Many people will use the upcoming Labor Day weekend to reflect on their own employment—bosses, co-workers, long-hours, deadlines, salaries, stress, and more. Others will simply be thankful to have a job. Others will only remember that they have three days off, and shouldn’t wear white anymore. Whatever the situation, here at Just Grapes we’re working [...]

Fall is, in many minds, the time when harvest beings and the year’s bounty in crops is collected. It’s essentially the end of the growing season here in the Northern Hemisphere, but when it comes to wine, harvest can technically happen at any time during the year, depending on where the grapes are being grown—the [...]

Part of what makes Just Grapes more than “the place with the Enomatic” (that’s the tasting machine on the left in the photo) is our friendly, wine-obsessed staff. We’re not clock punchers half asleep thinking about being somewhere else—we’re right where we want to be. Surrounded by beautiful bottles and varietals from dozens of countries, [...]

Understanding wine is probably a bit like learning an NFL playbook: Even if you have the basics down, there are dozens of variables and changes that always bring something new to the situation—it’s a constant learning curve, and very few can master it. While wine education isn’t unpleasant like… say… Jay Cutler trying to learn [...]

That’s a pretty bold statement in the world of wine, and especially within legendary Montalcino—a hilltown in Tuscany blessed with some of the finest vineyards in the world. It’s an area famous for producing Brunello, which is a clone of the Sangiovese grape, and thrives in Montalcino’s climate. To say one winemaker is the best [...]

The Chicago Air & Water Show returns to Lake Michigan this weekend, with more than two-million people expected to pack the lakefront on Saturday and Sunday. Even though the City of Chicago prohibits alcohol at the event, that doesn’t mean you can’t find a rooftop downtown, or simply stay home and throw your own Air & [...]

Sparkling wine (and Champagne in particular) is known to many as the “special occasion” beverage—light, effervescent, crisp on the palate, with an option to pop the cork in a dramatic, frenzied spectacle. Just be careful where you point those 90+ pounds of pressure beneath the cork! In a more practical sense though, sparkling wines are [...]

There is no doubt that the 2004 film Sideways has been a boon to Pinot Noir, educating masses of casual wine drinkers about the delicate grape through its equally delicate protagonist, Miles. What that audience might not know though, is that Pinot Noir is truly global—grown all over the world in microclimates perfect for the [...]

Lollapalooza returns to Chicago this Friday, and while wine might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to the annual three-day outdoor music festival in Grant Park, there are a few connections—most notably, last year’s headliner Tool, and frontman Maynard James Keenan’s well-publicized second career as a winemaker and full-time wine [...]