Home Is Where The Haggis Is

My city gal pals and I ventured on a wine crawl to 4 different bars last Saturday.  We met up first at Seven Lions on Michigan Avenue.  This place is owned by the former hostess of Check Please, Alpana Singh and that girl has a few degrees in the wine department so this was an excellent place to start.  We decided to be adventurous and try a wine that was fermented in orange peels called Donkey and Goat Stone Crusher.  The sommelier explained that the wine was not filtered so it had the body of a Chardonnay and some mineral notes on the finish.  He also warned that half of his staff that tried it at the tasting liked it and the other half “didn’t get it.”  I think I was in the latter group, but I would rather not leave any stone unturned (I know, I am horrible with the bad puns) than miss an opportunity to try a fun, new wine and our group felt the same way.  The consensus was that it tasted like a flat, Weiss beer.

Rating: 🍷🍷/🍷🍷🍷🍷 wine glasses

We went on to a place whose name escapes me, but looked to make a beautiful drink with Campari.  I stuck with a Pinot Noir.

We stumbled, er, strode out into a light rain that quickly turned into a downpour.  Luckily, our next destination was just a dash away; Pops For Champagne on N. State Street in Chicago.  Jen ordered a sparkling Rose and it turned that dreary weather into a party! (At least in my mouth)  Why wait until New Year’s or an anniversary to pop open a bottle of bubbly?  This glass of Rose’ had the perfect balance of effervescence and smooth flavors with a happy pop of pink for color.  Seriously, how could this girls day get any better?  I am definitely not neglecting sparkling wine like I used to in the past.

Our final stop was Eataly where we ordered a bottle of white (see how vague I am getting the further on this wine tour we get?) and sampled some cheeses with bread.  It was a lovely way to end the day and the conversation was just getting interesting, ie. blue lights and tropical fruit when it was time for me to catch my train.  Boo!

Thanks to my friends, Jen M. (who appeared on an episode of Check Please, herself!) for planning our fabulous wine day in the city and to Allison for hatching the idea of a wine tasting tour.  We shall do it again soon!

Cheers my dears!

Photos from Pinterest