Last night something special caught my eye in the seafood section of the grocers. Scrunched in between several cod fillets and a heaping mound of sea scallops was a single cut of beautifully marbled blue marlin. Up until then the majority of the day I had been obsessing over the thought of doing some sort [...]

Every Sunday I make it a point to do nothing. Nothing but sit around all day until the late afternoon when I can finally do what it is I’ve been waiting to do while doing nothing all day: hit the grocers and shop for my one and only weekly sit down meal. Yesterday I gave [...]

Alright, guys, I have a confession to make. Do you know what I love? Like, love-love,.. not just say I love and actually more so kind of like? I love me a bit of the Riesling. Bone dry to sweet, I’ll take it any way I can get it.

I like to think that while Riesling grapes develop, they not only mature in phenolic and physiological ripeness like other varietals, but they also start compounding this, I don’t know,.. ‘je ne sais qua’ that allows for them to become super-clusters. Have you ever seen an episode of Superman where they show him posted up on the tip of the Eiffel Tower over looking Paris, sipping on a celebratory dry Alsatian after saving the town from the wrath of an evil super genius? No, because he knew better. It would of destroyed him on the spot. I don’t know if you knew this but ‘kryptonite’ was originally spelled R-I-E-S-L-I-N-G. Actually, now that I think of it, I may just add another bottle to my selection. Maybe if I’m lucky it has some sort of weird, off- label use and if I dab a bit of it on my head before going to bed tonight it’ll re grow the hair I’ve lost since starting to work here. I can’t be the only one whose thought of this, can I? It seems almost too easy..

As we hunker down tomorrow for an exciting Super Bowl XLV with our arch rival cheese head neighbors Green Bay Packers against the favored 3x Super Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers, what food and drink will you have during this 4 hour battle? While most of you may think beer first, there are many wines that pair very well with Super Bowl fare such as New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc with Nachos, Gruner Veltliner (aka Gruvee) with salted chips and nuts, Oregon Pinot Noir with thin crust peperoni pizza, Prosecco with popcorn, Viognier with spicy Buffalo Wings, Tempranillo with Burgers & Brats! To make it even that much more festive, we’ve selected wines that in in the shades of the Super Bowl’s team’s colors (I know…it’s a stretch!).

Chile, like its neighbor over the Andes, Argentina, has long been a discount darling of the wine world, especially in the U.S. market. Funny thing though: The winemaking has generally improved to world-class quality over the past few decades, but the prices have stayed low. That means you can enjoy a top bottle from one [...]

If your experience with Riesling has mainly to do with a certain nun dressed in blau on the bottle’s label, then now is the perfect time to explore the variety and complexity of one of the world’s most underappreciated grapes—through August 1st, it’s “Riesling Week” co-sponsored by the European Union and Wines of Germany. However, [...]

Ginger, Mary Ann, the Professor, Gilligan—they could only dream of cruising Lake Michigan and the Chicago River with Don Sritong and the Just Grapes crew, supplied with a storehouse of handpicked summer wines to sip and explore. It’s a dream you can easily experience though! Join us tomorrow, Saturday, June 26, for the Just Grapes [...]

A few days ago, we highlighted some of our favorite reds to pair with heartier grilled meats, fish, and fruit. But if you’re flaming lighter fare, like shrimp, chicken, whitefish, or vegetables, they’ll scream for a chilled white to balance, not bulldoze the flavor. Here at Just Grapes, we think these pairings can help you [...]

The weather is scorching here in Chicago, which is a great primer for Memorial Day weekend, and the official return of outdoor grilling in the Windy City. Whether you’re the grillmaster executing the perfect menu for your friends and family, or you’re stuck at someone else’s party with a blowhard who confuses burning with barbecue, [...]

When KFC released its Double Down sandwich, I all but went into cardiac arrest thinking of the insane sodium/caloric nightmare (or Atkins dream) that is this “sandwich.” There’s meat, cheese and… gasp!… deep-fried chicken-buns! Cue Chef Jamie Oliver and an army of medics. Though I have no desire to ever let the sandwich cross my [...]