 Details Finalized for our Napa Valley Wine Tour
We are excited to announce the
details for our fall Napa Valley wine tour. This event offers guided
tours to select wineries in the heart of Napa Valley, an exclusive
reception at Cuvaison Winery, gourmet meals and free time for
your own wanderings.
The Napa Valley tour will take
place from October 9 - 13, coinciding with the Columbus Day holiday on the
13th (so you can enjoy a 5-day trip with only 2 days off work). The price
includes air fare, hotel, wine tours and tastings, and most meals, including an exclusive
winemaker dinner and reception.
Reserve your spot now for an
early bird discount! Through June 12, the advance registration
price is $1,899 per person, based on double occupancy.
Here's a quick look at our
itinerary.
Thursday, October 9th:
Travel from Chicago to San
Francisco. End the day with a gourmet dinner in the heart of Napa
Valley.
Friday, October
10th: Up early (OK, by 10 am) to taste at four wineries, including a
gourmet lunch on the lawn of one and dinner at a fifth.
Saturday,
October 11th: Winery tours and tastings at three wineries, again
including gourmet lunch. Afternoon free for relaxing, shopping,
golf, etc. Unique special dinner planned at Cuvaison Winery.
Sunday, October
12th: Start the morning your way: sleep in, exercise, or
attend local services, followed by a bus ride and tour of Sausalito and
San Francisco. In the evening, enjoy a quiet dinner or further tours
of your choice. The hotels will help with ideas.
Monday, October
13th: Travel back to Chicago.
ACT NOW to
reserve your ticket for this fun & exciting trip. Reservations
are first come, first serve. Deadline to early register is June
12th. We require a non-refundable $750 deposit to hold your
space. Travel insurance is available, and recommended, and can be
arranged separately. Call us today! 630-435-9463
or toll-free 1-888-656-9463.
We'd like to thank WLM Travel
of Oak Brook, IL for their efforts in helping us with these arrangements.
The small print (and here's the
kicker): we can only provide the discount pricing if at least 10
people commit by mid-June, so call us today!
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In this issue:
Wine Storage Ideas
Schedule for Tastings
Cellar Master Series - June
Store Hours
About our Wine Club
Legal Notice on Ordering Wine
Father's Day Gift Ideas
We have a great selection of gift boxes,
with wine or premium beers, that will make excellent Father's Day
gifts. You can choose from our pre-made selections or (work with us
to) develop a custom gift that's perfect for Dad!
Consider
a gift subscription to our wine club for Dad - a
perfect way to send great wines over time.
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Feature Article
Wine Storage Ideas
If you enjoy wine and buy wines regularly, you probably
have some type of wine storage system.
Wine storage can range from a wine rack in the kitchen or dining room
to a sub-basement wine cellar. What’s
necessary? What’s the best
option for you? Why store
wines at all? Why not just
buy them as you drink them?
One main reason to store wine is that many wines taste
better after aging a few years. Red
wines that are high in tannins tend to smooth out over time: the alcohol,
acid, sugar and flavors meld, yielding a softer, rounder, more pleasant drink.
You can also store wines to capitalize on exceptional
vintage years. When you find
outstanding offerings from specific wineries, you can buy several bottles
(or a case) to enjoy over time.
Some people prefer to drink an older wine.
A number of wines, particularly from California, are released too
young because of inventory and cash flow reasons.
Proper storage of these young wines will likely lead to better enjoyment in
future years, after the wine has matured.
Finally, some of the most interesting wines are only
available sporadically. For
those who keep track of wine trends and find unusual or seasonal winners,
it makes sense to buy in quantity and provide proper storage so that the
wine keeps for months, if not years.
It’s important to note that not all wines are meant to
be stored for the long term. In
general, white wines have low or no tannins and therefore do not age well.
Italian whites in particular are designed to be drunk young and
fruity. Albarino
variety-based wine is another example of white wine that should not be
aged; at most, this wine will last two years.
These examples contrast with some of the best Bordeaux,
which can age gracefully for 20 - 30 years. Of course, there are
some white wines that age well for years, such as white burgundy, Riesling
and some sparkling wines & champagne. (Be sure to ask Jack about
suggested aging on any of our wines.)
As you think about wine storage, keep in mind that wine
is a living thing – it breathes, ages and naturally decomposes.
The decomposition process is a function of temperature, light,
oxygen intrusion and vibration.
Proper storage conditions slow down the decomposition process
as the wine ages.
Ideal long-term wine storage conditions include
temperatures between 55 and 58 degrees, no light, 70 – 75% humidity and
no vibration. (Did you know -
a bottle of good Bordeaux can age a year or more on the boat trip across
the Atlantic! Even a closet
door being opened and shut will vibrate the wine.)
The above description explains why wine cellars are
built underground – it’s naturally cool, with high humidity, lack of
light and no vibration. If
you build a wine cellar, place your wine racks on a concrete surface, away
from the walls, unless the walls are concrete.
Before you design and build or buy the physical storage
space, you need to consider the amount of wine that should be stored.
A common mistake that people make is to store too much wine,
resulting in wine becoming old or spoiled before you drink it.
Your yearly wine consumption and budget should dictate the amount of wine
stored – at most, keep four or five years’ worth of wine on hand.
If you are going to maintain a large wine cellar, you
should have some type of tool for tracking your wine.
This can be accomplished with wine cellar software.
Our wine buyer, Jack Thew, recommends Robert Parker’s Wine
Advisor & Cellar Manager software, available from
www.winetech.com.
The software comes with an enormous index of wines.
With this tool, you can enter your purchases, track your own
storage, and even create a wish list of wines.
As you enter your purchases, the software will provide drink
from/to dates for you. You
should note in the system when you drink your wines, because the software
will maintain a “consumed” rack of information.
With this type of tool, you can also track your
inventory vs. consumption rates, to monitor whether you are buying in the
right quantity to maintain your cellar. You can also monitor when
wines may be getting beyond the point of optimum maturity.
A large underground cellar is one option for premium
wine storage, but of course there are other options that may make sense
for your situation. For
small-scale, short-term storage, consider an under-the-counter wine
storage refrigerator. These
units are handy, include temperature and humidity controls, and do a good
job of protecting the wine.
Larger pieces of wine storage furniture are also
available. Be careful where
you place these in your home, to avoid direct sunlight hitting the wines.
Sunlight can "kill" wines in a short period of time - a few
weeks, not months.
Open air decorative wine racks can be attractive
additions to your home, but recognize that they provide no protection for
wines. Use these types of
racks for short-term consumption wines – those that you will drink
within a few weeks of purchase.
Building and maintaining a wine cellar can be a
pleasure, if planned out and supported properly.
Consider the ideas presented here, in light of your own wine
consumption habits and storage goals.
Remember that wine storage is a manageable situation.
Use common sense to protect your wine, and enjoy each bottle to the
utmost as you drink it.
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About
Our Mailing List
The
mailing list for this newsletter was gleaned from the personal email
archives of Wine Expressions' owners and from direct requests received
from our customers.
We
hope you enjoy the newsletter and decide to remain on our distribution
list. You are welcome to pass this newsletter along to a friend, or
click unsubscribe
to be removed from our lists.
By
the way, we never share your email or address information with anyone
else.
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Store
Location
We
are located in downtown Lisle at the southwest corner of Burlington Ave.
& Main St.
Hours
of Operation
Tues
- Sat 11am - 7 pm
Sunday
1 - 5 pm
Closed
Mondays
Press
Clipping
Check
out the latest article about Wine Expressions, featured in The Sun
newspapers!
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Schedule
of Events
We've had a great
response to our revised tasting schedule. Remember, you can now
enjoy Prairie Sampling tastings on Friday afternoons as well as on
Saturdays. We look forward to seeing you soon at our events:
Prairie
Sampling:
Friday, June 6 4 - 6:30 pm
Beyond your "Comfort Zone"
Saturday, June 7 1 - 6:30 pm Beyond your "Comfort
Zone"
Friday, June 13
4 - 6:30 pm Ravinia Classics
Saturday, June 14 1 - 6:30 pm Ravinia Classics
Friday, June 20
4 - 6:30 pm Wines from Piemonte
Saturday, June 21 1 - 6:30 pm Wines from Piemonte
Friday, June 27 4 - 6:30 pm
Microbrews for 4th of July
Saturday, June 28 1 - 6:30 pm Microbrews for 4th of July
Cellar
Master:
Our Cellar Master program for June will feature "Wines of Washington
State," presenting wines from L'Ecole No. 41 - an outstanding
top-of-the-line wine producer from Washington.
Be sure to take advantage of this
opportunity to sample some of the best wines from that region.
L'Ecole No. 41 is particularly known for their Merlot, Cabernet and
Semillon wines. We will even be tasting some single vineyard wines -
a truly unique treat!
Call now to order your tickets -
spaces fill up fast! The deadline for purchasing tickets is Tuesday,
June 17th.
The evening includes an educational
presentation, a full flight of nine wines and hors d'oeuvres paired to the
wines.
Thursday, June
19th
6:30 - 8 pm
Cellar Master Series - Wines of Washington,
featuring L'Ecole No. 41
$25 per person
Call for Reservations: 630.435.9463
or toll-free 1.888.656.9463
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A Look at the
Prairie Wine Club
Our monthly
Prairie Wine Club provides an easy and convenient way to continuously
sample interesting new wines of great quality and value.
Each month, we put extra time
and effort into selecting 3 new wines for our club members.
Members receive these bottles 1- 2 months ahead of our public
tastings or store stocking. In
this way, you can try something special and have a chance to order your
favorites by the case while inventory is still available (make sure
you try the wines shortly after you get them, so they are still available
for your case purchases).
You receive:
-
2
or 3 bottles of exciting new wines each month (you choose the quantity
you'd like to receive).
-
The opportunity
to place advance orders for these wines, before we sell them in the
store.
-
1-2
page educational leaflets for each wine highlighting the grape
varieties, regional characteristics, and specific wine and grower
information.
-
Your
choice of UPS shipping (standard charge) or store pickup.
To
order:
Call the store at 1-888-656-WINE,
or follow this
link to email your order online.
We will call to confirm your payment and shipping instructions.
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Legal Notice
on Ordering Wine
You must be 21 years of age or older to order any alcoholic beverage.
By law, we are allowed to ship wine to the following states only: California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
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Newsletter
Subscription
We hope you enjoy the newsletter. Please feel
free to forward this on to your friends that enjoy wine - the more the merrier! Use the
following links to send us feedback, add your name to our subscription
lists or request to be removed from our distribution lists.
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