Chicago – Champion of Leisure

March 21, 2019

Wine Diary: Chasing Harvest Douro DOC 2013

My goal for this early stage of the website’s development has been to generate content. With each new post I want to add, not just another blog, but additional information in both my Wine Guide and World Map. Further down the road I hope to expand the guide to include more information on regions, and maybe even things like winemaking, cooperage, trellising, etc.

At the moment there are a couple of significant omissions on my World Map, specifically I need to review wines from California, Chile, New Zealand, and Portugal. I hope to have all of these, as well as more neglected winemaking countries like Montenegro, Israel, Hungary, Moldova covered within my first fifty Wine Diary posts. As I shop for wines to review I keep an eye out for bottles from these areas, as well as unfamiliar grapes, or just wines that seem out of the ordinary.

This week I get to scratch Portugal off that list. Although their wine is amazing, it’s often overshadowed by wines from neighboring countries on store shelves. In fact, for being a well-established Old World wine country, it’s surprising how little I find from Portugal. The majority of what I see are fortified wines, both Port and Madeira come from Portugal and are staples in any well-stocked wine store, but the country’s dry red and white wines are often overlooked. I found this bottle at Gene’s Sausage Shop in Lincoln Square and decided to pick it up.

Chasing Harvest is produced by traveling winemakers Michael and Jennifer Kush from Chicago. In cooperation with Quinta da Costa vineyard in the Douro region of Portugal, they have put together this blend of Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), and Touriga Franca for thirsty consumers like you and me.

I feel like I spend a lot of time attacking vineyard and winemaker websites for frustrating design and a general lack of information. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to mention that the Chasing Harvest site is refreshingly simple and straight forward, it provided all of the information I was looking for in a short, concise, and user-friendly way.

Speaking of refreshing, they also make a damn good wine. Chasing Harvest Douro DOC 2013 had a nice blackberry/ black cherry flavor, well-balanced acid and tannin, with notes of fig and dried fruit that brought complexity to the blend. This was a wine that seemed to evolve as I drank it, a bottle to sit and explore, perfect for conversation with friends, or to have with a hearty stew or Sunday roast. If you find a bottle consider yourself fortunate (or you go to one of these stores on the list Chasing Harvest provides).

December 24, 2018

Mulled Wine

In general, I’m not a fan of adding things to wine. Wine, for me, is an art object, I want to experience it was it was intended and contemplate it without distraction. The addition of orange juice, fruit, sugar, spices, or whatever doesn’t really fit my concept of what wine is and should be. Even so, I recognize it’s a popular practice, whether it’s brunch with mom, summers around the grill, or holidays with friends, people like drinking adulterated wine. Never was this more apparent to me than on my first trip to the Christkindlmarket.

This is my third Christmas in the city and, while I’ve heard people talk about going to Christkindlmarket, I’d never really paid much attention to it. In the age of internet shopping, I didn’t really see the appeal of an outdoor winter shopping festival… until I found out they were serving traditional mulled wine, glühwein, and German street food. I was in.

I walked to the market from Merchandise Mart one day after work. The forecast was calling for rain, so it seemed I was only going to have a short window, but I also knew that probably meant it would be less crowded. I wasn’t disappointed.

Within five minutes of arriving I had a mug of mulled wine and was laughing with strangers as I shoved leberkäse in my face. The atmosphere of the place was infectious, you couldn’t help but be happy. It was obvious why everyone had spoken so well of it and I felt a little foolish for not taking the opportunity to visit sooner. If Christmas was a place it wouldn’t be the North Pole, it would be here.

Now, one of the big problems at work is that we always have open bottles of wine and with so many private parties requesting specific bottles this time of year, we just can’t seem to go through the stuff fast enough. Inspired by my experience at Christkindl, I decided to convert some of the wine that was on the verge of spoiling into mulled wine. Pouring it all into one big pot, I let it simmer with some allspice, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, sugar, and orange slices. It took some tweaking, a little more of this to offset that and so on, but in the end it all came together and I finally understood the utility of being able to alter a wine like this. If you have a luckluster wine or one on the verge of going bad, mulling is a great way to breathe some life back into it.

While this is all new to me, for those who grew up around wine the idea of mulling is more rooted in tradition and nostalgia. It’s part of the holidays, something to look forward to. After trying it, I can see why, that warm spicy sensation is like a hug from a distant relative, except that it gets you drunk, and nearly every European country has some variation of this in their culture.

For those of you who, like me, are reluctant to alter a bottle of perfectly good wine, there’s hope, you can buy glühwein by the bottle. I was skeptical of this at first, but I had it on good authority that it was legit. After buying a bottle and trying it for myself, I have to agree, I’m not sure I could tell you the difference between what I bought at the market, what I made at work, and the stuff out of the bottle.

No matter how you find it, glühwein is worth seeking out.

Wine Diary Chicago Christkindlmarket Christmas Glühwein Mulled Wine

July 10, 2018

Jeppson’s Malört

In late 2015 I visited Chicago on a scouting mission, to see if I might want to move there. My few friends in the area were quick to introduce me to their favorite restaurants and attractions, on the first evening of my visit one friend dragged me to a bar and ordered a shot of something he assured me was a local favorite. He watched my reaction with predatory anticipation, anxious to laugh and feel the sweet, sweet, satisfaction of revenge for so many past food pranks I had visited on him. He was quickly disappointed; I’d had worse.

This was my first exposure to Jeppson’s Malört and, since moving to Chicago, I have carried on the tradition of subjecting unwitting friends and co-workers to this local favorite. For those who have never tried it, the experience of drinking Malört is much like the emotional ride my friend went through while watching me; at first it seems sweet and your mind tricks you into thinking you’re about to enjoy what’s happening, then something goes horribly wrong and all you’re left with is savage disappointment. I can only compare it’s bitter flavor to regret or, perhaps, a ruined orgasm. Somehow, I find I actually like the stuff.

If it’s something you’re interested in trying for yourself, you can find it in most Chicagoland bars. In fact, if you’re in a Chicago bar and they don’t have Malört, leave and find a better bar.

I’m not kidding, if they don’t have Malört it had better be a wine bar (even then, I think you could find a wine bar with a sense of humor).

If you’re outside the Chicago area, look for bäsk, a Swedish liquor flavored with wormwood, and that’ll get you in same ballpark.

Despite the fact I usually use Malört as a weapon to attack my friends and make them hate me, I’m convinced it can be used to compliment a meal.

Liquor Malört bäsk Chicago Jeppson's Malört Liquor Malört