The 4th of July is Sunday, and here at Just Grapes, that means showcasing some of our top American wines so you can add more “fireworks” to your holiday get-togethers! Since this is the first 4th in a new decade, we’re featuring the latest American bottles to match. Here are a couple of our favorites, [...]

The range of opinion varies widely. The wine industry, after all, is a business, and in order to turn a profit it’s most conducive to make the product as consumer-friendly as possible. (To get really riled up, read about the Red Bicyclette Pinot Noir Scandal–not one American complaint was documented! Take that, Jersey Shore. Y’all [...]

So what if wine and St. Patty’s Day don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand? While we can argue the virtues of vino versus beer on this traditional holiday, let’s just skip all that and get to what’s important: “green” wines, and we’re not talking about just the grapes. The term “green” has been bandied about in recent [...]

2008 Chehalem Inox, Chardonnay, Oregon [$19.99] Forget what you think you know about Chardonnay: this is not the buttery, overoaked stuff you’ll find at your local supermarket. Chehalem Inox is crisp. It’s sleek. It’s fruit forward with a perfectly textured finished. Fermented in steel (inox is short for the French inoxydable, or steel), Inox is [...]

Holiday shopping got you down? Just can’t find the perfect gift for those people on your list? Just Grapes has the answer! We’re truly a one-stop shop for everyone on your shopping list (even the little ones–our never-expiring tasting cards will still be valid once they turn 21!). To make it even easier, we’ve put [...]

Miss our Thanksgiving Pairing class and still clueless about what to imbibe on Turkey Day? Well, we can forgive the whole “skipping class” thing (but don’t let it happen again!) and have recap to boot. Now, we couldn’t just taste wine and try to imagine how great it would be with Thanksgiving fare–we at Just [...]

By Raquel Scianna Here at Just Grapes, we pride ourselves in having our fingers firmly affixed to the pulse of all that’s hot and happening in the world of wine making. on September 24–with a little help from our trusty Cream Wine Company rep, Shane Salois–we dug a little deeper into an up-and-coming region with [...]

by Brett Ashley McKenzie Just Grapes Wine Buyer Maggie Smith and I were invited to attend the Iron Chef-style “Aloha Kitchen Challenge” at Roy’s Chicago on Monday evening, and we were thrilled to sample courses prepared by some of Chicago’s rising culinary stars. Three culinary students were asked to create a course keeping in theme [...]

The Illinois state legislature has voted to increase tax on all alcoholic beverages–and soda pop and candy–in order to close a gaping budget shortfall. The tax currently paid on a bottle of wine is 13 cents per bottle. Effective Tuesday, you’ll see that jump to 28 cents a bottle. Tax on a six-pack of beer [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie I spent my Fourth of July weekend laid up on the couch with a terrible cold, a fever, and a puppy who was understandably furious that a patriotic romp at Montrose Dog Beach was simply not in the cards. With the national holiday closing doctors’ offices and even local pharmacy counters, [...]