Announcing our "Prairie Big Bluestem" Program
Week in and week out, our own Jack Thew
constantly researches and identifies new wines for the store. Whether they
are targeted for our wine club members or they are directly stocked for retail
sale, it's a labor of love for him to continually discover great wines for our
customers.
Often, Jack comes across special
high-quality wines of limited production that are available on a pre-sell
basis. These wines are great values, rated 90 points or better by
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate or The Wine Spectator.
To help our customers benefit from
these types of opportunities, we started a new program, "Prairie Big
Bluestem." Those who sign up for the program will receive occasional
email messages offering them the chance to purchase these wines.
The wines offered through the
program may or may not make it into our store inventory at a future
time. Sometimes, availability is so limited that we only have a few
cases to offer for sale. Whatever the situation, our Prairie Big
Bluestem members will have the chance to buy some great wines ahead of our
retail customers.
There is no cost, and there is no
obligation to purchase anything. You can be added to or leave the
program at any time. Best news of all, orders are priced at a 15%
discount from our normal in-store pricing. All orders require a
non-refundable 25% deposit, and must be picked up at the store (or
delivery arranged) within seven days of being received. (If the same
wines are later stocked in the store for retail sale, the discount does
not apply.) Each particular program offering ends when the wine is
received into inventory at Wine Expressions.
Sound good? Send an email
to Jack and he'll add you to the notification list. Oh, and wine
club members receive the Prairie Big Bluestem offerings at a 20% discount,
not the 15% mentioned above!
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In this issue:
Discover Single Malt Scotch
Upcoming Events
Email Changes
Legal Notice on Ordering Wine
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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Feature Article
Discover Something New - Single Malt Scotch
As
part of our mission to keep you, our readers, conversant on a variety of
timely and fascinating topics, this month’s column is not
about wine.
This month we’re talking scotch, specifically single malt scotch
whisky.
The Good Stuff.
Maybe you already love it.
Maybe you’ve never tried it, but you’re wondering what all the
buzz is about.
Here’s your chance to refresh your knowledge or explore a new
topic.
Before
we get too far into the story, we need to highlight our upcoming Single
Malt Scotch Seminar, presented on Tuesday March 30th by one of the leading
Chicago experts on single-malt scotch. See our Upcoming
Events section for details.
If
you’re new to the world of single malt scotch whisky, it might surprise
you to learn that many of the qualities that you appreciate in your
favorite wines, such as history, singularity, subtlety and nuance of
flavor and bouquet apply in equal measure to single malt scotch.
And, like wine, single malt scotch has attracted a sophisticated
and dedicated following.
You probably know a few of them already.
The
history of scotch whisky is both ancient and colorful, peopled with
smugglers, monks, frustrated tax collectors and fanatical Scotsmen.
The generally accepted story is that Irish monks packed the secrets
of distillation in with their evangelical luggage when they trekked to
Scotland somewhere around 700 A.D., intent upon converting the island’s
heathen inhabitants to Christianity.
The religious aftermath of their efforts is best explored
elsewhere, but the enthusiasm with which the distillation process was
embraced by the Scots is legendary.
The Irish get credit for inventing it, but the Scots have owned it
ever since.
Naturally,
the metamorphosis of grain into alcohol took some tinkering in the early
stages.
Distillers experimented with a variety of raw materials, with
grains, especially barley and wheat, winning out over root vegetables
hands down.
(Thank goodness!)
By the 1800’s the distillation of spirits was a fine art and a
profitable one, provided you could stay ahead of the English tax man.
Distillation was almost exclusively a back-door operation until the
Excise Act of 1823 eliminated the exorbitant tax rates, and the distillers
came out of the hills and into the mainstream.
The
industry flourished, propelled by a throng of fanatically independent
Scotsmen all claiming to possess the secret to producing the island’s
finest spirits.
Having settled on a fairly short list of raw materials (grain and
water), they experimented with fermentation techniques and maturation
processes.
The results ran the gamut from the so-so to the sublime, and most
of these found their way into a blender’s vat (not unlike a lot of wines
we know), with a typical Scotch whisky blend consisting of roughly 2/3
grain whisky and 1/3 malt whisky (made from malted barley).
But most is not all, and that is where single malt scotch whisky comes into the
story.
Single
malt scotch whisky is defined by a specific list of criteria.
It is produced exclusively in Scotland from 100% malted barley and
distilled at a single location (no blending of malts from different
distilleries is permitted).
It is infused with water, fermented with yeast, distilled in a
pot-still and matured a minimum of three years in oak.
That’s it.
Pretty straightforward, right? Right.
And all you need to make fine wine is a lot of grapes and a big
barrel or two.
Aficionados
of single malt scotch will tell you that the back story behind the buzz is
all about location, location location.
Scotland is NOT a big place, but the variations in soil, water and
climate from one region to the next infuse the local product with
singularities of character that reveal themselves with the first sniff.
The dominant factors at work are the presence (or not) of peat in
the soil, the mineral content of the water and the proximity to the sea.
Also, single malt scotch is never aged in new oak, only in barrels
previously used to cask (usually) bourbon or sherry.
A good deal of its character is derived from the history of its
barrel and the length of time it spends in there.
And did we mention the fanatically independent Scotsmen?
Yes, I think we did.
The key to understanding single malt scotch is to remember that
there’s no blending of malts from different distilleries, so each
distillery’s product stands on its own merits.
The
island is divided into regions: the Highlands (further subdivided into
north, south, east and west), the Lowlands, Campbeltown, the Coastal
Region (the isles of Skye, Arran, Orkney, and Jura, among others), Islay
(also an island), and Speyside.
Geographically speaking, Speyside belongs to the Highlands, but the
fact that nearly 2/3 of Scotland’s distilleries make their home there
earned the valley its own appellation.
The
distilleries of the gently rolling Lowlands region are a popular starting
point for sinble malt scotch novices.
Mellow, with a bright gold color and a hint of citrus, Auchentoshan
malts are considered among the most accessible of single malt scotch
whiskies.
Similarly friendly is the product of Glenkinchie, balancing
aromatic, grassy sweetness with a warm, dry finish.
Highland
malts, such as Dalwhinnie, are generally subtle and smooth, with a smoky
flavor that belies the abundance of peat in the Highland soil and a
heathery, honeyed finish.
Speyside,
the heartland of the Scottish malt industry, is known for producing
elegant, astonishingly fragrant whiskies, sweet with a smoky, malty
finish.
The Glenlivet is among the best-known of the Speyside producers,
but Cragganmore is another worthy malt in the Speyside tradition.
Finally,
if you’re going to claim any real knowledge of Scottish single malts,
you need to acquaint yourself with the islands.
Talisker, from the island of Skye, captures a salty tang within a
robust, well-balanced flavor.
Arran produces a light, citrusy, aperitif-style single malt
that’s easy to enjoy.
But the big guns come from Islay.
Reviewers describe Islay malts with words like “powerful”,
“smoky”, “pungent” and “peaty.”
Not generally recommended for beginners or the faint of heart,
Islay malts such as Lagavulin or Laphroaig are an experience not to be
missed.
Well,
if you’ve made it this far, you’re more than overdue for a little dram
of something.
But where to start?
(They all sound good!)
You could easily blow the week’s grocery budget on two or three
bottles of choice single malt scotch whisky and conduct a small tasting in
the comfort of your kitchen.
(This can be difficult to justify to the Grocery Budget Czar)
A more sensible approach would be to hustle yourself and a few
discerning companions off to Wine Expressions for a Single Malt Scotch
seminar, where you’ll be introduced to a delightful array of nine single
malt scotch whiskies, snacks, and an educational presentation by one of
the best.
Join
us on Tuesday, March 30th for this tasting event.
We’re proud to welcome a guest presenter for the evening, Mr.
Peter Wilkins, president of Barrique Wine Company, and the recognized
authority on single-malt scotch in the Chicago area.
Any Scot (or scotch fan) would agree that’s a good deal, and a
fine use of an evening out.
We’ll be saving you a spot at the bar.
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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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Beginners’
Guide to Appreciating Single Malt Scotch Whisky
To
fully appreciate the single malt scotch whisky experience, leave your
tumblers in the cupboard and the ice in the freezer.
Pour
a small measure of your malt of choice into a tulip-shaped glass (to
capture the bouquet), hold it just below your nose, and sniff. Then lower
your nose into the glass and sniff again.
Swirl
the malt and admire its “legs” as the whisky runs down the glass (slow
progress is usually a good sign), and taste. Roll it around on your
tongue, swallow, and reflect on the “finish”. Does your tongue agree
with your nose?
Next,
add a little distilled water (at room temperature), swirl and sniff again.
More often than not, the addition of water “awakens” the bouquet,
releasing previously subdued aromas. Taste again.
Now,
cleanse your palate with a few nuts or crackers, and sample another brand.
You say you only sprang for one bottle? Pity.
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Schedule
of Events
We look forward to seeing you soon at our events:
Prairie
Sampling:
Friday,
March 12, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, March 13, 1 - 6:30: Global Cabernet Sauvignons
Friday, March 19, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, March 20, 1 - 6:30: Wines from Bordeaux
Friday, March 26, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, March 27, 1 - 6:30: Wines from New Zealand
Friday, April 2, 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, April 3, 1 - 6:30: Wines from South Africa
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Ladies Night Out: April 5
Join us in April for the next Ladies Night Out event, "Pasta
Wines," where you can enjoy a wonderful evening out and learn
about matching different types of wine to different styles of pasta.
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, March 26.
Order early, we sell out every month!
Ladies Night Out: Excellent Wines with Unusual Names
Monday, April 5, 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.
Lisle Golf Club
Outing
We're
pleased to be presenting a series of wine tasting events at the Lisle
Riverbend Golf
Club. Join us on Tuesday, March 23 to taste Wines from Southern
California, paired to food samplings. Flights will begin at 5, 6,
and 7 pm. Cost
is $25 per person. Call the Lisle Riverbend Golf Course to register, at
630-968-1920. They are located at 5900 Hwy 53.
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