Chicago, Costco Wine

Costco Wine

Just went to a Costco with wine. In NJ wine due to state liquor laws there are only 2  Costco stores with wine. The store I visited had the largest selection of Costco Kirkland Signature brand wines that I have seen at Costco. I bought

Kirkland Signature Chianti Classico Reserva 2012 for $8.69
Kirkland Signature Premier Cru Chablis 2014 for $14.99
Kirkland Signature New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2015 for $7.89
Kirkland Signature Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014 for $14.99

These wines come from some of my favorite areas for wine and the prices are crazy low. The Kirkland Signature wines that I have tried in the past have been a mixed bag - some good, some bad. Conceptually the concept of Kirkland Signature wines goes against my basic instinct -- that it is the person that cooks or makes a wine that counts. Pedigree or good by association to a person or place is usually not that helpful. That being said Costco has a good reputation and they probably try to bring good products to their  customers. I maintain hope that maybe I will find lightning in a bottle i.e. a great bottle for a low price. I will let you know.

Chicago

I was recently in Chicago and had the opportunity to dine at Sepia http://www.sepiachicago.com/. The restaurant is beautiful and the food quite good. It has a star from Michelin which is impressive but I find that Michelin is great in France and so-so in other parts of the world.
I asked the Somm, Arthur to recommend a wine based upon some criteria that I gave him and he came up with this wine from the island of  Mallorca. It is made from grapes I have never heard of but the wine was very good. Medium bodied, good tannins but lots of fruit. It was not heavy or grapey and was only 13.5% alcohol. The wine was made by Anima Negra and is a 2013 vintage.

Petit fours to end the meal.

The interior of the restaurant.

Amuse bouche to start the meal.

A chicken entree.

Spinach fettuccine with smoked white fish with Kosho butter(butter mixed with Japanese condiment) appetizer.

My main course of duck breast.

 Dessert of semi-freddo with shortbread cookies.

In Chicago I also had the opportunity to visit Eataly https://www.eataly.com/. It is open until 11 pm every night. I went late and it was empty. It is 2 floors of everything Italian food. It is part of a chain all over the world. NYC has a store. The chain is partly run  by Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali. The NY store can be very crowded. The Chicago store was fun and food looked very good and not crazy expensive. They have a number sit down casual restaurant on the second floor in a big open space. The restaurants specialize in fish, meats, pizza, cheese etc. they have a fancy restaurant in a separate space- Baffo, a play on Babbo, Mario Batali's restaurant in NYC.They have a large wine shop with a very good selection of Italian wines.They also have a pastry bar and coffee bar on the first floor.

Enjoy.

Wine Alert,Garden Time, Freek's Mill

Wine Alert

The Languedoc region in Southern France is covered by Jeb Dunnock robertparker.com for the Wine Advocate. Recently I tried 2 wines that he has raved about and I agree with opinions on these wines. Both wines are great bargains and are not that high in alcohol.

2014 Jeff Carrel Coteaux du Languedoc Les darons $10 Granache
Nice bouquet, medium bodied, good fruit balanced with acid, not grapey but no wood used, complex and stays interesting as you drink it, great value, will,drink again, drank with grilled,loin lamb chops.

2014 Penya Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Grenache Blend, Grenache $8
Good stuff, pure fruit, no wood, nice bouquet, good structure, medium bodied, not high in alcohol, lots of flavor, some complexity, hard to find a wine this straightforward but interesting to drink, drank with ribs and wings, will drink again, great value, right on JD.

Other wine news 

It probably makes sense to keep an eye on Languedoc wines since they so good and reasonable. BTW 2014 seems to have been a pretty good year in many parts of France. I would generally avoid 2013 French wines.

Domaine Drouhin (DDO) has come out with another brand of wine from the Willamette Valley called Drouhin Oregon Roserock. http://store.domainedrouhin.com/Roserock They make a 2014 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley. Both are $35 from the winery. I have not tried them yet and I am not sure where they are distributed. The 2015 Domaine Drouhin Rose is also now available. I usually like this wine, have not tried it yet.

I love  DDO wines but the shipping from Oregon can  be up to $10 a bottle, which really inhibits my purchases.

Lettie Teague recently wrote an article on a restaurant in Brooklyn, Freek's Mill, http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-brooklyn-toasting-beaujolais-and-chenin-blanc-1461700837?tesla=y&cb=logged0.7471766197326268that specializes in wines of Beaujolais and the Loire Valley in France. The wine sounds good; she did not write about the food. I hope to try the place in the near future.

Garden Time

Unfortunately the Knicks and the Rangers are toast but my garden is beginning to take shape. We have planted kale, herbs, spinach, onions and will planting potatoes and eggplant this weekend. It has been a cool spring and this weekend is actually quite cold.

This is a tough time of year for fresh veggies in the Northeast. Asparagus and ???. I have been experimenting with many different grains to accompany food.  Rice (red, black, arborio, sushi, basmati), quinoa (red and white), millet, buckwheat, sprouted mixed lentils and farro (a type of wheat) to name some favorites. Costco has some of these at ridiculously cheap prices and they many times have blends of grains that are quite good. The only problem is that if you find something that you like, you may never find it again at Costco.

Recent Food

A recent meal that I cooked for friends. Bake oysters and salad were the first course. All fish from the NJ waters. Swordfish, scallops, saffron rice with clams and chorizo and grilled asparagus.

Chocolate cake from a recipe from the Silver Palate cookbook. A favorite source for recipes.

Chocolate covered fruit.

Assembled dessert with citrus sorbet.

 Homemade sushi from another meal. My son makes the rolls. The tuna is NJ tuna.

Doughnuts from Montclair Bread http://www.montclairbread.com/home, lemon meringue, bananas foster, jelly and an almond croissant.

Hawaii beckons again. 

Enjoy.