Parker’s American Grill Downers Grove IL

Seafood dinner at Parker’s American Grill Downers Grove IL

Returning from an outing in Oak Brook, IL, we stopped for an early dinner at Parker’s American Grill in Downers Grove IL.

I had a taste for a seafood and wine dinner, ideally a light white fish such as one of my favorites, sole muniere’. 

We chose to dine outside on the terrace and were the only patrons to do so, having the whole patio to ourselves. The venue feels a bit old and tired and frankly is showing its age, perhaps needing a refresh.  

For starters we had the Marinated Beets and Goat Cheese with Greek Yogurt, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Basil and a surprisingly interesting and tasty Pomegranate Molasses; the Roasted Tomato and Burrata Crostini on Tasted Sourdough with Basil Oil; and the Lobster Bisque Garnished with Lobster Meat & Chives.

I regret to say, these were generally uninspiring given their prices, especially the Crostini which was overly soggy such that it was difficult to eat as a toast point. 

For the main course, Linda chose a starter as her entree, the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake with Mango Salsa, Sriracha Aioli and Yucca Chips. This was delectable. 

For my entree I selected the Cedar Plank Roasted Lake Superior Whitefish, served with Whipped Potatos, Charred Lemon, Sautéed Garlic Spinach in Lemon Butter Sauce. 

The whitefish was served hot with a nice presentation but was also a bit uninspiring, perhaps I was hoping for a brighter, bolder more flavorful sauce. 

We each chose a WBTG (wine-by-the-glass) selection for our entree wine accompaniment from the extensive wine list - a Wine Spectator Best of Excellence Award with a broad and deep selection of  California French and Australia wines, with offerings from Italy, Germany and the new world as well. 

The Wine Director is Kyle Chambers and Sommelier is Fred Gore who oversee and manage the collection of 360 different labels from an inventory of 2,680 bottles. They also offer an appropriate and fair corkage fee of $25.

Parker’s American Wine List - download - https://parkersamerican.com/bar/#menu-wine-list.

Linda selected the Jean Marie La Villaudiere. Sancerre’ 2023 

This is Sauvignon Blanc from the upper Loire River Valley, synonymous with Sancerre, it is the home to  Sauvignon Blanc in Europe producing wines that are crisp and fruity, with racy acidity. 

The Loire valley soil is composed of limestone and fossilized seashells, which gives the wines their signature minerality. 

Domaine de la Villaudiere has been handed down through several generations to current generation owner producer Jean-Marie Reverdy. Jean-Marie manages the estate with his wife, Catherine, and their two sons, Guillaume, who serves as winemaker, and Baptiste. 

The 35 acre family estate is surrounded by vineyards and overlooks the tiny village of Verdigny, in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. situated about 26 miles northeast of the regional town of Bourges.

The area with picturesque views of the famous Sancerre hills and its vineyards. Is known for wine-growing and farming and Verdigny is one of 14 hamlets in the region that grow grapes for the production of Sancerre AOC wine.

The Domaine de la Villaudiere vineyards consist of 68 plots featuring vines averaging 40 years in age, with ideal southeast exposure that ensures gradual ripening. This white Sancerre combines two unique terroirs: Terres Blanches clay-limestone slopes for complex, structured wines, and Caillottes dry limestone slopes for lively, fruity expressions.

Importer notes - “This wine displays a limpid, pale yellow hue with golden highlights. Expressive on the nose, combining floral fragrances with aromas of white peach and exotic fruit (pineapple, passion fruit). Well-balanced and honest on entry, the wine is underpinned by freshness and powerful, long-lasting acidity on the finish, revealing a lovely minerality.”

Producer’s Notes -  “A clear, light yellow colour with golden tints. The nose is expressive, combining floral aromas with white peaches and exotic fruit (pineapple, passion fruit). A bold attack harmoniously combines with freshness and tension on the palate, and is followed by a long powerful finish, bringing out a beautiful minerality.” 

Straw colored, light bodied, soft notes of peach, passion fruit and hints of apple with chalky minerality on the crisp finish. 

RM 88  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4986591

I selected the 2022 Chalk Hill Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. 

Chalk Hill Estate was founded in 1972 by Fred Furth when he discovered the natural amphitheater carved into the hills of eastern Sonoma County, sitting on Chalk Hill Road just east of California Hwy 101, 20 miles north of Santa Rosa, 10 miles south of Healdsburg with elevated views of the Russian River Valley to the west and the Mayacamas Mountains to the east.

Most of the the 1300-acre Chalk Hill Estate remains uncultivated with wilderness areas amidst the  culinary garden, residence, stables, equestrian pavilion, sports fields, fishing and swimming ponds, and of course the vineyards, winery and hospitality center with guest houses. 

The estate sits in the namesake Chalk Hill AVA, which has the climate and soils perfectly suited for growing wine grapes. The unique terroir distinguishes Chalk Hill from the neighboring appellations – the cooler Russian River Valley to the west and the warmer Alexander Valley to the northeast. Elevations in Chalk Hill are higher; soil fertility is lower with its distinctive layer of chalk-colored volcanic ash which inspired the name of Chalk Hill, the appellation, and the estate.

The diversity of the Chalk Hill topography creates a broad spectrum of different sites across which can be planted both red and white varieties. The lower, cooler sites are perfect for Chardonnay while the steeper, warmer, south-facing slopes are superbly suited to ripen Bordeaux varietals.

Chalk Hill Estate was one of the first wineries in the area to focus on Chardonnay as its flagship wine. The first vineyards planted on the estate were 11 acres of Chardonnay known as the Founder’s Block. 

Beginning in 1996 Chalk Hill partnered with UC Davis to research Chardonnay clones. Through extensive trials, 17 clones were harvested separately from which they made, bottled, and evaluated the wines for 5 vintages – 1999-2003. The top-6 clones were selected to replant the rest of the Estate. Today Chalk Hill is now home to 23 different clones of Chardonnay, including the proprietary “Chalk Hill Chardonnay Clone 97”.

Today, 300 acres of vineyards are woven through the native foliage and contoured to fit the intricate terrain, planted two-thirds to Chardonnay along with Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and red wine varietals Pinot Noir and lesser amounts of Bordeaux varietals Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. 

Chalk Hill was declared an AVA, American Viticulture Area in 1983, the Chalk Hill appellation being one of 13 across Sonoma County.

In 2010 Chalk Hill was acquired by Foley Family Wines. Bill Foley

Starting in 2011, they produce this Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, and entry level offering, crafted from the Bill Foley wine estates in Sonoma, blended with fruit from various sites across Sonoma Russian River Valley and Carneros.

Winemaker notes - “ Our 2022 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is bright, forward, balanced and approachable. Enticing aromas of red apple, spice, nectarine, and baked bread lead into a broadtextured, and creamy palate. With its cool-climate influences, this chardonnay has remarkable varietal intensity, balanced acidity and mineral notes that complement the flavors of fresh peach and honey.”

The 2022 vintage was rated 92 points by James Suckling and 91points by Wine Enthusiast.

Golden straw colored, medium bodied, round notes of subdued green apple and pear with a layer of chalky mineral and brown spice on a moderate finish. 

RM 88

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4710898

https://www.chalkhill.com/

https://parkersamerican.com/

FLW Home & Studio Tour and Hemingway's Bistro Oak Park

FLW Home & Studio Tour followed by Hemingway's Bistro dinner - two venerable Oak Park institutions

I conducted a public-private tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park, IL, which I do regularly as a Docent Interpreter for the FLW Trust. 

On this occasion, we hosted several friends, three AXO sorority sisters couples, for the Home and Studio interior tour, then the neighborhood walking tour, followed by a gala dinner at Hemingway's Bistro, one of our favorite French cuisine eateries.

We started with a round of their fresh oysters, followed by their delectable crab and corn bisque soup. With these the group enjoyed the house Champagne.

For the dinner entree course, all in the group except me ordered the daily special Walleye or the Crusted Whitefish, both served with their delectable beure blanc sauce. 

 Campet Ste Marie Chardonnay 2020

We ordered from the carefully selected winelist a bottle French Chardonnay to pair with the fish course. 

This Pays d'Oc wine is from Limoux in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the South of France, along the Mediterranean coast to Provence. It is named after the specific terroirs on which the grapes are grown, sourced from small and hilly vineyards, that the French call “Campets”. These “Campets” and the Mediterranean climate offer ideal conditions for the production of ripe and fruit forward wines. 

This is a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and Picpoul white grapes, popular in the region.

Winemaker's Notes: "Limestone and clay soils coalesce on steep, rolling hills to make up the soil, but it is specifically the cooler areas of the vineyard, which contribute to creating their burgundy- style chardonnay. Each year, a proportion of the wine ages on wood for approximately six months, with regular battonage, to enhance the texture, the aromatic character and overall balance of the wine. The soil composition gives the wine structural acidity and makes this Burgundy-style wine unique. "

This was nice pleasant easy drinking - ideal for the pairing with the fresh fish entrees - a great value high QPR (quality price ratio). 

Straw colored, medium light bodied, aromatic, crisp, floral and stone fruit notes accent apple and pear with subtle lime citrus. 

RM 89.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3943285

I brought a BYOB from our cellar a couple of bottles - a Rhone and a Bordeaux, from which to I selected one to pair with my dinner entree. 

I chose the La Croix de Beaucaillou 2000 to accompany with my dinner entree selection, Strip Steak au Povre, with their delectable scalloped potatoes, creamed spinach and tomato (shown).

La Croix de Beaucaillou St Julien Bordeaux 2000

This was very timely as just yesterday I was notified by Binny's, the Chicagoland beverage supertore that my futures order of the current release of this wine just arrived for pickup. 

Our visit to Château Ducru Beaucaillou in St Julien was one of the highlights our Bordeaux St Julien Wine Experience in 2019. 

We've collected the Grand Vin Château Ducru Beaucaillou for more than three decades going back to the late seventies. We declared it one of the signature wines of son Ryan and served his birthyear vintage from large format bottles at his wedding. It was sharing that declaration and experience that prompted the Chateau to invite us for a private tour during our trip to the appellation. 

I wrote about the history and current portfolio of producer Jean Eugène Borie SA in my blogpost at that time. Today, the estate is managed by the Jean Eugène Borie SA, the company owned by Mrs Borie, her daughter Sabine Coiffe and her son Bruno-Eugène, who took over as CEO in 2003. He is the third generation of the Borie family to head the estate which has been closely held for five generations over two centuries. 

The magnificent Château sits on a promontory overlooking classic formal gardens with the Gironde estuary in the distance. The Victorian-style Ducru-Beaucaillou castle is built directly above the original barrel cellars, adjacent the new modern era barrel facility. enveloping its owners, who have lived here for over sixty years.

This is Château Ducru Beaucaillou's second wine, made from the property's younger vines and vats that are not selected for the grand vin. This wine has been bottled at the château since the 1995 vintage. La Croix de Beaucaillou, generally contains more Merlot than the grand vin - this release was 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot.

Winemaker Notes: "The wine of Ducru-Beaucaillou is the essence of elegance, symmetry, balance, breed, class, and distinction. it is never one of the most robust, richest, or fruitiest wines of St.-Julien and by its nature is a stubbornly slow developer. Most of the finest vintages of Ducru-Beaucaillou usually take at least 10 years to reveal their stunning harmony of fruit and power.'

'Ducru-Beaucaillou is a great wine for a number of reasons. The meticulous attention to detail, the brutal selection process - whereby only the finest grapes and finest barrels of wine are permitted to go into the bottle - and the conservative viticultural practices all play major rules in the success of this wine."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate awarded this 89 points.

At twenty-two years, the fill level, foil and label were in pristine condition. The cork, not surprisingly pulled in half when our server Lapone tried to extract it using a traditional waiter's cork screw, which is why I invariably use an 'ah-so' two pronged cork puller for aged bottles. Otherwise it was in good customary condition. The waitstaff appropriately decanted the bottle for serving. 

Initially this was a bit funky and earthy but, as I predicted it would, but this burned off to reveal the dark berry fruits that emerged after about 45 minutes. Dark garnet colored, a very slight bricking, brown rust hue starting to show revealing its age, medium full bodied, the dark berry fruits, Parker calls them 'red fruits', emerged accented by subtle earthy leather, tobacco and moderately sweet clove spice, with moderate smooth polished tannins on the finish. 

RM 90 points. 

This was a wonderful accompaniment to my strip steak au povre.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2649169

http://chateau-ducru-beaucaillou.com/  

https://twitter.com/DucruB 

 http://www.hemmingwaysbistro.com/