An Evening with Four Sisters

The other night we went to the Ravinia Festival for our third concert of the season. Tonight's show? The B52's and the Go-Go's. Nothing like enjoying a little bit of the 80's all over again. After a week of rain off and on, Saturday night was perfect.

Three sisters lined up for the evening

For those in the Chicagoland area, there's nothing like being able to spend a beautiful evening at the Ravinia Festival. They have concerts virtually every night all summer long. And for the really popular concerts it helps to be a donor.  A small contribution and you can enter the park 30 minutes before the gate opens to the general public.

This was one of those concerts. We arrived in time to take advantage of the early donor entrance. This allowed us to set up in close proximity to the pavilion so we could see the the stage screens from our seats. There's nothing like a delicious picnic on a beautiful evening with good food and great wines.

For this night's concert, I chose four sisters to share with my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Dale. These four sisters come from sister wineries, Seghesio, Pine Ridge, Chamisal and Archery Summit.  We started with the Fiano from Seghesio Family Vineyards. All of these wineries are owned by Crimson Wine Group.

Fiano is a wine enjoyed by the ancient Romans who referred to it as Apiano because bees were attracted to it as the harvest approached. The Seghesio family's introduction to this wine came through a blind tasting and they soon became the first grower in Sonoma County to grow this particular grape. With origins in the marine -influenced Italian village of Avellino, Fiano grows very well in the Russian River Valley.

This wine reminds me a little bit of a Pinot Grigio but more complex. It starts with floral aromas and a hint of pear and lime zest. The pear flavors come through very strongly, too. There's a hint of honey that comes through at the end. (Perhaps this is what the bees of ancient Rome were looking for!).

It paired well with our appetizers of several cheeses, a goat cheese, a cheddar and havarti. We also had some olives and some homemade pickles.  We also had some smoked salmon and a few slices of various charcuterie.

Our second bottle of wine was the Estate Rose from Chamisal Vineyards.  This was also a fruit forward wine with strong aromas of strawberry and cream.  Up until last summer's visit to wine country I had never really thought much of Rose wines. I put them in the same category as white zinfandel.

But I was wrong. I've found that the Rose wines make for a great summer wines. With both the Fiano and the Rose being chilled, provided some relief to a warm afternoon.

I found the Rose surprisingly fresh and yet complex. That may be the result of the calcareous, clay-rich soils of Chamisal Vineyards. Having been on the tour on a recent visit to the Vineyard, I can see how the soil could impart unique flavors.  I found the wine to be more than just a smooth drinking wine.  I found the flavors to be very rich . . . reminiscent of the Pinot Noir that forms the base of this wine.

My cousin Elizabeth determined that everything tastes better with Reddi-Whip. That includes not just the fruit and pound cake but also the peanut butter cups.  It's certainly something to keep in mind in the future.

The music began as we just finished this bottle. It was time to open up the Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir.  From the Dundee Hills region of Oregon's Willamette Valley, this wine really reflects the quality of wines from Oregon.  I recently wrote a post about my recent visit to the winery -- it was the last of the four sisters for me to visit.

Each one of the wineries is producing fabulous estate wines but they're all unique. Each one of the winemakers takes the unique terroir of each vineyard and the grapes to develop really spectacular wines.  The Estate Pinot Noir from Archery Summit is no exception.

This wine opens with aromas of slate. You can really pick up on minerals of the wines.  When you taste the wine you can really pick up on the dark red cherry flavors of this wine along with depth of flavors. The finish of this wine is velvety smooth.

As it turns out it was a great way to finish the evening. Since we still needed to drive home from the concert, I decided not to open the Onyx from Pine Ridge Winery.  This is one of my favorite Bordeaux blends.

As the concert wound down, we ended the evening with a little coffee and pound cake (and of course the Reddi-Whip).  As we were putting away the tables and chairs, the B52's were belting out their hit single Rock Lobster.

Over the years we've developed a pretty good pattern for what we bring to Ravinia. We've seen so many different set-ups that we've created our own picnic package.  Now I'm looking forward to our next concert -- Heart.  A continuation of the 80's theme for this year.

If you haven't tried some of the other wines from these great wineries, I would encourage you to do so