The 2007 Skulls, the cheeky 2007 Chateau Chateau Chateau, and the epic Anamorphosis all have one thing in common (besides being Australian and having Parker ratings): the art of Hungarian István Orosz graces each of their labels (and in Anamorphosis’ case, the incredible poster that is meant to be reflected in its mirrored bottle).

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 [...]

While very few welcome winter with open arms, there is something undeniably charming about softly falling snow, the tiny white lights glittering from trees lining the streets, and the general warm fuzziness of family and friends around the holidays. In Chicago especially, there are tons of wintry events going on to keep the holiday cheer [...]

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 Grapes [...]

By Maggie Smith
Our monthly make your own barrel meeting was last week. I hate calling them meetings since at your typical work meetings you don’t drink wine, dine at Province, and chat with amazing food and wine loving people. However there was some “work” to be done. We combined our Cabernet tasting with our Pinot [...]

by Maggie Smith
Tasting wine for a living is a tough job, but someone has to relay this information to you! Last week at Gibson’s Steakhouse, our barrel group’s “mission” (linked blog post from last thursday) was to bring a bottle of wine in the $50-to-$100 price range from anywhere in the world to blind taste, [...]

Last minute gift ideas and a comic

There are 2 shopping days left until Christmas. Yep, 2.
Now breathe..
Throughout the holiday season, Just Grapes has been making it easy to choose the perfect gifts for everybody on your list. Our innovative Recession Relief 4-pack and our Wide World of Wine 12-pack are just a fraction of the products that have proven time and [...]

Our Very Own Maggie Smith came up with this list of 10 awesome gifts that any wine lover would truly cherish:
 
1. Fusebox wine blending kit – Most people can’t afford to make their own Napa Valley wine so here is your chance to come up with your own version by blending different [...]

Acid generally doesn’t have appetizing connotations. You might think batteries. Indigestion. Corrosion. Yum.
But acid is absolutely essential to the structure of a wine. Too little and a wine will taste flat and lifeless. Too much and a wine will taste sour. A balanced wine will have the proper amount of acid to contrast with the [...]