Chicago
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
We had a great time in Chicago but its back to work, our trip was just too short. Friday nite we rolled into town, did some shopping, went to dinner and saw Star Wars. Saturday we did some more shopping and checked out the coolest wine store called Just Grapes. This store has a tasting bar that you get a card with credits and select any of the 16 different wines on tap. The prices of the tasting range from $1 to $4 depending on the wine, they had some high end wines that you would never have bought but for a few dollars you get to try. They were having a sale on whites and I picked up a Gewurztaminer, Gruner Veltliner and two reds, a Pinot Noir from New Zealand (I didn't even know it was grown there) and some Italian grape that is slipping my mind. I tried the New Zealand Pinot and it was pretty good, nothing great right now but the guy at the store said this is the new region to watch. The conditions are excellent for Pinots and give the vines a few more years and it will rival the West Coast.
http://www.justgrapes.net/main.html
Saturday did some shopping over in Lincoln Park, Erika wanted to go to the Lush store. That nite we went to a new tapas restaurant called Rioja which was very good. Sunday we decided to be all cultural and walk around Milleninum Park and then check out the Art Institute. Sunday nite we went to a restaurant called Bin 36 which was a wine and cheese bar, store and restaurant. The food was excellent, a bit pricy but worth it. They did wine parings with each course and brought out a couple different 2.5 oz classes for you to taste. I had a Pinot Grigio and Verdelho with my salad and a Gernache and Carmenere with my entree. For dessert I had a Sauternes with a Morrocian spice sorbet which was like eating pumpkin pie ice cream w/o the pumpkin flavor. The best part of this place was that they sold the bottles of wine that they serve with dinner, perfect concept since most people are willing to buy a bottle of something they just had after a few glasses. I bought a bottle of the Verdelho and the Sauternes which was probably the best dessert wine I have ever had. I had always wanted to try one but they are too expensive in the stores so this was the easiest way. The bottle was only $16.95 for a 375ml and since we were on vacation it was a steal. They have a pretty cool cheese bar there, next time we are in Chicago we will check it out.
http://www.bin36.com/index.html
So my trip to Chicago revolved around wine shopping and Erika's around shopping and getting free stuff at Lush and our Ikea trip on Monday. We spent our gift card and a bit more on stuff for the house. Can't wait for the Canton store to open, on the way back, we planned our new living room renovation and basement.
Posted by mardenhill 6/07/2005 09:09:00 AM
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