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/

El Nido "Clio" Jumilla for birthday celebration lunch at Meson Sabika Naperville

El Nido "Clio" Jumilla for birthday celebration lunch at Meson Sabika Naperville

For my birthday, Linda and the kids took me to Meson Sabika restaurant in Naperville for a celebration lunch. Mesón Sabika opened in 1990 in the 1847 mansion that sites on a four-acre estate near downtown Naperville.

The historic mansion has several elegant dining rooms inside and a large patio for alfresco dining. They also have a tented dining room and a large tented pavilion that is used extensively for weddings and special events. 

The kids love the immensely popular Mesón Sabika with its Spanish cuisine that they serve tapas style, a wide variety of small plates from meats to seafood and several dishes of Paella, the iconic dish of Valencia and Spain. 

According to tradition in Valencia, paella is cooked by men over an open fire, fueled by orange and pine branches along with pine cones. This produces an aromatic smoke which infuses the paella. 

With our dinner we ordered from the wine list a big hearty red wine in the style we enjoy, especially with hearty foods. The fairly extensive Spanish centric list offers a couple Rose’s, a dozen whites and three dozen reds, as well as a half dozen ultra-premium ‘Rare and Old Vintage’ selections of classic Spanish top growths -  Prada Enea Gran Reserva, an older vintage of this Clio, several vintages of Muga "Selección Especial”, and a Clos Erasmus. 

Bodegas El Nido "Clio" Jumilla, Spain Red Wine 2021 

Bodegas El Nido is one of Gil Family Estates, owners of eight wineries spread throughout seven D.O.'s in Spain, based in Jumilla with winemaking roots going back over a century, known for bold flavor wines with lavish texture and alluring spice. It is a joint venture of the Gil Family and notable winemaker Chris Ringland from Australia, one of the best Australian enologists and author of Clio and El Nido and others,  known for producing big bold Shiraz and GSM -  Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre wines. 

The winery and vineyards of Bodegas El Nido are located in the Valle de La Aragona, inside the Murcia district of Jumilla wine region and surrounding area. Their vineyards include thirty acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 79 acres of very old the Monastrell grape varietal, also known as Mourvèdre in the French Rhône River Valley. 

Monastrell is a red wine grape that goes by the name Mourvedre in France and in Australia. Historically from the Rhône Valley it is commonly used as a blending grape to add body, tannin, and color. In Spain it is produced as the core of blends that are complex and powerful as this grape variety can be.

They produce a portfolio of three big red wines including their flagship ultra-premium Ed Nido, and this popular Clio label which has been consistently rated 91-97 points for the past 13 consecutive years by acclaimed wine critics.

Famous for the robust and earthy, black-fruit dominated, Monastrell, Jumilla is an arid and hot region in southeastern Spain. Its vine yields tend to be torturously low but this can create wines of exceptional intensity and flavor. Quality combined with accessible price points give the region great recognition on international markets far and wide. 

Coming from the warm climate of southeastern Spain, the grapes get the chance to fully ripen and produce hyper-concentrated dark fruit. The reds from Jumilla are heady and spicy, packed with fruit and show aromas of dried licorice and herbs. 

Monastrell vines are planted in a foot deep layer of chalky stones over substrat a of sandy soil. Cabernet vines are planted in vineyards with chalky, stony soil over a layer of sandy soil with clay. The vines are trained and groomed to produce very low yields and the grapes are harvested in small baskets to prevent bruising, with only the best bunches selected. 

This 2021 release is 70% Monastrell (Mourvedre) and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak for 24 months. It is a monster with a heady 16% alcohol. 50,000 bottles were produced. 

This vintage release was rated 93 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. 

Winemaker's notes: This wine exhibits a glass-coating opaque purple color. It has an expressive nose of pain grille, brier, minerality and blueberry and blackberry overtones. This plush, opulent wine has great density, savory flavors and a very lengthy finish that gets better with age. 

Winemaker Notes - “Deep ruby with a garnet rim. Aromas of succulent black fruit from fresh to preserved and suggestions of caramel and toffee, with hints of toast, cocoa, distinctive tobacco, and coffee. In the background, some earthy and mineral nuances. Fruit and freshness define the palate, complemented with exotic touches of spices, violets, some vegetal nuances, some toasted notes, and deep mineral undertones. Huge, powerful and savory, yet it shows a distinctive elegance. A linear, steely acidity, some ripe tannins and very long finish.”

Dark garnet deep opaque purple color, full bodied, dense, concentrated, vibrant and opulent yet nicely balanced briery blueberry and blackberry fruits with savory baking spices, dark bittersweet chocolate, anise, cigar box and oak with full firm refined tannins on a tongue puckering lengthy finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4889564

https://gilfamily.es/bodegas_el_nido

https://www.mesonsabika.com/

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