with label WIcker Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WIcker Park. Show all posts

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Spectacular Wine Flight highlights Etta Restaurant Dinner

Spectacular Wine Flight highlights Etta Restaurant Dinner

Our hosts Mike and son Matt
Friend Mike D flew in from NYC to host a special wine dinner and brought a spectacular wine flight for the occasion. He generously featured a few of his favorites as well as some extraordinary premier labels representing the best of the best of their varietal or appellations and vintages.

This dinner follows an earlier gathering of this group when colleague Matt hosted a dinner with Chef Zubair Mohajir who prepared a Wazwan Supper Club dinner.



Tonight's dinner was held at Etta neighborhood restaurant in trendy Bucktown Wicker Park on the near northwest side of Chicago, one of the hottest new venues in the City.

Etta is the latest sensation of Danny Grant who earned two Michelin stars for RIA Restaurant and who also overseas popular Maple & Ash steakhouse on Chicago's Gold Coast.

“For the Table”

Etta is rustic, bright and lively with large windows and an open patio deck upstairs. The main ground floor dining room is centered around a wood-fired hearth serving wood-fired pizzas, six different house-made pastas, and salads all featuring farm fresh ingredients from locavores across the region, served in their “For the Table” family style.

For the dinner, Mike selected a special menu to accompany and complement the spectacular wine flight featuring a selection of the finest labels from some of the best vintages from a range of old world and new world regions, that he brought from his cellar for the occasion.

The Etta staff provided superb attentive, professional wine service of the BYOB wine
flight.


Mike D's wine flight for the occasion
 The menu and wine pairing selections:

First Course  

Second Course

Giuseppe Quintarelli Rosso del Bepi
Veneto IGT Corvina Blend 2002

Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse)
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Sangiovese 2004

Château Mouton Rothschild
Pauillac Bordeaux 2000

Bryant Family Vineyards
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Glazed Lamb and Big Reds flight

Château d'Yquem
Sauterne Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend
1990 


Tom R and buddy, Owner/proprietor
checking out special menu and wine flight

The Etta proprietor/owner checked in on us and our special menu selection and joined us for a taste of some of our premier labels.

The flight shown below featured a selection of the finest labels from some of the best vintages from a range of old world and new world regions.

Rick Wine Note and Comments:

Pol Roger "Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill" Brut Champagne 2006 

This is a classic special labeling, made only in the very best vintages, from this legendary Champagne house. This label is a blend that is predominantly Pinot Noir, as preferred by the label namesake, Sir Winston Churchill, the exact blend is a closely guarded family secret.

This vintage release got 98 points from Wine Enthusiast, 95 points from Wine Spectator's James Suckling and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 

Readers of these pages know, while I love Champagne, I do not represent to have a discriminating palette for such, hence I defer to the pundits on such tastings. Robert Parker wrote about this label, "Very clear, precise, ripe and complex bouquet with fruity and refreshingly chalky, nutty and brioche notes. Full-bodied and complex on the palate, the 2006 is supple, round and rich but also fine, elegant, fresh and well structured. It has a harmonious yet tight, persistent and very promising finish that puts this silky textured,  with rich and expressive flavors of peach tart, raspberry sorbet, candied ginger and orange peel, and sleek acidity that leaves a mouthwatering impression on the satiny finish."
 
92 points from Wine & Spirit - "A classical style of grande marque Champagne, Pol Roger’s tête de cuvée has seamless elegance and clarity of fresh citrus flavor. Rather than minerality and ripe fruit, it’s more about airy fragrance and spicy lemon zest, firm and cool."


Jean-Louis Chavy Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Perrières 2015  

Giuseppe Quintarelli Rosso del Bepi Veneto IGT Corvina Blend 2002 

Rosso del Bepi is named after Valpolicella founding father Giuseppe Quintarelli. The 2002 Rosso del Bepi was a declassified release of their legendary Amarone yet showed the Quintarelli signatures, according to Vinous Anthony Gallous.

This was imported by the legendary Kermit Lynch who brought Loire Valley and many other French wines to America. This is the first non-French label I've seen from them.

Dark garnet color, medium full bodied, more approachable than a fully classified vintage Amarone, never-the-less big, bold, deep and complex yet nicely integrated and balanced black cherry fuits with notes of prune, earth, spice, tobacco leaf, hints of cigar box and vanilla.

RM 90 points.


Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Sangiovese 2004

 

Mike cited this as his absolute favorite or one of this favorite wines. Anthony Gallon of Vinous gave this 97 points and wrote in his review of this wine, "Soldera’s 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is just as beautiful as it has always been. Super-refined and finessed, the 2004 is one of the most aristocratic, nuanced wines Soldera has made over the last four decades. I imagine the 2004 will reward readers with several decades of exceptional drinking. It is of course quite young today, but all the elements are so balanced, the wine is pretty much impossible to resist." (AG) 1/2015.

I love Sangiovese, especially with zesty Italian pasta dishes with cheese and bolognese sauces. Unfortunately, this was served with the Spicy meatballs with "Sunday sauce" that was very bold and aggressive and overpowered my pallet and this wine. Thankfully, I begged off finishing the course to save my discernment for the rest of the wine flight. I may tolerate big over the top bold assertive wines, but I'm a wimp when it comes of pepper spices.

Cellartracker consensus score for this wine is 95.2 - high praise, indeed.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=939979

Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Bordeaux 2000 

A classic First Growth Bordeaux from a classic vintage. Mouton Rothschild of course are known for their artist labels, each vintage release adorning a customized label featuring art from a renowned artist - even the empty bottles are collectors items!  I have a Mouton  Rothschild Artist Series Label Library page devoted to the subject. The 2000 vintage release replaced the painted label with an enamelled illustration of the gold-encrusted Augsburg Ram from the Chateau’s own Museum of Wine in Art. 

This release was awarded 97 points by Wine Enthusiast, 96 points by  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 95 points by Vinous and Wine & Spirits, 94 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, 93 points James Suckling and Wine Spectator.


Dark blackish ruby garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex but balanced and polished with black fruits accented by smoky cedar, violet, kirsch, coffee and notes of mocha, floral, spice and oak with elegant silky tannins on the lingering finish. 
 .
This is a blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and 14% Merlot and while balanced, polished and elegant has firm full tannins that should provide graceful aging for fifty years. 

RM 94 points.

Bryant Family Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 


Another classic label, from Napa Valley, Bryant Family Vineyards from Pritchard Hill, in the neighborhood of exclusive legendary cult-producers Harlan, Screaming Eagle and Colgin, and more earthly yet respectable premium labels David Arthur and Del Dotto's newest ultra-premium brand and label from their new property Villa Del Lago.

This 2009 Bryant Family release got 97-98 points from Wine Spectator's James Suckling, 97 points from Vinous, and
96 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast and Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, and 95 points from Wine Spectator. (I share these metrics because many of us find our preferences align with certain reviews and it provides a good basis of comparison). 

Robert Parker cited this is a candidate for 'wine of the vintage'. Wine Spectator cited it a "Cellar Selection" as a notable Collectable.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, rich concentrated and powerful yet elegant and polished with nicely balanced and integrated bright vibrant blackberry, plum and black currant fruits with tones of spice, oak, mocha, expresso and hints of cassis and cedar turning to a firm but silky smooth long lingering finish. 

RM 96 points.  

For all the pomp and fist pumping through the flight, while some of the other wines were more complex, or richer or more concentrated fruit, this had the best balance of complexity and pure enjoyment of bold vibrant flavors, my favorite of the evening! Not surprising perhaps that California Napa Cabernets represent the largest holding in our cellar.

Penfolds Grange (Hermitage) Shiraz/Syrah Blend 2005  

It is always a treat and special pleasure to taste Penfolds Grange. In the photo above of flight of the Big Reds above, this one is on the right, based on tasting order of lightest to heaviest, most concentrated wines. I suggested that tasting order and it proved to be correct, being the biggest and most concentrated, complex of the Big Red portion of the tasting flight. This is a style we love and hold much of in our cellar. Its a bit over the top for some, but a style we favor.

Penfolds Grange is the 'First Growth' wine of Australia if there was such as designation. Penfolds Grange has been Australia's classic premium label going back to the 1950s, it is highly sought after by collectors. It has been listed as a "Heritage Icon of South Australia."

 One of my prized holdings in my wine cellar is a OWC (Original Wood Case) of this label from the 1990 vintage, designated Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator, and birthyear of son Alec. I still remember picking that case up at Berry Brothers & Rudd wineshop in London and carrying it back on the plane! So it was back in the day!

Another fond memory of this wine was tasting it with Penfolds Grange Global Ambassador, DLynn Proctor. What fun to meet DLynn in person having enjoyed watching his pursuit of his Master Sommelier Certification in the entertaining documentary movie SOMM which is a feature on Netflix. What irony that I read recently that DLynn is now Wine Director for Fantesca Winery in Napa, one of our favorite collectables.

Folks that have followed this wine over the decades still refer to it as "Hermitage", a moniker if carried from the early years till it was dropped in the early nineties.

This release was awarded 97 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator, and 96 points by James Halliday.  

This vintage release is a blend of 4% Cabernet Sauvignon highlighting the Syrah, aka Shiraz fruit, 85% of which is from the Barossa region of South Central Australia with the remaining proportions coming from McLaren Vale and Coonawarra.

Dark inky garnet colored, rich concentrated, full bodied, Wine Spectator describes the nose as "a bit animal with some smoked game, mincemeat and bacon notes'. The fruit is ripe blackberry and black currant with a hint of blueberry with notes of tar, coffee, earth, black truffles, anise and hints of pepper and spice on the long finish of fine grain nicelly integrated tannins and crisp acidity.

RM 95 points.

Château d'Yquem Sauterne Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend 1990  

This Classic First Growth Bordeaux dessert wine is pure nector in a glass. From the historic 1990 'vintage of the century' that was provided no less than three Wine Spectator 'Wines of the Year' (1992,93,94).

This vintage release was awarded 99 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 96 pointsby Wine Advocate's Neal Martin, and 95 points by Wine Spectator and 94 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar.

Parker wrote that this "is one of the richest Yquems I have ever tasted, with 50-100 years of potential longevity. An awesome Yquem! Anticipated maturity: 2003-2050+"

Medium gold honey colored, full bodied, unctuous, concentrated and layered but superbly balanced and elegant, spice, honey and dried orange peel aromas. flavors of caramel, toffee, honey with smokey notes. extraordinary sweetness cut by harmonious acidity on the long finish that lingers for a minute or more.

RM 94 points.




Sunday, March 25, 2018

Schwa-Chicago-culinary-art-wine-dinner

Schwa Chicago - a place to experience food as art

Our Pour Boys wine group returned with the girls to dine at Chef Michael Carslon's simple non-descript storefront with the black awning, Schwa Restaurant in Wicker Park, Chicago.

We took a broad diverse flight of fine wines to pair with the nine course artfully crafted haute culinary journey that stimulates all the senses with imaginative dishes that are as artful as they are tasteful.

Schwa provides a perfect BYOB experience as they choreograph an extraordinary culinary course with our extensive wine flight. In retrospect, we learned to bring a more diverse flight of wines rather than three Bordeaux, for example ... A spectacular wine/dine experience in any event. 


Our wine flight:

Fantesca Sonoma County Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2009
Sea Smoke Single Barrel One Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir
Chateau Pavie Macquin St Emilion Bordeaux 2004
Chateau Troplong Mondot St Emilion Bordeaux 2005
Chateau Leoville Las Cases St Julien Bordeaux 2006
Chateau Suideraut Sauterne Bordeaux 2013
Bricco Luciani Mauro Molino Barolo 2013
Crofts Vintage Port 2003

Friend and colleague Mike S joined us from Conneticut and added a new dimension to our wine group and wine flight with two of his own personally crafted wines - Michael's Amarone 2007 and Michael's Super Tuscan Blend 2007.


The culinary artwork mastery of Schwa ... neither pictures nor words can do justice to the olfactory and sensory experience. The music is loud and the pace is frenetic ... too much so to take in the details and keep up ... Go during the week when there is only one seating so you might have more time. Of course bringing so many wine courses didn't help. The staff do an amazing job parsing through the courses and matching the wines.

Pretzel twig ... shitake mushrooms ...


Peanut butter ... crab medallions ...


Signature dish ... shaved truffel, quail egg filled ravioli ...



Trout Roe ...


Spanish Mackerel ...


Seaweed Sea Smoke ...


Beef braised tip  ... served in incense smoker bowl ...


Foie gras ...





Sorbet ...



For so many wines, one tends to hold to compare each against the previous and following resulting in a wide swatch of glasses ...!



http://www.schwarestaurant.com/


Saturday, March 12, 2016

Jellyfish Sushi - Folklore Argentine Grill Chicago BYOB

Jellyfish Sushi - Folklore Argentine Steakhouse Chicago BYOB

Saturday Night in the City (Chicago) with dear friends Bob and Gloria, we started at trendy Jellyfish on Rush Street for pre-dinner sushi and drinks, to visit and support son Jason, on duty there, then went to Folklore Argentine Grill steakhouse in Wicker Park.

Jason, with Gloria and Bob
Located at ground zero of the trendy hip Rush Street restaurant scene in Chicago, perched on the second floor above upscale boutiques, SCOOP NYC and Ted Baker London, overlooking Hugo’s Frog Bar and Gibsons Steakhouse, Jellyfish, is an intimate pan-Asian restaurant and lounge. Jellyfish was voted one of the Top 17 hottest sushi restaurants in the US, and nominated for Chicago Magazine to the Top 10 Hot List in Chicago.

Readers of this blog will know I am not a sushi guy but our experience at Jellyfish was fabulous - the atmosphere, the food, drinks and service were all spectacular. We're already planning a return there for a special dinner.

Our food selections - 
  • Tuna Tartare - avocado, cilantro, jalapeno, orange ponzu, wonton chips
  • Summer Rush - great name for this selection of tuna, white tuna, salmon, crab, shrimp, avocado , wrapped in cucumber, wasabi, ponzu sauce (pictured below)
  • Torched Salmon - smoked salmon, crispy shrimp, sweet potato, avocado, spicy mayo (below)
Jellyfish Summer Rush
Jellyfish Torched Salmon
Bob & Gloria at Jellyfish
I enjoyed these with Piper-Heidsiecke NV Champagne while Linda sampled Jellyfish's unique exclusive Thaijito, an amazing concoction of light Rum, Ginger syrup, Orange Bitters, Thai chili's and mint.

http://www.jellyfishchicago.com/


Folklore Argentine Grill - Wicker Park, Chicago

We then moved on to Wicker Park where we dined at Folklore Argentine Grill steakhouse where we took advantage of BYOB. The landmark mural on the side of Folklore is shown left.

We have dined there several times and were eager to share it with our friends Bob and Gloria who is Latin and could authenticate the cuisine experience.

Tonight was the best dinner we've had there and my El Filet, filet mignon, grilled, topped with red onion wine sauce with spinach mashed potatos (fittingly green for St Patrick's Day) was spectacular, as good as any steak entree I have ever had, anywhere!

Folklore El Filet
Folklore Churrasco Sirloin Steak

Folklore Lemon Sole

Bob had the Churrasco grilled Sirloin steak (shown above), and Gloria had the MAR Y TIERRAMar Y Tierra - their surf and turf combo of grilled filet mignon with two jumbo fresh water shrimp, sautéed with capers in a tomato-basil sauce with mashed potatoes (shown left).

Linda had the Chef's Special seafood entree - Lemon Sole with orange sauce, shown above.


Our BYOB wines ... 

To complement dinner, Bob and I brought BYOB selections - Bob, Chateau La Croix Pomerol, and I brought from our cellar Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio.

Château La Croix St. Georges Pomerol Bordeaux 2012

Garnet colored, medium bodied, moderate blackberry and plum with tones of slightly earthy tobacco and hints of anise and mocha turning to soft smooth subdued tannins on the smooth finish.

RM 89 points.

Blend of 94.5% Merlot and 5.5% Cabernet Franc

A nice accompaniment to the grilled steaks. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1605197

 

 

 

Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio 2009

Readers of this blog know we're fans of big fruit filled Syrahs and this stood with the best of them, with none of that metallic, mineral or creosote that I expected of a Spanish Red. This is a blend of  70% Monastrell (and 30% cabernet sauvignon) which I now know is aka Mouvedre which is the M in GSM - Genache, Mouvedre and Syrah, a popular blend in the Rhone River Valley as well as South Central Australia. I have learned that the chief winemaker for this wine is Chris Ringland of R Wines, as in big fruity Aussie Shiraz. - is there a pattern emerging here? 

The 2009 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio, much like the 2004, is another in a series of show stoppers, consistently over-achieving, full-bodied reds. Look at this track record (all scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate): 2003 - 96 points; 2004 - 97 points; 2005 - 95 points; 2006 - 95 points; 2007 - 94 points, 2008 -94 points. 


While I found this to be not as fruit filled and opulant as the earlier tasting of the 2004 (see my earlier blog of the 2004 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio), the 2009 gets high marks and glowing reviews indeed. One Cellartracker reviewer compared this to an Amarone.
Glass-coating opaque blackish purple color, full bodied with a full bouquet of black fruits - black berry, black currant and black cherry, a layer of smoke, anise and expresso with a long lingering subtle oak moderate tannin finish. Give it time to open. It was more approachable ninety minutes later... but we were finished by then. 
While not inexpensive at $40, it does pack a lot for that pricepoint and delivers a reasonable QPR (quality price ratio) even at that level. and it lists for more in a lot of places.  
This was almost overpowering to my steak with its red wine sauce, and certainly overpowered the more delicate and sophisticated Bordeaux, but it was great in the flight progression and turned to be a great compliment to my chocolate cherry cake dessert (shown below).

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1248745

http://www.orowines.com/ 




Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

Montagna Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

We've seen the Montagna Napa Valley label but didn't connect it to the property we passed on Long Ranch Road on our way up to David Arthur vineyards at 1100 feet high atop Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range overlooking Napa Valley from the east. Interesting that Montagna is the project of Bob Long, one of the founders of David Arthur with his brother David. These vineyards are part of the nine hundred acre parcel purchased by their parents back in the mid-sixties and seventies. We were already big fans of Pritchard Hill Cabernet and our visit to David Arthur was one of the highlights of our Napa Valley Wine Experience 2013. We visited Chappellet Vineyards during our Napa Wine Experience in 2009.

Bob and David Long grew up down on the peninsula in Palo Alto California and spending time working in the family's super market in nearby Portola Valley. Bob graduated from the University of Denver and attended law school at the University of the Pacific. After a short time practicing law and working in real estate development in Chicago, Bob and his brother David started David Arthur Vineyards in 1984.

The Montagna vineyards sit just a mile down Long Ranch Road from David Arthur amongst other notable Pritchard Hill producers such as Chappellet, Colgin Cellars, Continuum, David Arthur, Ovid Napa Valley and, BRAND.

Dr Dan picked up a case of this aged Montagna at auction and brought a bottle BYOB to our dinner at Folklore Argentine Grill steak house in Wicker Park in Chicago before the Hawks game.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, earth and leather predominate almost like a left bank Bordeaux, giving way to black cherry, black currant and black berry fruits accented by spice, cigar box and hints of cedar with firm lingering tannins. I took the remaining half bottle home and opened it the next evening to find even more pronounced fruits had taken over and the earth and leather were an after thought.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1641170

https://montagnanapavalley.com/

Friday, December 5, 2014

Terra Gratia Napa Valley Red 2011

Terra Gratia Napa Valley Red 2011

Dr Dan obtained this from a wine broker who raves about the pedigree of the dynamic team that came together to produce this wine. He brought this BYOB to our dinner at Folklore Argentine Steak Grill in Wicker Park, Chicago.

Maurice and Paul Marciano, owners of Guess Jeans, bought the old historic Marciano Estate property located in St. Helena off Sulphur Springs Road back in 2006. The historical vineyard and homestead property, once owned by the Bourne Family and the Christian Brothers dates back to 1865. They contracted with winemaker Andy Erickson (Arrieta, Ovid, Favia, Dancing Hares, Dalla Valle, and formerly Screaming Eagle) and with David Abreu the well known vineyard manager to manage the vineyards. David Abreu has planted and managed the vineyards for Harlan Estate, Bryant Family, Araujo Estate, Staglin Family, Colgin Estate, Blankiet Estate, Pahlmeyer and Grace Family. The result is this 2011 Terra Gratia, a blend of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. 
We opened this with our starter course and then tasted with our steak entrees. Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, the black and blue berry fruits are accented by tobacco and a layer of cedar. A slight woody grassy tone detracted from the fruit. It actually reminded of the red Bordeaux varietal wines they grow up in Southwestern Michigan. Perhaps this bottle was flawed? If left to age, or open longer, this tone might have burned off but a sitting at dinner did not allow time to do so. Dan has several bottles so we'll try it again and manage it differently and see if we get a different outcome. 

RM 87 points.