You may hear it in the air: birds chirping, breeze in the trees, and wine pros everywhere slurping, spitting and scratching in their notebooks. Because if it’s Spring, it’s time for wine list revisions!
This Just In
The Chopping Block has just acquired this beautiful white Burgundy, to provide an exceptional experience to our guests during France and Terroir: Next Level Wine Course on Friday, April 26 at 6:30pm.
Chassagne-Montrachet, Jean-Marc Pillot 2021, Burgundy, France $135
A classic beauty, balancing mouth-filling white fruit with powerful mineral complexity and long, elegant finish. Pour the wine early to allow its length and breed to develop in the glass. Grown in France’s Cote d’Or (Golden Slope), one of the wine world’s most prestigious regions, this 100% Chardonnay enhances buttery dishes including seafoods (especially grilled), poultry mushrooms and lighter meats.
Take your wine expertise to the next level, as we explore French wine culture, still the basis of fine winegrowing around the world. Join me as we taste six exemplary French wines – including a 100% Grand Cru Champagne, a Cote d’Or Blanc and a 2020 red Margaux, receiving ratings from international critics of 90+ - complemented by traditional wine noshes, along with chicken liver mousse on a toasted baguette to test the “rules” of wine and food. An understanding of wine basics (such as the concept of ‘terroir’) is recommended.
This is a unique opportunity to taste some of the world’s finest wines. We hope you join us!
Here are a few more of our new wines, for your wining and dining pleasure!
Opposites Attract
The first rule of wine and food is to pair common traits, rich wine with rich food, for instance. But with spicy, smoked or fatty foods, look for opposites that attract. Fried food paired with sparkling wine is a prime example, with the wine’s bubbles refreshing the palate, bite after oleaginous bite. For our Hands-On Fried Chicken and Waffles Brunch on Saturday, May 4 at 11:30am, try Italy’s fabulous fizz, Brachetto.
Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG, Marenco “Pineto” 2023, Piedmont, Italy $30
Can one wine complement foods ranging from waffles at breakfast, Asian Pad Thai for lunch, dinner of barbequed ribs and Italian ice for dessert? If it’s Brachetto it can! This traditional Italian bubbly is pretty in pink, with sweet berry flavors and less than 6% alcohol, the original rosè all day, for drinkin’ not for thinkin’.
Sugar and spice is another attraction of opposites, with the sweet wine coating and protecting the palate against the singe of spice. Brachetto pairs with most spicy dishes, but choose a sweet red for spicy sausage or meats slathered in three-alarm barbeque.
“Sweet Red”, Castello Del Poggio NV, Italy $20
“Sweet Red” almost says it all, but leaves out the wine’s easy-to-enjoy complexity of sweet berries and cherries and long, smooth finish. Serve as a chilled, red cocktail and to complement spicy and/or grilled meats, poultry and veggies and blue cheese.
Let There Be Meat
Nothing says Chicago like a gorgeous hunk of meat and nothing makes meat better than Malbec. To serve with Grilled Tenderloin Steak with Parsley-Lemon Butter during Hands-On Steakhouse DIY on Thursday, April 25 ay 6pm or your own sizzling churrasco, try our new Malbec.
Malbec, Familia Bonfanti 2019, Mendoza, Argentina $30
Inky red-purple with dynamic flavors of pepper, extra-ripe fruit and leather with a concentrated, plush texture. All wines from this family-owned vineyard are produced by hand, from harvest to bottling. Serve with red meats, especially when prepared, seasoned or sauced with red fruit or pepper.
