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Event Thu Mar 01 2007
Giving Illinois Wines a Try
I'm new to Chicago, and always eager to learn about what this city and the state of Illinois have to offer. So I headed out on Tuesday night, to meet Alpana Singh, Chicago's celebrity sommelier, and to taste a selection of Illinois wines. The event was put on by Chicago City Sippers and hosted by Mrs. Murphy & Sons, an Irish bistro in Lakeview.
It was fitting that Mrs. Murphy's, a restaurant owned and run by women, would host the City Sippers, the go-to organization for Chicago women who love wine. It was set up so that the food, a nice selection of appetizers prepared by chef Jeanne Carlson, was in one room, the wine was in another room, and Alpana was in a completely separate room, at a long table waiting for sippers to approach her to ask about her book.
There were about four bottles each of red and white wine for tasting, as well as a bottle of blush. After overhearing some mumbling about the sweetness of the white wines, I went straight for the reds. The first one, the lightest, was bland and watery. But the other two reds weren’t so bad. The Chambourcin, named for the hybrid grape it's made from, has, according to Fox Valley Winery, gained "recognition in several countries." The final red, the R.A. Faltz Vintner Reserve had a nice spiciness, and is normally compared to a Syrah.
The blush, called Grandma's Blush, won over a new fan: One woman giggled after tasting it, and said it reminded her of the Welch's sparkling grape juice she'd drink on New Year's eve when she was a kid.
I asked Alpana, who was sipping from a glass of ice water most of the evening, what she thought about the Illinois wines. She said she thinks it's cool that the winery featured, Fox Valley, makes their wines from grapes grown in the state. Not all Illinois wineries do that. But she remained noncommittal. "It's just another thread in the tapestry of wine," she said.
Brandon Booker / March 5, 2007 1:57 PM
Awesome, go mom.