CrossBarn Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon highlights post City Series Cross-town Classic Dinner Amidst Historic Industrial Building
With Dr Dan and Linda, we watched the white hot Cubbies (eight wins in a row, 14 out of 15) defeat the host White Sox in the opener of the second installment of the Cross-Town Classic Series. Afterwards we dined at our well kept secret (no more) nearby steakhouse,
May Street Cafe. Pronouncing Contemporary Latin cuisine featuring Allen Brothers steaks, this neighborhood eatery in the Pilsen neighborhood sits next to a quaint, cozy neighborhood Dvorak city park, opposite the giant Com-ed Power Plant, next to the historic classic early 20th century gothic ornamented tower building (2211 So. Throop St), topped by the radio tower reminiscent of Dick Tracy or a Superman cartoon series. I'm no doubt one of the few that love that tower and imagine such a setting. Reinforcing the image, adding to the cityscape is the classic Steak-n-Egger Diner in the shadows of the tower.
My interest in history and architecture takes over here.
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| Image capture from Google Streetview |
The mysterious tower building is the 400,000 square-foot, 14 story landmark building designed by noted Chicago architect George Nimmons (1926). The building originally served as a warehouse and garage for the adjacent Commonwealth Edison Fisk Generating station. The 198-foot-high radio tower served the communication system to dispatch emergency equipment.
Today, the building is home to artist studios, exhibition spaces, classrooms, a cafe, a library and home to
Mana Contemporary Chicago, an expanding art center. It houses the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Art History, the Propeller Fund which is administered jointly by Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Three Walls.
Propeller Fund provides grants to artists, curators, and groups living and working in Cook County, Illinois, and seeks to support projects that are independent, informal, and self-organized. The facility houses several dozen artists in residence.
According to the Mana Contemporary literature, "Mana serves as a nexus for both established and emerging artists and organizations from across the city. Artists of diverse disciplines, including painting, sculpture, photography, dance, film, sound, and performance work alongside each other in a campus environment which fosters experimentation, collaboration, and mutual inspiration. A hub of programming and activity for Chicago artists and art lovers, Mana Contemporary also provides a central platform for art schools and organizations dedicated to educating and supporting emerging artists. As Mana Contemporary Chicago grows, it will continue to expand its services to the city’s artists, showcasing their practices, processes, and ideas to the public."
George Nimmons, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed mainly large commercial and industrial buildings, most notably the mail order
plant headquarters for Sears, Roebuck and Company (1905-06). He did many other buildings for Sears - warehouses, mail order plants, and retail
stores across the country. He also designed the R. W. Sears home in Grayslake,
Illinois (1906), and the twenty-room
Prairie-style mansion built for Sears, Roebuck and Company president Julius Rosenwald in Chicago (1903).
Nimmon's other major works in Chicago include the
Reid, Murdoch & Company Building (1913), the clock tower building that overlooks the Chicago River opposite Wacker Drive at North Clark Street, the Franklin Building (1912), the C.
P. Kimball & Company Building (1913) at 39th and Michigan, the Adams Schaaf Piano Company Building on Fillmore Street (1916), the Union
Special Machines Company Building (1918), the
W. M. Hoyt Building in nearby Armour Square (1909), Kelley Building (1921) and
the American Furniture Mart Building (1923, 1926), now known as 680 N Lake Shore Drive. When built it was the largest building in the world for a short time.
We discovered May Street Cafe for a wine and dine dinners and now dine there often before and after Sox games with its proximity to Sox Park, yet hidden away and separated from Bridgeport and the Sox area by an expressway, the adjoining river and the industrial belt. Its the kind of place you would drive by regularly and never notice, or consider for a wine-dine retreat, but their attention to serious cuisine and their thoughtfully selected wine list make it perfect for such occasions. And it offers outside dining as well, if you don't mind the power station and radio tower views (which as I wrote, is part of its allure and charm)!
Alas, following this study, dinner at May Street Cafe will never be the same. Unless you're into history and architecture, you'll want to avoid that evening, or sit at the other end of the table. It begs for a destination trip just to the Mana site, followed by a wine and steak dinner...
Tonight, Dan ordered the foie gras starter, then red tuna steak entree, Linda J, the petit filet, and Linda (A) and I, the bone-in pork chop.
'CrossBarn' Paul Hobbs Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
This is the another label of Paul Hobbs who grew up in upstate New York on a rural farm where he learned the influence of terroir on the character of fruit, when his
father had him taste apples of the same variety grown in different
orchards several miles apart from one another.
The name is a tribute to a
"cross barn" that sat amidst the hundred fifty year old family farm in
upstate New York. A favorite haunt for Paul and his ten siblings, it took on a
life of its own and is a fond remembrance as a place of great mystery
and adventure.
Paul initially worked for Robert Mondavi where his understanding of oak
aging landed him a position on the inaugural Opus One winemaking team.
He later worked at Simi Winery as Winemaker
before going on to consult for Peter Michael, Fisher Vineyards, Lewis
Cellars, Bodegas Catena and others. He founded Paul Hobbs Winery in
1991, and Vina Cobos in 1999, and also serves as a leading consultant
winemaker.
We love this style of wine - vibrant, expressive Napa Valley fruit at its finest for approachable tasty drinking wines. CrossBarn Paul Hobbs label is known for notable
Sonoma County Pinots and Chardonnays, but they recently introduced
Cabernets from Napa and Sonoma Counties.
No wimpy wine here, this 2012 version from Napa is
dark garnet/inky purple colored, full bodied with rich concentrated forward fruits of black currant, ripe black and blue berries, accented by clove spice, mocha and sweet oak, with soft acidity
and nicely integrated sweet and smooth tannins.
This is a great discovery and I look forward to trying the other selections from this CrossBarn. A testament to this great vintage too - check out other producer's line-ups, the rewards and delights of a spectacular vintage where their 'lesser' labels often excel and even meet or exceed the first label, and offer tremendous QPR - Quality to Price ratios. This was a blockbuster, enjoyed by all, and a great value at under $90 on May Street's winelist. Pick this up if you can find it for early aging gratification as well as longer term cellaring.
RM 93 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1883620
Winemakers notes and comments: "The 2012 growing season has been described by many as “textbook
perfect”. Temperate summer days moderated plant growth, contributing to
smaller cluster and berry size during lag phase, leading to increased
concentration of flavors. An idyllic Indian summer finished the
maturation process, producing fruit with exceptional character and
intensity.
Dark ruby in color, our
Cabernet Sauvignon offers enticing aromas of
dark cherries, ripe blueberries, anise and fresh lavender. A
tantalizing palate offers a medley of boysenberry, currants, violets,
clove and cocoa. Tannins are sweet and smooth; balanced acidity
brightens a lengthy finish.
Color: Saturated crimson
Aroma: Black raspberry, boysenberry, violets, caramelized tobacco leaf, spicebox, pencil shavings
Flavor: Concentrated, juicy red fruits, damp earth, cedar, baking spices
Texture: Round and focused with sweet, fine-grained tannins and a long, slate-like finish"
http://www.crossbarn.com/
http://www.maystcafe.com/
Other selections from May Street Cafe ...
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| May Street Cafe Foie Gras |
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| May Street Cafe Red Tuna Steak Entree |
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May Street Cafe Bone-in Pork Chop with
Sweet potoate mash, and pineapple relish and grilled vegies |
