Talk-A-Vino

Chicago might be my second favorite big American city after New York. Of course, this is a business traveler’s opinion (planned many times to visit the city of Chicago as a tourist, but this never happened so far). Situated largely around the Chicago River, the city offers magnificent views all around (just scroll down :)). The city also played a cornerstone role in American history, so you can’t help but think about all that was happening on those streets…

I spent pretty much an entire [work] week in the city, and had an opportunity to walk around a bit (mostly in the evenings). I stayed at the Fairmont Hotel, so most of my pictures, obviously, are taken in the proximity of that hotel (and some are just from the room). The hotel was very nice, no complaints. However, last year I stayed at the Palmer House Hotel, and being a historic hotel (the Palmer House was built in 1871/1875, while Fairmont was built in 1987), it offered a lot more charm – to my taste, of course. Okay, now you will have to scroll for a bit to get the wine portion.

I hope these pictures give you an idea about the beautiful city of Chicago – of course, nothing can replace first-hand experience so you might want to add Chicago to your “to visit” list. Now, a few thoughts about wine.

As I’m sure you know my habits by now – when I travel, if convenient, I like to buy wine in the local supermarkets and grocery stores, just to see what is going on with the local wine scene. In Chicago, I visited Whole Foods and a large supermarket called Mariano’s, and I bought a bottle of wine at each place. Before we talk about particular wines, I just want to make a more generic comment, about the state of the wine market overall.

Media loves to talk about how wine is losing its popularity – not all of the alcohol categories, as wine stores can’t keep enough of the High Noons on the shelves, but specifically wine. People are buying less wine, people don’t drink wine, especially young people, and yada yada yada. I visited two large supermarkets, and both of them had shelves and shelves full of wine from around the world. These supermarkets are located in downtown Chicago, where real estate, I’m sure, is at a premium. If wine didn’t sell, these supermarkets wouldn’t keep such a supply on the shelves and give it so much space in the store. So I think the wine market is doing just fine…

Now, let’s talk about a few of my wine experiences in Chicago. First, I got this 2020 Famille Perrin Nature Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge (14.5% ABV, Grenache, Syrah, aged in stainless steel/oak barrels for 1 year, organic grapes) at Whole Foods. Perrin is a well-known name in French winemaking, and specifically in the Rhone – the family owns one of the most famous Rhone estates, Chateau de Beaucastel. When I saw this wine on the shelf for $15.99 (it was also on sale and cost $14 and a change), it was a perfect combination of a good name and a good price. Perrin family had been farmed organically for more than 40 years, and now this wine comes from a certified organic vineyard. I’m always a bit afraid that generic Côtes-du-Rhône red would be a little wimpy – the fear was unjustified with this wine, which delivered a perfect core of the dark fruit, good energy, perfect balance of acidity with well-integrated tannins. Definitely try this wine if you will see it.

My visit to Mariano’s yielded this NV Locations F French Wine Release 7 France (15.5% ABV, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and assorted Bordeaux varietals, barrel-aged for 10 months). The wine selection at Mariano’s was large, but not interesting. I didn’t want to spend too much, so the Locations F at $19.99 was not the best value, but the most reasonable value/interesting wine compromise I could come up with.

Location wines are produced by well-known California winemaker, Dave Phinney, of Orin Swift Cellars fame (Prisoner, Machete, …). Location wines are typically non-vintage, and produced from the variety of grapes in the country of origin which is depicted on the label – F and FR for France, I and IT for Italy, CA for California, ES for Spain, and so on – you can learn more here. While the wines are not vintage-specific, there are different release numbers and each release might have an entirely different grape composition. For example, the Location F I had in 2015 was a Cabernet Sauvignon wine from France, while this release 7 is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and other varieties.

The wine had a nice core of dark fruit, good acidity, and good overall balance. If I hadn’t looked at the label, I would never tell that it had 15.5% ABV – the alcohol was very well integrated and didn’t affect an overall balance. Not sure this would be my go-to wine at $20, but at the same time it was not the worst value either.

There is one more wine I would like to talk about here – 2021 Foradori Teroldego Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT (12% ABV, cement tanks and used 20 to 40 hectoliters foudres for about 12 months, certified biodynamic). I had this wine at the Siena Tavern restaurant. To be entirely honest, this was almost the cheapest wine at $78. If there is one thing I despise with passion, it is ridiculously priced wine lists at restaurants. This same wine can be found in retail for about $25, so it was priced at triple retail. Definitely not the worst, as I’m sure the obscure nature of Teroldego played a role here – baby Ornellaia, Le Volte dell’Ornellaia, was priced at $89 on the same list, which makes it 4 (four!) times retail. I know a restaurant is a business, but come on… have common sense. I have to say that I didn’t see too many people with wine bottles on the tables, maybe that wine list requires some thought…

The wine itself was excellent. A touch gamey, both on the nose and the palate, dark fruit, roasted meat notes, crisp acidity – it was drinking very well… I looked up Fordari wines, and frankly, I would like to try other wines in the portfolio, especially the single vineyard Teroldegos.

Here you are, my friends – my Chicago trip with a few wines attached.