By Brett Ashley McKenzie
As an associate at Just Grapes as well as  Food & Wine Pairing Writer for the Chicago Examiner, I’m regularly asked if there are suggested wines that a home chef should keep on hand, wines that cover all the bases, from a simple Tuesday night home-cooked meal to Thai take-out to a [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
The whole gang at Just Grapes was psyched to learn from our Cream Wine Company rep Shane Salois that Cream had recently added an Italian portfolio to its stellar wine offerings. Their timing couldn’t be more perfect: Just Grapes is offering an in-store  “Wines of Italy” Master Class on Thursday, August 13th, [...]

Yesterday, we began receiving stock for our Spring Blowout Sale: 50% on 50 Wines. As we opened box after box of incredible wine after incredible wine, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Three different 1.5 liter-bottles of Herman Donnhoff Riesling , each rated between 93 and 97 points by Robert Parker, marked down from $90, $79, [...]

By Brett Ashley McKenzie
Print out your Just Grapes bracket, grab your pencils, your stemware and favorite wines from Just Grapes, and prepare for our first-ever full-size Just Grapes March Madness Bracket Challenge!

We’ve taken 64 of our favorites and pitted them against one another in four regional showdowns: North America, South America, Europe, and Africa/Oceania.
Do you [...]

They don’t call them the dog days of summer for nothing. Think it’s a coincidence that so many hot dogs are consumed on Labor Day? OK, maybe it is. But summer’s last hurrah is a great time for a Chicago dog and a picnic. And no picnic would be complete without a nice bottle of [...]