Pour Boys ‘Winers & Diners’ Gala Wine Dinner

Pour Boys ‘Winers & Diners’ Gala Cityscape Wine Dinner    

Our Pour Boys wine group gathered in Chicago at Lyle and Terry’s for their nearly annual ‘Winers & Diners’ Cityscape end of summer wine dinner. On a beautiful waning summer/autumn evening, we started on their fabulous deck with partial views of the city skyline, for hors d'oeuvres, appetizers and soup.  

Joining the host and hostess Lyle and Terry, and daughter Abbie, were John coming in from Williamsburg, Ernie, Dan and Linda, coming in from Indiana, Beth and Bill, coming in from Charleston, Leslie and Jorg, and Linda and me (not shown, taking picture).

As usual, Terry and Lyle assisted by their niece, Adrienne Busatti, prepared and served a spectacular extensive menu for the fabulous formal sit-down dinner.

Appetizers: 

Hot individual grilled lamb ribs

Cold shrimp with cocktail sauce

Cheezes, crackers, multiple preparations of deviled eggs, 

Spicy pumpkin soup 

Dinner:

Grilled tenderloin of beef 

Garlic red potatoes

Suspiciously delicious cabbage

Charred asparagus with bacon & truffle salt

Dessert course:

Terry’s incredible signature Mandarin orange cake 

Aunt Iris's Ohio Apple cake

Profiteroles filled with ice cream and sauces or fruit

Followed by Autumn chocolates. Fresh raspberries, shelled pistachios and mixed nuts on the table …

As usual we assembled a fabulous wine flight for each course of the evening starting with Champagnes, White Wines, Red Wines and finishing with Vintage Port. 

John O'Brien rejoined the group traveling in from Williamsburg, and ‘Champagne John’ brought his customary flight of ultra-premium Champagnes -

Krug Brut Champagne 2004 

Bollinger La Grande Annee Champagne 2015

We were rejoined by Jorge and Leslie Balandrin who brought from their home cellar a selection of fabulous ultra-premium white wines …

La Poussie Sancerre 2022

E. Guigal La Doriane Condrieu 2023

Kongsgard Napa Valley Carneros Chardonnay 2021

We then moved to a broad extensive flight of reds featuring red blends from the Right Bank, then the Left Bank of Bordeaux, following by a line-up of usual suspects, our favorite producers’ flagship labels. 

As usual, I spent time carefully preparing and tasting the wines to establish the suggested tasting order for the evening, as shown below, accordingly, which was curated and validated throughout the evening:

 

Château Larmande St Emilion Grand Cru Classe 2005

Château Lafon Rochet St Estephe Grand Cru Classe 2005 

Château Leoville Las Cases Grand vin Leoville du Marquis St Julien 2016 

Château Cos d’Estournel St Estephe Grand Cru Classe 2009

Moving to the Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons … 

Plumpjack Founder’s Reserve Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon 1996

Hall Wines Napa Valley Kathryn Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 

Beaulieu Vineyards Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Bosche’ Vineyard Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Joseph Phelps Insignia Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

 Following with the dessert course accompaniment:

Niepoort Vintage Port 1997 

Many thanks to Lyle and Terry for hosting, and to those that traveled from afar, and to everyone for bringing some spectacular wines for a joyous and memorable evening. 

PS. 

Notes and Notable - 

WOTN - Wine of the Night for several (including me) was the Phelps Insignia - dark and brooding, big bold expressive firm structured full bodied black fruits with notes of cedar, cigar box, dark mocha chocolate - actually a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon with 9% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec and 2% Cabernet Franc. Biggest and most expressive Insignia ever experienced. 

Second WOTN - Crowd Pleaser …. Kathryn Hall - dark garnet colored, sensuous, silky smooth polished, elegant, opulent, sweet ripe dark berry fruits with sweet mocha, sweet tannins - another blend - 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot.

Another WOTN candidate - Cos d’Estournel - bright garnet - medium to full bodied, surprisingly big, bold, forward and expressive black berry fruits - sumptuous round smooth tannin laced finish. Best Cos on memory! 

Freemark Abbey Bosche’ - surprisingly big, bold, forward, expressive black berry & cherry fruits - almost obtuse, needed time to settle - more approachable on day two. 

BV Georges de Latour - Surprise high achiever - big bold, expressive, complex, earthy, smoky dark berry fruits with notes of black tea, creosote and tobacco on moderate tannin finish. 

Leoville Las Cases - Surprisingly subdued, lacking bold or expressive sprites - elegantly balanced - perhaps going through remissive closed phase …  flawless?

Plumpjack Founders Reserve - Going on thirty - fill level and cork still pristine - dark garnet - barnyard funky on opening, needed decant and two hours to reveal full round black berry fruits with spice, tobacco, cedar and leather finish. Also better on day two. 

Pour Boys Wine Weekend Kick-off Dinner

Pour Boys Wine Weekend Kick-off Dinner at Entourage DG

In town for our Pour Boys Wine Group Fall Winers & Diners Gala dinner, Bill and Beth C came in from Charleston and stayed with us. 

We kicked off the weekend taking them to our latest favorite restaurant, Entourage DG for Friday afternoon dinner. 

On a beautiful exceptionally warm autumn afternoon, we dined 'al fresco‘, outside on the bustling sidewalk, across the street from and overlooking the train station amidst the high energy continuous commuters off the express trains arriving from downtown (Chicago). 

We had from our usual favorite “Social Hour” special selections, the Focaccia Bread and Deviled Eggs, along with the Spring Rolls. 

For our entrees, we all ordered their delicious Waygu Beef sliders, Filet Medallions with Horseradish Cream, Pickled Onion, Oven Roasted Roma Tomato and Arugula on a Mini Brioche bun.
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For a wine accompaniment, we ordered with the starters, from the wine list, the Kokomo Sonoma County Chardonnay. Then, with the beef entrees, I brought BYOB from our home cellar this Napa Cabernet Big Red Blend.

We’ve featured this wine in numerous previous blogposts as excerpted here.

Kokomo “Peter’s Vineyard” Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast California Chardonnay 2023

This is from family owned and operated Kokomo Winery that was started by Owner and Winemaker Erik Miller in 2004, a fellow Hoosier, who named it after his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, which is near Linda’s hometown and family farm in North Central Carroll County, Indiana.

The Winery sits on the East side of Dry Creek Valley, twenty miles north of Santa Rosa, off the main route 101, midway between the towns of Healdsburg and Geyserville. The winery and tasting room is located at Timber Crest Farms, sitting amid 120 acres of vineyards, overlooking the valley.

Kokomo produces over a dozen different varietal wines and several single vineyard designated labels which are farmed by his partner in the winery, grower Randy Peters. Kokomo Wines strive to showcase the terroir of the their vineyard sources in the three distinctive appellations of Sonoma County - Russian River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys. They also offer some wines sourced from the Sonoma Valley Moon Mountain District.

This Peter’s Vineyard Designated label is 100% Chardonnay sourced from a site in the Russian River Valley, west Sebastopol, next to Luther Burbank's Farm where the soil is rich with Goldridge sandy loam. There the vines are exposed to consistent coastal fog, which calls for extended hang time and more development for the fruit.

I was a bit hesitant to order this bottle, especially to be paired with such a magnificent dinner, since our awareness of Kokomo is more modest entry level wines, less discriminating than the premium and ultra-premium labels we tend to enjoy.

We see their entry level labels widely distributed but have never had any of their more premium labels. Note they show two dozen different offerings on their website. Never-the-less I gave it a shot and found it to be an over-achiever to my perception of the brand, meeting our hopeful expectations for suitably pairing with our dinner.

Kokomo “Peter’s Vineyard” Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast California Chardonnay 2023

Winemaker notes for this release - “Planted in West Sebastopol, this is a premier location for Chardonnay. The vineyard is next to Luther Burbank’s Farm and the soil composition is rich Goldridge Sandy Loam. With the consistent coastal fog extending hang time well into October, this fruit is fully developed and loaded with complexity. The Chardonnay is comprised of Clones 4 and 76.’

Continuing, Winemaker notes for this release remain the same as with the previous vintage: “Reminiscent of a classic white Burgundy but with a California twist, this Chardonnay displays vibrant minerality accompanied by the mouth-watering natural acidity typically found in Peters Vineyard. Stirring the lees (Sur Lie) was performed to this lot consistently once per week through malolactic fermentation. We feel like this gives the wine body, texture and depth while maintaining its graceful acidity and restraint. This Chardonnay is elegant enough to pair with delicate foods and delicious enough to drink by itself after a long day.”

This is 100% Chardonnay, Sourced from Russian River Valley Appellation, and was aged 11 months in 100% French Oak, 30% New..

While I gave it the same rating, this release had a slightly different profile.


Straw colored, light to medium bodied, tangy crisp acidity highlights a predominant layer of vanilla that overshadowed the subtle pear, spice and peach tones of the earlier release, accented by light sprites of oak on a pleasurable moderate finish.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5165863

https://www.kokomowines.com/store/?view=product&slug=23ch

https://www.kokomowines.com/

As noted above, we followed with the beef entrees, this Napa Cabernet Big Red Blend that I brought BYOB from our home cellar.

Rubissow Napa Valley Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

We visited the Rubissow estate vineyards and winery, high atop Mount Veeder, with Bill and Beth as well as Eric and Cathy and Dan and Linda, from our Pour Boys wine group during our Napa Valley Mount Veeder Wine Experience back in 2011. 

I featured that estate visit and tasting in these pages in this blogpost, excerpted here:

Mt Veeder Appellation Trail - Rubissow Mt Veeder Vineyards

Mt Veeder Appellation Trail - Rubissow Mt Veeder Vineyards 

As was our custom, learned over the years after many trips to wine country, we learned to focus and concentrate on but one appellation per trip. Too often, folks try to take in too much, visiting properties geographically disbersed resulting in racing from one site to the next, traveling distances against the clock to meet the next appointment. 

This trip, we concentrated on just the Mount Veeder appellation, vastly simplifying travel from site to site, literally starting at the top of the mountain and working our way down to the valley.  

Named for the mountain at the southern end of the Mayacamas Mountain range that forms the western wall of Napa Valley, Mount Veeder is Napa’s largest sub-AVA. 

While the entire appellation is spread over 16,000 acres, vineyards cover only about 1,000, primarily in the the upper elevations of the Mayacamas Mountain, the highest point being at 2,400 feet.

Back at that time, only about 25 wineries produced wine from Mount Veeder fruit.

Mount Veeder was one of the earliest wine producing areas in Napa County with winemaking in the appellation dating back to 1864, when Captain Stelham Wing presented the first Mount Veeder wine to the Napa County Fair. That came from what remains today as Wing Canyon Vineyard. 

After the Prohibition interruption of the wine trade, viticulture and wine production was revitalized with the founding of Mayacamas Vineyards in 1951 and Bernstein Vineyards in 1964.

One of the highlights of our Napa Valley Mt Veeder appellation wine experience was our visit to Rubissow Vineyards. 

We also visited Yates Family Vineyards and Winery high atop Mt Veeder. 

Rubisow was founded by George Rubissow and Tony Sargent back in the 1960's when George also struck up a friendship with, and gained invaluable advice from the legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff. They developed the Mt.Veeder estate and planted Bordeaux varietals. 

When we visited back in 2011, after twenty-five years, George was in the process of handing over operations of the vineyards and production to the next generation, Ariel and Peter Rubissow who were in their third year carrying on the family tradition of quality crafted mountain vineyard wines.

George Rubissow and the original 
Rubissow Sargent Label. 

Rubissow Wine Flight

This label was among the flight of wines we tasted that day and was arguably, the WOTN - Wine of the Night(Day). :

Rubissow Mt Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

While this is labeled a Cabernet Sauvignon, appropriate since it is more than 75% of that varietal, this is actually a Bordeaux Blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot , 3% Malbec, and 1% Petit Verdot.

Out tasting notes from that original tasting: 

Complex, concentrated, full bodied - winemaker notes - deep brambly richness, black currant, graphite, clove, kirsch, raspberry jam, smoke, dark caramel.

RM 92 points.

Winemaker Notes -  On the nose, this wine offers aromas of red cherry, blueberry, plum, mocha, vanilla bean and caramel -- with hints of lavender, rosemary and raspberry leaf. A youthful mountain wine with amazing complexity. The palate shows plum, cherry and raspberry flavors, with good tannins and bright acidity.

This was rated 92 points and a Cellar Selection by Wine Enthusiast

Tonight, at 20 years, the label, foil, and most importantly the fill level and the cork, were still in good condition, although the cork was starting to soften. 

Amazingly consistent with that original tasting back in 2011, this was still drinking at its prime and has several more years of prime drinking yet. 

Much as noted earlier, Dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex, dense, concentrated, deep brambly black currant fruits with earthy tobacco and leather, graphite, clove spice, kirsch, smoke and hints of dark bitter chocolate on the long slightly astringent tannin laced finish.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1042516

The Rubissow hilltop vineyard looks south to the Carneros District with views in the distance of Mt Diablo to the west of San Francisco Bay and Mt Tamalpais in Marin, to the north of the Golden Gate. 

Rubissow Hilltop Vineyard looking out to San Pablo Bay

George telling the Rubissow Story to porch tasters

Rick and Linda with George Rubissow

Rick and Bill with George Rubissow

Rubissow Hilltop Vineyard

Rubissow Road Vineyard

Tasting on the porch at Rubissow

Rubissow's Barbara Jura leading estate grounds walk

https://entouragerestaurant.com/downers-grove/

. 

This 

I brought BYOB from our home cellar this Napa Cabernet blend    

Hazy Blur Shiraz with Pizza

Hazy Blur South Australia Shiraz with Pizza

After a day of travel returning home from our Destin (FL) vacation rental, we ordered in Pizza from our favorite neighborhood pizzeria. We pulled from the cellar and opened a vintage aged big Aussie Shiraz as a ‘pizza wine’ accompaniment. 

HazyBlur Adelaide Plains South Australia Shiraz 2004

We’ve had a long history of exploration of the broad range of labels of this producer’s South Australia Shiraz including three times of this particular label. Their style is one we enjoy with big, full, round, fruit forward and concentrated fruits. 

I’ve featured this producer in more detail in earlier posts, that they derive their whimsical name from the mirage visual effects from the heat rising off the vineyards. 

Our records show we’ve tasted and posted notes of this particular label three times, all seventeen years ago, prior to or in the earliest days of this blogpost on this platform - December 23, 2008, January 7, 2008, April 4, 2008

Earlier posts of tasting notes of this label -

In December of 2009, I wrote - Dense and spicy, with a rich core of blueberry, plum and cherry fruit that rises through a layer of fine tannins to take over the finish. 91 Points

(2,270 Cellertracker views)

A year earlier in December of 2008 - I wrote: Fruit filled and forward - full flavored loganberry, cherry, graphite mineral core, then a subtle, full, rich raspberry. 89 Points

(2,881 CellarTracker views) 

Earlier that year in April of 2008 - I wrote: The Hazy Blur is fruit filled and forward with a full flavored loganberry, cherry, graphite mineral core, and a subtle, full, rich raspberry. 89 Points

Our records show numerous notations from our long history of exploration with the range of labels of South Austrailian Shiraz’ from this producer.

Hazyblur South Australia Kangaroo Island Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 - December 4, 2010
HazyBlur Baroota Shiraz 2004 - May 18, 2006, December 31, 2007, December 31, 2009
HazyBlur Baroota Shiraz 2003 - Oct 16, 2006
HazyBlur Adelaide Plains South Australia Shiraz 2004 - December 23, 2008, January 7, 2008, April 4, 2008
HazyBlur Adelaide Plains South Australia Shiraz 2003 - April 20, 2005
HazyBlur Adelaide Plains South Australia Shiraz 2001 - January 20, 2009
HazyBlur South Australia Kangaroo Island Shiraz 2006 - July 17, 2010
HazyBlur South Australia Kangaroo Island Shiraz 2004 - February 14, 2007, December 31, 2009
HazyBlur McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004 - December 31, 2009

We still hold a half dozen labels from this producer, and, tonight, we opened the oldest vintage in our cellar as part of cellar inventory management, one from the 2004 vintage release.

HazyBlur Adelaide Plains South Australia Shiraz 2004 

At 20 years, the label, foil, and most importantly the fill level and cork, were still appropriate - the cork showing some signs of slight seepage, but still moist, soft and intact (as shown).

Tonight’s tasting was consistent with earlier notes. 

Dense and spicy, with a rich core of blueberry, plum and cherry fruit that rises through a layer of fine tannins to take over the finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=150188

Sunset dining at Beachwalk Cafe

Sunset small bites dining at Beachwalk Cafe

Our last night in Destin, FL, we walked down the beach to Beachwalk Cafe to watch the sunset on the beach with the Destin towers in the background beyond Henderson Beach State Park, one of our favorite sunset views on the Emerald Coast. 

We’ve featured Henderson Beach Resort Beachwalk Cafe numerous times in these pages, most recently for our Anniversary Dinner last month as featured in this blogpost - Hope Cuvée at Beachwalk Cafe, Destin.

We had a delightful idealic leisurely dinner on the deck overlooking the beach and the park and enjoyed small bites selections from the menu. 

Linda ordered the Crab Cakes, arguably the best crab cake preparation in the area, while I ordered the Grilled Scallops with Risoto. 

Beachwalk Cafe signature Crab Cakes - Seared Blue Crab Cakes with Mixed Greens, Remoulade Sauce

We ordered from the wines list WBTG = Wine By The Glass selections a Sparkling white wine from Spanish producer Bodegas Pinord.

Bodegas Pinord Dibon NV Brut Reserve Cava, Catalonia, Sparkling Wine 

This is from Bodegas Pinord, whose name means "Pine from the North", 

The Tetas family have over a hundred years of winemaking experience combining traditional methods inherited from their ancestors and state-of-the-art technology. 

They own 60 hectares of vineyards in the Penedès region of north-eastern Spain near Catalonia, and also buy grapes from their cousins. 

During the last few years, they have also started to make wines in other appellations of Spain.

This entry level release is a blend of local varietal grapes, 60% Xarello, 30% Macabeo, and 10% Parellada. It is produced in the ‘Methode Traditionelle’,  aged for 15 months on its lees.

Winemaker notes - Has aromas of golden delicious apples and pears with pleasant floral notes. Crisp and light-bodied on the palate, the slightly sweet dried fruit flavors are accompanied by a mild minerality on the palate.

Wine Enthusiast rated this 88 points. 

Light straw colored, light bodied, crisp bright acidity, rich complex palate of apple and pear with hints of citrus and grapefruit flavors with notes of bread and mild minerality on the lingering finish. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4304022

https://www.hendersonparkinn.com/dine/beachwalk-cafe/

Blue Eye’d Boy with Flank Steak

Blue Eye’d Boy Shiraz with Grilled Flank Steak

Our last night hosting Linda’s sororiety sister Pat at our Destin (FL) vacation rental home, we grilled flank steak and served with baked potatoes and haricot verts. 

Pat picked up one of our shared favorite wines at Chan’s Wine World, Destin, for the occasion, for pairing with the grilled beefsteak.

Mollydooker Blue Eye’d Boy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2022 

This is one of our favorite big bold Aussie Shiraz’s and whimsically shares the Blue Eye’d Boy moniker designation between the producer and us with our son Alec, hence this being one of our family signature wines we keep and have fun commemorating our son.

This is one of several labels from this prolific producer that we collect. Producer Mollydooker offer a brand and portfolio of whimsical labels, each featuring a cartoonish character on the label. Even the brand name, Mollydooker, which is Australian lingo for a left-handed person, is a comical play on words, named for the two left handed owner/producers/founders Sarah and Sparky Marquis. I chronicled the Mollydooker brand and their portfolio of wines in this earlier blogpost. 

I wrote about Mollydooker and the Blue Eye’d Boy label in more detail last year in the blogpost - Blue Eye’d Boy McLaren Vale Shiraz 2020. 

Here’s a compendium of various posts in these pages about the fun we have with this label and the rest of the Mollydooker portfolio of wines. Here is a selection of several previous posts on the subject:

September 10, 2022 - Blue Eye'd Boy & Brunier Racines for BBQ Rib Dinner 

March 11, 2022 - Blue Eye'd Boy and CDP for Italian Beef Dinner

May 5, 2012 - Graduation celebration wine tasting flight

February 7, 2014 - Mollydooker 'Carnival of Love' Shiraz 2011

July 4, 2023 - Lede To Kalon and Greywacke showcase 4th of July Celebration

February 3, 2022 - Mollydooker "Scooter" Merlot

We hold more than a half dozen vintages of this label and this is the newest, latest release which we're trying here for the first time, since we customarily will open the oldest vintage in our cellar as part of cellar inventory management. 

The Blue Eyed Boy on the label is Luke, son of producer winemaker Sarah Marquis, shown stomping grapes as a kid. Today Luke heads up the Mollydooker Sales Team.

Winemaker tasting notes - “The 2022 Blue Eyed Boy is impressively deep in colour, displaying vibrant dark purple hues. Its aromatic profile is both intricate and inviting, with scents of blueberry, fresh plum, and subtle hints of mocha cream bursting from the glass. This wine is a balance of strength and finesse, delivering layers of lush, fresh berries and a touch of aniseed spice, culminating in a final note of creamy chocolate. With generous and dynamic layers, the wine allows the gentle tannins to craft a smooth and enduring finish, ensuring a truly memorable experience.’ 

The grapes for this release were sourced from the Coppermine Road, Gateway, Long Gully Road and Mollydooker Home vineyards in McLaren Vale, and Joppich vineyard in Langhorne Creek. 

This wine was barrel fermented and matured in 100% American oak, using 54% new and 46% one year old barrels. 

Mollydooker have developed a metric they call “The Marquis Fruit Weight” that they use to measure the quality of their wines. The Fruit Weight is the percentage of your palate (from the tip to the very back of your tongue) that’s covered by the velvety sensation of fruit that occurs when a wine’s tannins, alcohol, and acid are all perfectly balanced.

During the growing season through vinification, they continuously assess & record Fruit Weight throughout the entire growing & winemaking process. In the vineyard, they’re looking for the perfect intersection of the increasing flavour curve and the decreasing acidity curve.

During the growing season, as the grapes mature on the vine, acidity begins to drop and flavour and sugars dramatically increase. In a span of about 4 weeks, they reach the ‘Sweet Spot’ that they’re seeking for each target wine. When the grapes reach that level, they are harvested.

The Actual Fruit Weight for 2022 Blue Eyed Boy is 79%, within the designated target range for the required Marquis Fruit Weight™ for the Family Series which is 75% – 85%. 

This release was rated 92 points by Wine Spectator.

Dark deep inky purple colored, full bodied, almost a bit angular and obtuse, rich concentrated forward super ripe sweet blueberry black raspberry and plum fruits with notes of mocha chocolate, coffee, anise and spice with moderate tannins on the smooth lingering finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5065016

https://mollydookerwines.com.au/

https://twitter.com/MollydookerWine

https://twitter.com/unwindwine

Nickel & Nickle Chardonnay BYOB at Captain Dave’s Destin

Nickel & Nickle Chardonnay BYOB at Captain Dave’s Destin (FL) Seafood Dinner

Visiting The Cove, our Destin (FL) vacation rental, we dined at Captain Dave’s On The Gulf restaurant, a local institution on the Emerald Coast, and a convenient short walk away. 

Captain Dave’s On The Gulf is the oldest seafood restaurant in Destin, family owned and operated since 1968. It offers beach front views from the spacious high ceiling dining room overlooking the gulf. 

They feature the usual appetizers, soups, salads and sides. Their speciality is American seafood cuisine infused with a ‘contemporary Gulf Coast twist’. - the local fresh catch seafood dishes - Flounder, Grouper, Mahi Mahi, Snapper and Refish as well as shrimp, lobster and salmon as well as steaks and chicken dishes. 

“Captain Dave’s Faves” signature dishes are artfully prepared with imaginative preparations featuring their signature homemade sauces such as their Parmesan Italian Cream Sauce. Our server, Dee, provided prompt attentive gracious and friendly service. 

Linda ordered from the starter menu the Coconut Shrimp as her entree.

Coconut Shrimp - Lightly sautéed and dusted with coconut with Dave’s homemade orange marmalade dipping sauce 

Pat R and I both ordered one of Dave’s Faves signature dishes - the Mahi Parmesan. 

Mahi Parmesan - Mahi Mahi broiled in Captain Dave’s homemade Parmesan Italian Cream sauce topped with Parmesan cheese - a plate size filet of Mahi basking in an incredibly delicious Parmesan butter cream sauce with shallots and scallions.

All entrees are served hush puppies, salad and choice of sides. 

Linda raved about the Coconut Shrimp and Pat and I both loved the Mahi Parmesan. 

The wine list is extremely limited with few selections or red and whites, featuring one crowd pleaser Jordan Chardonnay and two ultra-premium reds, Quintessa and Opus One Napa Cabernets. Thankfully, they accommodate BYOB service with aptly handled our Napa Chardonnay from our home eellar. 

https://www.captdavesonthegulf.com/

Nickel & Nickel Napa Valley Carneros Truchard Vineyard Chardonnay 2018

We brought from our home cellar, this 2018 release, the last bottle of the oldest vintage of our vertical holdings of several vintages of this label, as part of proper cellar inventory management.

This is from Nickel & Nickel, a subsidiary of the legendary ultra-premium producer Far Niente Winery and Vineyards. If you've visited Napa Valley, you passed their winery estate on St Helena Highway 29 in Oakville as you enter Napa Valley from the south. 

Nickel & Nickel was established by the partners of Far Niente in 1997 focused on producing single-vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the appellation's most significant growing regions. Dedicated exclusively to producing 100 percent varietal, single-vineyard wines that best express the distinct personality of each vineyard, they expanded their portfolio to also produce single-vineyard Chardonnay, Merlot, and Syrah wines.

Nickel & Nickel focus on 100% varietal, single-vineyard designated wines, sourced from as many as seventeen different vineyards, primarily in Napa Valley, but now extended to include some sites in the Sonoma County Russian River Valley appellation. 

Their approach emphasizes selection of the very best vineyard locations and unique soil compositions required to make superior single-vineyard wines. Each Nickel & Nickel wine is a celebration of 'place' or terroir. It's amazing how such can reveal how vineyards only miles apart, but of the same grape varietal, yield wines of unique character and distinction.

This label release is 100% Chardonnay from the Truchard Vineyard located in the heart of Carneros AVA, prized for its rolling hills, sun exposure, and cool, breezy conditions that allow long, even ripening. Nickel & Nickel wines are produced from 14 select acres of this 270-acre vineyard, planted in 2007.

The Carneros region straddles the southernmost portions at the confluence of the Sonoma and Napa valleys, lying just north of the San Pablo Bay (an offshoot of the San Francisco Bay). There, southwestern exposure to the bay winds and fog, created when warm inland air meets cool sea air, keep temperatures relatively low, making this California wine region perfect for growing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

The growing season tends to be long in this cooler area, allowing for fully mature fruit at harvest. 

The vineyard is predominately a neutral, gravelly loam from the Felton soil series, with volcanic ash and rock which are well-drained soils formed from weathered sandstone and shale. 

Indeed many of our favorite and many memorable wines are from Carneros vineyards from some of the most heralded producers. 

Nickel & Nickel Napa Valley Carneros Truchard Vineyard Chardonnay 2018

 

This wine shows the classic style of Carneros Chardonnay."Winemaker Notes - The 2018 Truchard Chardonnay is a beautiful marriage of youthful vibrance and refined elegance. Gorgeous aromas of tropical fruits, citrus and wet stone leap from the glass with the very first swirl.’ 

“The same tropical and citrus notes follow on the palate, with pear, peach blossoms, and a touch of spice to round out the flavor profile. This wine is weighty, with an oily-textured component that is inherent to the vineyard. A harmonious mix of acidity and volume, this wine is full and fresh.”

This label was rated 92 points by Wilfred Wong of Wine.com.

Pale golden straw colored, medium bodied, not as big or full as some other releases of this label (2022), bright vibrant tart lemon citrus, pear and apple notes with sprites of mineral, with hints of buttery toasted oak on a lingering bright acidic finish. 

RM 90 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3397173

https://nickelandnickel.farniente.com/

https://twitter.com/NickelandNickel

https://www.captdavesonthegulf.com/

Note - Captain Dave’s site photos courtesy the restaurant.