We've Enhanced our Wine Club!
Our
Prairie Wine Club is revised to offer you even more than it did
before! In addition to receiving new, fabulous hand-picked wines
each month, we now offer our Wine Club members more choice and more
benefits.
Wine
Club members receive a 15% discount on all in-store product
purchases: wine, beer, gifts, accessories, food and seminar
tickets. (Wine club itself is excluded.)
Members
can now choose the combination of reds and whites they wish to
receive. Each wine selected is carefully researched, and typically
rates 85 points or better by reviewers. Educational materials
supplied with the wines teach members about the region, the winery and the
wine itself, including food pairing suggestions and age-ability
guidelines.
Members
are able to stock up on wine club wines in advance, before they are
available in the store. New members receive a Screwpull® wine
opener and foil cutter for free.
So
join our Prairie Wine Club and begin enjoying all these benefits,
especially great new wines each month. Email
us or call the store to sign up today!
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In this issue:
Syrah - Shiraz
New Store Hours
Schedule of Events
Email Changes
Legal Notice on Ordering Wine
Super Bowl Parties Made Easy!
We're
offering a special Super Bowl party package. For just $12.45 per
person, you get an assortment of sandwiches, chips and cookies from The
Upper Crust bakery of Lisle, with a selection of our
best-selling beers. Call today to pre-order; orders must be
received by January 24th.
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Feature Article
Que Syrah, Shiraz (with
apologies to Doris Day)
In the fiercely competitive world of modern winemaking,
“whatever will be, will be” doesn’t qualify as much of a mission
statement. But it does
suggest the vast array of variables that come into play in the process of
producing a bottle of wine. A
single grape variety, exposed to different soils, varying climate
conditions and individual production techniques, can yield some
surprisingly different wines. In
the story of the ancient and esteemed Syrah grape, the addition of a new
locale changed the plot substantially.
It’s a story that takes you halfway around the world and back
again, with some interesting wines along the way.
We begin in France (maybe), where Syrah grapes have been
under cultivation since, well, nobody’s entirely sure.
At least as far back as Roman times. Historians differ on whether
the variety is indigenous to the Rhône Valley, where it has been
cultivated for centuries, or whether it was imported by Crusaders
returning from Persia. No
matter. The vignerons of the
Northern Rhône Valley found this hardy black grape ideally suited to the
production of deeply colored, headily perfumed and extraordinarily
long-lived red wines. During
the 18th and 19th centuries, Hermitage - the most
celebrated of the northern Rhône winemakers - was producing wines prized
by European royalty and commanding prices comparable to the finest
Bordeaux.
But, times change. The
Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century wreaked havoc with
European trade, and for a time the Syrah grape’s chief role was as a
supporting player, adding backbone and longevity to weaker wines from
Burgundy and Bordeaux. Later
in the same century, the entire French wine industry was devastated by two
horticultural scourges, first powdery mildew (oidium) and then
root-feeding aphids (phylloxera). The
Rhône Valley’s recovery from phylloxera was slow, and was further
hindered by the economic difficulties of the early 20th
century. It appeared the heyday of the Syrah grape was past.
But that’s not the end of the story.
In other countries throughout the world, such as South Africa and
Australia, Syrah (called “Shiraz” down under) was gaining stature as a
marketable red wine. These
vines, though genetically identical to their French ancestors, yield wines
of a very different character in the southern hemisphere.
They are generally sweeter and riper, with heady overtones of berry
and a spicy finish. Killibinbin’s
2001 Shiraz, from South Australia, embodies all the qualities of a truly
heroic Aussie Shiraz: full-bodied, deeply colored, redolent of
blackberries with a dense, fragrant opulent personality.
It’s a wonderful complement to BBQ beef or spicy pork ribs.
Or, for a more restrained, elegant performer, try a medium-bodied,
graceful 2001 Mitolo Shiraz Reiver with slow cooked beef or pork.
Australia’s wines went largely unnoticed outside of its own
borders until the 1980’s, when technological advances in the industry
caught up with an expanded world-view to position the country as a player
on the world’s wine stage. Now
it’s a leader in Shiraz production, second only to France, exporting
wines that range from inexpensive blends (most often with Cabernet
Sauvignon) to stately wines worthy of their Hermitage roots.
Many of these wines originate from small wineries with limited
production capacity. Only 110 cases of Howard Park’s Scotsdale 2001 Shiraz made
it into the US, and those fortunate enough to sample it at the recent
Australian tasting at Wine Expressions can appreciate what a find it is.
In the New World, as well, Shiraz is no longer just a bit
player. In just the last 10
years a group of west-coast winemakers billing themselves as the “Rhone
Rangers” have established American Shiraz as a wine worthy of notice.
Robert Pecota’s 1999 Monterey Syrah is typical: spicy and firm,
with black cherry and toasty oak flavors that would pair nicely with a
grilled pork tenderloin. Further
north, L’Ecole No. 41 (with a nod to its French heritage) is proof that
Washington’s winemakers are not about to let Napa steal the show
entirely.
And what of Hermitage? It appears that the French version of
the Syrah tale will also end well. The
most revered houses of the Northern Rhône Valley, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie,
have reclaimed leading roles in the production of Syrah wines worthy of
kings. And, perhaps inspired
by the success of Australian Shiraz, French winemakers within and without
the Rhône Valley have increased production of Syrah grapes more than
tenfold since 1960, using Syrah to add structure and life expectancy to
highly acclaimed varietal wines and blends.
A delicious example of contemporary French Syrah, La
Noble’s 2000 Syrah, from the Languedoc region, is spicy and herb tinged,
with a red currant-scented bouquet and soft tannins.
Served with meat loaf, pot roast or beef stew, it lends a touch of
European élan to American comfort food.
Best of all, French Syrah is one of the better values in today’s
wine market, offering us a compelling invitation to explore and compare
the many guises of this well-traveled grape.
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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.
Extra
parking is available behind our building.
Hours of Operation
Mon
- Sat 10am - 8 pm
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Schedule
of Events
We look forward to seeing you soon at our events:
Prairie
Sampling:
Friday, Jan.
22, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Jan. 23, 1 - 6:30: Super Bowl Beer Challenge
Friday, Jan.
30, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Jan. 31, 1 - 6:30: Wines from Northern Italy
Friday, Feb.
6, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Feb. 7, 1 - 6:30: Wines from Australia, Part
II
Friday, Feb.
13, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Feb. 14, 1 - 6:30: Wines for your Valentine
Friday, Feb.
20, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Feb. 21, 1 - 6:30: Wines from Argentina
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Ladies Night Out: February 2
Our next Ladies Night Out event brings you a Global Wine Tour. We'll
taste a selection of fantastic wines from around the world. Join us
for a fun evening!
The evening includes a tasting of seven wines with
gourmet hors d'oeuvres from The Upper Crust bakery in Lisle. Cost is
$20
per person, and the deadline to register is Friday, January 30.
Ladies Night Out: A Global Wine Tour
Monday, February 2, 7:30 pm
$20 per person
Call for Reservations: 630.435.9463
or toll-free 1.888.656.9463
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Email Address Changes
Be
sure to send us an email when your address changes, so that our records
stay current and you keep receiving our newsletter!
Use
this link to send us your updated email address.
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