Covid19 Shut-in Prompts Curbside Carryout - Another Virtual Family Dinner

Covid19 Shut-in Prompts Curbside Carryout - Another Virtual Family Dinner

As the Coronavirus shut-in continues, we conducted another Coronavirus shut-in virtual family dinner and wine tasting like we did last week, sharing dinners and wine selections texts, photos and videos across the dispersed family, great-grandparents, us and our four kids and seven grandkids, shut-in in Conneticut and the western Chicago suburbs. It also provided the opportunity for us to support our local restaurants and order curbside carryout dinners.

Linda and I ordered carry-out from Angeli's Italian, to support our neighborhood Italian trattoria, open only for curbside pickup. I ordered the Angelis Veal Special in a Marsala sauce with mushrooms (right) whilst Linda ordered Grilled Salmon salad special.

We also ordered a side order of Angeli's Italian Sausage and Peppers.

For our wine accompaniments, we finished what was left from the Keenan Spring Mountain Cabernet Franc from our dinner the night before.

Sean and Michelle came over and joined us for dinner and had the Angelis Italian Special Mussels entree. With their mussels and salad, we served the remains of Stonestreet Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Chardonnay that were left from earlier in the week.

In honor of Sean and Michelle joining us, despite the extraordinary circumstances, and to celebrate Sean joining PureB2B team, we opened a birthyear bottle of Château Gruaud-Larose, 1985.

Our visit to Château Gruaud-Larose in St Julien Beychevelle was one of the highlights of our Bordeaux Wine Tour last summer.

We hold a dozen vintages of this producer dating back to the kids' birthyears in the eighties including Sean's 1985 vintage release.

We shared a virtual tour of our visit to Château Gruaud-Larose estate grounds, cellar, chai, library and hospitality center in St Julien from our unwindwine blogpost in these pages.

At Ryan's house not far away in Naperville (IL), he prepared for his family household dinner Carribean grilled ribs with baked beans and cilantro lime cole slaw.

Ryan prepared BBQ ribs on his super smoker grill, hand rubbed with home made and Dave's preparation, grilled and smoked with dried apple wood and cherry wood chunks with mixed charcoal - on for three hours, then 2-3 hours wrapped in foil.

Ryan's barbecue ribs

Kids plates - ribs, baked beans, cole slaw...

For his wine accompaniment with the ribs, Ryan and Michelle finished off the remains from the previous evening dinner, Maison L'Envoyé Two Messengers Willammette Valley Pinot Noir 2012. 

They then opened one of Ryan's favorites, L'Aventure Optimus Paso Robles Red Blend.


Stephen Vineyards L'Aventure Optimus Paso Robles Red Blend 2007

This is a blend of estate grown Syrah (49%,) Cabernet Sauvignon (37%), and 14% Petit Verdot.

Ryan noted, "it was a serious fruit bomb, showing no age, with firm backbone and notes of charred wood that was perfect with the smoked grilled bbq".

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=652444

He also prepared a carry out care package to take to great-grandparents Keith and Evelyn at the assisted living center. The best we can do is for them to wave to them at the window from the parking lot! Such are these surreal times and circumstances.

Erin and Johnny and their family of six were, of course, also shut-in at home in nearby western suburb Western Springs. They also in support of one of their favorite local eateries, had BBQ ribs carry-out from Q-BBQ in nearby LaGrange.

Not being oenephile wine geeks like Ryan and me, and Alec, as we were sharing our wine label selections across the group text, Erin showed their family beverage of choice for their dinner, milk. For their four small children, especially Richie who is a ravenous milk drinker, Erin shared a photo of their family refridgerator showing no less than six, or was it seven? gallons of milk, an astonishing normal week's supply.

From Conneticut, shut-in Alec and Vivianna checked in and shared they were preparing Asian chicken lettuce wraps.

Before dinner they had a local Conneticut craft brew, Beer'D Dogs and Boats Double India Pale Ale with Citra and Mosaic Hops (no vintage given ;>)), more appropriate than one might think as they sit on the shore overlooking the Long Island sound. 

For dinner wine accompaniment, they opened K-Vinters Wahluke Slope Millbrandt Vineyard Shiraz 2016.

Later, Ryan and Michelle stopped by with the kids and brought us some pastries from DeEtta's Bakery in Naperville that they also took to the grand, great-grandparents.

Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine 2016

Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine 2016

Following our visit to Long Shadows in Woodinville (Washington) during our Woodinville Wine Experience, last fall, having acquired, received and tasting several Long Shadows labels, I was surprised and delighted to see Long Shadows Nine Hats Red Wine in the local Malloys wineshop in Lisle (Illinois).

I've chronicled that visit and several of those tastings in these pages, the portfolio of signature wines, each produced by a legendary, notable winemakers. This label was here-to-fore undiscovered, and at a price point near $20, a fraction of the price of those wines. Hence, this is in a different class and category but I snatched up a bottle to try and compare in any event.

I thought this was an unspecified Red Blend, sourced from the Columbia Valley. Naturally, at a dramatically lower price point, this is an every day wine vs a once a week or once a month, or special occasion wine, depending on one's budget. According to Cellartracker holdings, this is the tenth vintage release for this wine, dating back to 2007.

On further review, the Nine Hats website showcases a portfolio of no less than eight different labels in this family of wines. 

Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine 2016

My initial suspicion was that this was most likely produced from the fruit left over after careful selection for the premium labels, and as such, the blend would depend on the availability and quantity of the excess fruit. Hence, the terroir or source from the grapes and the composition of blend is subject to change from vintage to vintage.

On further investigation of the Nine Hats website, this is specified as a blend comprised of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 25% Syrah - the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Benches Vineyard at Wallula in the Horse Heaven Hills appellation 'providing a sturdy backbone and long, pure finish'.

Never-the-less I found this naturally less refined, polished or balanced than those more premium labels.

Bright garnet colored, medium bodied, pronounced red berry and currant fruits with notes of cranberry, dusty rose, with hints of mocha, cedar and camphor. A bit flabby and obtuse, but with bright fruit sprites that begs for lively pizza, pasta, cheese or meats. A decent but not substantial value.

RM 85 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2956065

http://ninehatswines.com/

Chateau St Jean Indian Wells Merlot 2014

Chateau St Jean Indian Wells Merlot 2014 at Misty's Steakhouse Lincoln, NE

Traveling to Lincoln, Nebraska for a business meeting, we had a team dinner at the local landmark steakhouse, Misty's Steakhouse (and Brewery) downtown, which also features a microbrewery.

Legend has it that Bob and Grace Milton began Misty's as a "bottle club" in 1963, known as Club 63. In 1965, the Nebraska liquor laws changed allowing restaurants to sell liquor by the drink, so Misty's started serving food with the ability to prepare six hamburgers or four small steaks on a small propane grill. The grill and the business grew and Misty's Restaurant, named for Bob and Grace's favorite song, "Misty", became known for serving quality prime rib. Bob and Grace also became known for their seasoning recipe, originally mixed in a large barrel, which has now grown to a complete family of branded seasonings, commercially blended and sold in grocery stores nationwide as Misty's Original All Purpose Seasoning, Natural All Purpose Seasoning, BBQ Seasoning, Cajun Seasoning, and No Salt Seasoning.

Today, Misty's Restaurant & Lounge is considered locally as Lincoln's Best Prime Rib, Best Steak, Best Place for Dinner and Best Restaurant.  Bob Milton was recognized as Restaurateur of The Year in 1998 before passing away later that year.

Being a wine snob, oenophile, I generally will choose my restaurant based on the wine list as I place a high priority on the total wine and dine experience. Its unfortunate then that Misty's showcase their steaks and micro-brew sports bar theme and atmosphere, catering to the University of Nebraska crowds that come to town and gather there for the State's major sports events on the Big Ten campus just a few blocks away, rather than a steakhouse with fine wines.

That said, while I was initially disappointed generally in the lack of a published or posted wine list, then finding it somewhat limited, my overall dining experience, including the wine, met or exceeded all my expectations. I ordered Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Columbia Valley Merlot BTG (by-the-glass) and it proved to be a perfect complement to the superbly prepared and delicious S.O.B.'s, "Sweet Old Bob's" Favorite Top Sirloin. 

My steak was prepared perfectly to my precise specifications, 'Pittsburgh style medium' (charred, grilled, medium with hot pink center), along with an excellent baked potato and spinach raspberry salad. The result was an extraordinary, superbly enjoyable dining experience that, as I state, exceeded my expectations. 

Chateau St Jean Indian Wells Merlot 2014

Another remarkable, huge QPR offering from Chateau St Jean that is available in huge quantities so as to be widely and generally available across the marketplace with 50,000 cases produced of this label. Another such offering is their Cabernet Sauvignon, recently reviewed in these pages.

Chateau Ste. Michelle has developed a very successful brand with its fruit-forward wines from the Indian Wells Vineyard and surrounding vineyards on the Wahluke Slope. The Wahike Slope area is bordered by the Columbia River to both the west and to the south as it winds around the area.

The Indian Wells Vineyard lies near the Columbia River between the towns of Desert Aire and Mattawa. Interesting that while Chateau St Michelle label it as, or imply that this a single vineyard designated wine, its isn't but rather as they state, this "Merlot is sourced predominately from vineyards throughout the Wahluke Slope in Eastern Washington, including our Indian Wells Vineyard".

This was was dark garnet colored, with medium-full body, nicely balanced, polished and integrated flavors of blackberry and black cherry fruits accented by notes of cocoa and mocha chocolate with hints of vanilla and smooth silky tannins on the lingering finish that belies its very affordable modest pricepoint resulting in huge QPR value. 
 
This release includes 14% Syrah which no doubt contributes to the full forward fruit flavors and weighty body.

RM 89 points.

This got 90 points from Wine Enthusiast and 88 from Wine and Spirits,

https://www.ste-michelle.com/our-wines/2014-indian-wells-merlot

Kudo's to Misty's for this BTG selection, as well as to Chateau St Michelle for this extraordinarily enjoyable good value wine.

https://www.mistyslincoln.com/