Italian Village Chicago Team Dinner

Italian Village Chicago Team Dinner features Super Tuscan and Barolo Nebbiolo wines

For a team dinner we dined at our regular go-to venue in the Chicago city centre, a few blocks walking distance from our office and our hotels, Italian Village Chicago, in one of their select private tables. 

We chose two wines from the extensive Italian Village winelist from their extraordinary cellar which serves all three restaurants under normal times, two Italian labels to accompany our dinner.

Normally we'd be served by Wine Director and dear friend Jared Gelband but he is touring Italy visiting several producer estates. We were served by Gerardo who in normal times would manage the upscale Vivere restaurant but is helping manage the Italian Village floor during these crazy Covid times.

Tenuta di Arceno Valadorna di Arcanum Toscana IGT 2013

This is a 'Super Tuscan' Blend meaning it is from French Bordeaux varietals grown in the Italian Tuscany region. The producer, Tenuta di Arceno is an old historic Tuscan estate with a diverse portfolio of the highest quality wines across two classification levels – three wines centered on the native Sangiovese grape in the Chianti Classico DOCG collection; and three wines from the estate’s international (French Bordeaux) varieties under the Toscana IGT designation. 

The estate is situated at the southernmost-edge of the Chianti Classico region in the butterfly-shaped commune of Castelnuovo Berardenga, near the village of Siena, often referred to as ‘the most Senese Chianti Classico,’adjacent the scenic ancient walled town of San Gusmè.

The sub-region is home to several world-renowned producers who produce stylistically distinct wines. 

The Tenuta di Arceno estate is 1,000 total hectares (2,500 acres) of which 92 hectares (220 acres) are planted to vineyards – the remaining land preserved for native vegetation including 50 hectares (125 acres) of olive orchards. The vineyards are separated into 63 blocks, the vineyards planted to 50% the region's native Sangiovese, and the remaining 50% with international varieties such as Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

This is a Merlot-based blend sourced primarily from the Valadorna and Capraia vineyards' blocks, known to produce the estate’s most complex and mineral-based expressions of this variety. The Merlot blocks, located in the cooler part of the estate, naturally irrigated by a nearby stream, with sandy brown soils and lower yields than typical, are often the last Merlot blocks to ripen on the estate.

The recent 2019 vintage release of this label received the coveted Tre Bicchieri (“Three Glasses”) award. Each yeara a panel of prominent wine experts review wines from each of Italy’s 20 regions evaluating over 23,000 wines from 2500 producers and awarding scores ranging from 0 to 3 Glasses (“Bicchieri”) according to the quality of the wine. Tre Bicchieri wines are generally recognized in Italy and by the international wine community as Italy’s best. A Tre Bicchieri award is a really big deal for a winery. The tastings are done blind so there is no favoritism or influence on the outcomes.

Winemaker's tasting notes: "The 2013 was a classic vintage, yet on the cool side, which favors the perfect ripening of Merlot. The Valadorna Merlot was picked on October 1st, allowing ample time on the vine for perfect maturation and tannin development. The nose jumps from the glass with exotic spices of jasmine, cumin and vanilla bean. The fruit expression is of raspberry and black cherry. The mouthfeel is dominated by long flexible tannins framed by slight tingling acids. The immediate sensation of blueberry pie gives way to an uplifting bright sour cherry finish. As the fruit subsides, what remains on the palate are hints of sweet cedar and cigar box notes. The 2013 is an elegant vintage and will age gracefully."

This is a Bordeaux varietal blend of 74% Merlot, 13 % Cabernet Franc, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, and
1% Petit Verdot. 

This was an ideal compliment to my pasta with a tangy meat sauce. 

Dark purple-garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex and intense but well integrated and nicely balanced vibrant blackberry with notes of black cherries and currants, highlights of dark chocolate, espresso, and Tuscan terroir cedar, dried spice, smoke and tobacco with hints of vanilla, and leather, with firm but approaching tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3296253

https://www.tenutadiarceno.com/en

For a second wine, I selected from the IV winelist this Italian Barolo, a native Nebbiolo varietal to accompany our Italian cuisine. Ideally, we would've tasted this stylistic varietal first ahead of the more complex, more concentrated Tuscan blend however it was an appropriate pairing with several of the folk's Italian entree dishes.

Bruna Grimaldi Bricco Ambroglio Barolo 2014

This is from the Bruna Grimaldi family estate in the hills that between Grinzane Cavour to Serralunga d’Alba, in the heart of Langhe, part of the Unesco Heritage. The Grimaldi family have been in the wine business since the 1960's when Giacomo Grimaldi started selling grapes, then his son, Giovanni Grimaldi began produce wine and selling it in bulk. 

Giovanni bottles estate wines in the best vintages with a long library of releases over the following decades. 

Since the 1990's the property and brand have been managed by the next generation, Bruna Grimaldi and her husband Franco Fiorino. They built a new upgraded winery and produce wines only from their own vineyards. Franco tends to the vineyard management and winemaking, and is the driving force in the company focusing on Langhe sourced Nebbiolo and Barbera.  Bruna manages the family business, an oenologist, she is a member of “Donne del Vino” Association. 

Since 2013, the next generation, Simone and Martina, son and daughter of Bruna and Franco, have joined their parents’ learning from their experience and their studies to promote and continue on with the Bruna Grimaldi brand. 

The best Langhe plots are selected for the production of Barolo, the Bricco Ambrogio Barolo known for great elegance. The vineyard terroir have a perfect exposure to the sun with a hot microclimate ideal for Nebbiolo which tend to picked earlier and differentiate themselves in the rainier and cooler vintages.  Their estate Barolo is known to show warm, open perfumes, tending to ripe fruits and spice notes with structure that lean on silky and enjoyable tannins.

 
This is 100% Nebbiolo from the MGA Bricco Ambrogio vineyard in the municipality of Roddi. The terroir boasts southern exposure with very steep slopes, with grey-blue layers of clay in limestone and sand. 

 

This was awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator and 90 points by Wine Enthusiast. 

 

Ruby colored, medium bodied, bright red cherry fruits with spicy notes of clove and accents of earth, leather, oak, hints of smoke with a tangy acid on a moderate tannin finish. 

 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3073416

https://www.grimaldibruna.it/en/wines/barolo-bricco-ambrogio-docg/

 

 

 

Murrays Cheese Wine Dinner

Cheese Murray's Cheese ! Wine Dinner

During our NYC getaway weekend, we dined on Saturday night at one of son Alec's favorite eateries Murray's Cheese Bar on Bleaker Street down in Greenwich Village.

Legendary Murrays Cheese Shop has been at the same site on Bleecker Street since 1940. The Cheese Bar opened in 2012 to feature their selection of fine cheeses selected and arranged by expert Cheesemongers, or cooked into heir imaginative dishes by a team of seasoned chefs.

As usual, Murray's was packed, lively, bordering on boisterous, serving up imaginative cheese centered combination plates and dishes.

We chose wines from Murray's simple but succinct winelist, with its carefully selected cross section of wines to accompany the range of menu options. This time, they did not offer any New York or Long Island wines which we customarily would order for the occasion. 

We started with a Proseco Sparkling wine to sip with Murray's Kale Ceasar salad with Parmigiana-Reggiano, Radish, Anchovy and Crutons. 

Transitioning to the main courses we had Brussel Sprouts with Lardons, Pomegranate Molasses, and Smoky Bleu (cheese), and Mussels and Fries with Coconut Red Curry in a Lemonbroth sauce. 

With these courses we had a Merlot based St Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux from Clos de la Cure.

We then dined on Murray's Lamb Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce, Fennel, and Sheep Feta (cheese) (shown left).

With these hearty courses, we drank a 2013 Perbacco Vietti Nebbiolo from Langhe Piedmonte, Italy.

As is customary, we let the Murray's Cheesemonger prepare for us a selection of cheese and meats, each accompanied by a complementing fruit, puree, sauce or jam. This went well with the Nebbiolo, and from there we moved on to a Jam Jar Australian Shiraz 2016.

Rivetti La Spinetta Nebbiolo

Train Day Adventure culminates in lunch at Italian Village featuring wine selection Rivetti La Spinetta Nebbiolo

We took the grand-kids into the City of Chicago for a 'train day' adventure riding all forms of trains around the city to some landmark locations. Our train adventure included Metra into the city, boarding the Elevated CTA at historic Quincy Station, riding the Pink Line to switchback via the overhead bridge on the Green Line, riding around the loop, connecting to the Red Line at Roosevelt/McCormack Place, riding through Chinatown, and switching back in the middle of the Dan Ryan at landmark Sox Park, ending on the Red Line Subway at Monroe Street station, a short walk to legendary Italian Village restaurant, where we dined for lunch.

I've featured Italian Village often in these pages including their historic wine cellar. We visited the wine cellar and met with Wine Director Jared Gelband where he was busy updating the volumnous wine-list with recent acquisitions (shown pictured) - almost a full time job in of itself.

We discussed his planning for an upcoming wine dinner, and planning for a business dinner I am hosting there at the end of this month.

Like a kid in a candy store, I scoured the cellar for a wine selection to accompany today's lunch, for my upcoming business dinner, as well as to spot some legendary wines and favorite selections for future visits.

With such an extraordinary extensive selection, its not hard to find spectacular wines and special finds for any occasion. My short list of such wines for my ultimate wine tasting for the ultimate special occasions might be:

• Grange Hermitage 1990 - special birthyear wine
• Romani Conti St Vivant 1991 - another special birthyear wine
• Konigsgaard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - one of my all time favorite, memorable wines
• Azienda Agricola Montevertine Le Pergole Torte Toscana IGT 1997 - a classic
• La Tenuta Ornellaia Masseto 2003 - another classic - featured in an earlier IV wine dinner

These wines are pictured below at the bottom of this post.

But back to reality and the task at hand, to select wine for today's lunch to accompany our entrees of my Veal Parmigiana, and Linda and Erin's Eggplant Parmigiana. I chose a La Spinetta Nebbiolo.

We dined in one of their private alcove tables offering a unique intimate dining experience. 

Rivetti La Spinetta Langhe Nebbiolo 2011.

The winemaker's notes for this wine ... "typical light red of Nebbiolo musky aromas of strawberry, tobacco and wild herbs sweet and spicy in the mouth, with good grip and firm acidity to the flavors of strawberry and mint, aromatic and elegant" ...

I found this dark garnet colored, medium bodied, black currant and black berry fruits accented by tones of tobacco, herbs and spice with hints of eucalyptus on a firm acidic gripping tannin finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1865224

http://www.la-spinetta.com/winespiedmont.html

Italian Village - https://italianvillage-chicago.com/

La Jota Howell Mtn Napa Cab Highlights Vin Chicago Holiday Tasting

La Jota Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Highlights Vin Chicago Holiday Tasting

Our local wine merchant Vin Chicago (formerly Wine Discount Center) hosts a hospitable tasting of a selection of whites and reds each Saturday at their Chicagoland locations. While son Ryan and I are regulars there, I don't necessarily go out of my way to stop, sip and shop except when they feature a special wine that I want to try, as was the case today with the La Jota Howell Mountain Cabernet which was the highlight of the tasting.

La Jota Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2011

La Jota is descended from the historic La Jota Vineyard Company founded in the 1890's by Swiss immigrant Frederick Hess, who purchased 327 acres of the Mexican land grant Rancho La Jota that was founded when Napa pioneer settler George Yount obtained 4000 acres of Howell Mountain forest lands from the Mexican state proprietors in the 1840's.

Howell Mountain, forming the north end of the eastern mountain range that borders Napa Valley, was named the first official sub-appellation (American Viticultural Area (AVA)) of Napa Valley in 1983, and is considered to be one of the most distinctive terroirs, or sense of place, of the seventeen Napa appellations. 

 Dark inky purple colored, full bodied, complex and concentrated but balanced and approachable, showing some of that classic Howell Mountain sweet black raspberry bramble fruits, with tones of dark mocha and hints of black currant, floral, spice, earth and creosote with subdued sweet spicy oak on the firm but silky smooth polished tannin finish.

RM 93 points. 

This is my style of Cabernet, big, bold, fruity, dry, slightly sweet, tones of mocha ... characteristics of Howell Mountain which is why its one of my favorite appellations/styles ... but this was a bit too earthy for Linda.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1858261

http://www.lajotavineyardco.com/ 

Aldo Conterno Langhe Rosso 2011

Piedmont based Aldo Conterno, known for stylish, high end Barolo wines, also produces this moderate priced Langhe Rosso, made primarily from the obscure Fresia grape varietal, with smaller quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the blend. The result tastes like what Vin called a 'Barbera-meets-a-Barolo with a sense of  Bordeaux!'

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, bright vibrant flavors of black berry and black cherry with tones of floral, smoke, cedar, earth and dried herbs.

RM 88 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1962956

http://www.poderialdoconterno.com/



Anaba Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2012
 

I was also looking forward to trying to well rated Sonoma Coast Pinot. I often write here the challenges to finding a good, high QPR Pinot. 

Vin Chicago gave this 92 points, and The Pinot Report gave this 94 points and wrote of this wine and it's "bright cherry flavors with earth and forest floor notes". 

I agree with their assessment of its medium deep ruby color and rich ripe cherry. Unfortunately the tones that they referred to as 'earthy' and 'forest floor', were a bit too predominant and came across as a sense of 'green' or dried wet grass overshadowing the bright cherry fruit flavors. 

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1759687

http://www.anabawines.com/