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.