Needless to say, I couldn't wait to visit Chicago for the first time. It's an absolute haven for amazing restaurants and people who love to eat and drink. An assortment of distributors and friends had given me many recommendations of places to go, which ended up being all combined onto one document which became affectionately known as "The List." I just unpacked that crumpled and stained piece of paper, which will have to be edited and retired because everywhere we went someone added their own recommendations to it. The result? "The List" is now longer than when it started, though we did manage to hit up several amazing places every day.
This just means I'll need to go back.
Among the favorites were Girl and the Goat (goat empanadas! nom!), Pops for Champagne (no explanation needed), Longman and Eagle (tete de cochon, anyone?), and this awesome little cocktail joint called Billy Sunday (giant ice balls - Enough said). But every place we visited was outstanding, serving delicious food, fun wines, and upbeat atmospheres.
.JPG)
The main reason I planned to visit Chicago was to pour at Pinot Days there. Riverbench has participated in the event in Los Angeles and San Francisco for years, but never this one. Man, we've been missing out! This event at Navy Pier had some of the most fun wine lovers in attendance! There wasn't a drop of Riverbench wine left at the end; wine drinkers in Chicago apparently have wonderful taste. I was also invited to participate in a Diversity Seminar to talk about the Santa Maria Valley that morning which was really awesome, and featured some lovely wines as well. Overall, a killer event. We have sold wine in Illinois in the past, and have now re-established ourselves there with a new distributor, so will be back in the area a little more often. (Thank goodness, as I'm already suffering from withdrawals.) :)
See you again soon, Chi Town!
No comments:
Post a Comment