Our Deluxe Tri-Wine club, our newest way to get special wines delivered straight to your door every month,has just entered its second month, and I've got to say, I'm loving the selections. (I'd better, since I'm the one doing all the write-ups!) Our classic Tri-Wine has been a huge success for years, providing 3 different wines delivered each month with complete tasting notes, background on the grapes and wineries, serving suggestions, even the occasional recipe, all for only $45 including shipping, handling and taxes. These wines have focused on great values and offer recipients the chance to learn a lot about a number of approachable wines from around the world. Deluxe Tri-Wine, our higher-end option, includes the same high-quality notes and selections from around the world, but focuses on smaller estate wineries with more limited production. In some months, this may be the only way to get certain wines anywhere in the Midwest. At $75 per month, the Deluxe Tri-Wine is a true delight, a wonderful way to try and to learn about new wines from around the world. Visit our website for more info or to sign someone up for this exclusive wine club, or give us a call at (847) 677-9463.

Now that the holidays are over, we can take a moment to relax and savor some of the really nice treats we all received. And if you didn't get a bottle of this lovely light dessert wine, go ahead and treat yourself: icewine is just the right way to warm up after a cold winter day. Naturally frozen on the vine, the Riesling grapes destined for icewine are painstakingly hand harvested at temperatures of 17°F or colder. (and we think it's cold down here!) As the frozen grapes are pressed, only a few precious drops of concentrated juice are obtained.

 

Mission Hill Family Estate is located in the heart of British Columbia's Okanagan Valley wine country and they produce a full range of red and white wines in addition to their excellent icewine. At Mission Hill, icewine isn't made every year. Instead, they wait for Mother Nature to come through for them, freezing the grapes at the perfect ripeness to create this delicately balanced aromatic wine. Full of apricot, honey and a sense of nuts, the wine is elegant and just the thing to linger over in front of the fire.

Mission Hill Riesling Icewine 2003, $64.95/375 ml

Sign up now for the first Third Thursday wine tasting class of the new year! This year, following Sterling's recommendation to get away from varietals and into varieties, our focus will be on varieties - specifically, each month we'll look at examples of a different grape. Sometimes the examples will come from around the world; at other times, we'll have guest speakers to provide info on another aspect of the wines. For our first class, we'll be exploring the wonderful world of Zinfandel with our own Zin-Geek, Don Wils, as our guide. In case you were curious, Dr. Zin will not be including any White Zinfandel in his line-up - don't miss this one! The class will start promptly at 6:30 PM, January 17th and will end about 7:45. The cost will be $20 for CAP members and $25 for non-members.

Our Winter Warehouse Sale is coming up at the end of this month: Friday and Saturday ONLY, January 25th and 26th. We'll be doing our sample tastings this week and we're excited about the good possibilities. Watch this space for more details as the date gets closer. Meanwhile, make a New Year's resolution to try new wines this year and make some room in the basement, the closets and the wine cellar for the cases you'll be bringing home.

 

As always, if you are going to be out of town, or just can't stand the thought of crowds in bulky winter coats, we can do the shopping for you. Just call our Wine Department and ask for someone to be your Surrogate Shopper. Here's how it works: tell them the types of wines you like, how much you'd like to pay, and how many total bottles or cases you'd like. We'll do the rest. We'll bill the order to you and have it ready the following week for you to pick up. While you won't get a chance to personally taste the wines before buying, you will not miss out, and you may still alter your purchase after the sale (just in case we liked something but you don't!). We need to get all orders in by the end of the day Wednesday, January 23rd. That'll give us plenty of time to make sure you get what you want.

On Monday, Jan. 28, 6:00, Bluegrass will be holding a special wine dinner in honor of Mardi Gras. The dinner will have all the traditional fixins' - crawfish, boudin sausage, shrimp, shrimp and more shrimp (needless to say, I won't be there!). It will also feature the wines - and the company - of Clay Fritz, of Fritz Winery. Cost for this event is $75 per person. For reservations, call Bluegrass, 1636 Old Deerfield Road, Highland Park, IL 60035, phone 847-831-0595, fax 847-831-0395.

What do Jeroboam, Methuselah, Salmanazar, Balthazar, and Nebuchadnezzar have in common? Larger-than-life biblical figures all, yes (four kings and a venerable patriarch), but they're all also names of oversized wine bottles. A Jeroboam is the equivalent of about four 750-milliliter bottles (about 3 liters). One Methuselah holds about eight standard bottles' worth, a Salmanazar 12, a Balthazar 16, and a Nebuchadnezzar a whopping 20. No one knows who decided to use those names for bottles, but we do know that by the 1800s "Jeroboam" was being used for large goblets or "enormous bottles of fabulous content." Later, sometime early in the 20th century, "Methuselah" and all the other names were chosen for specific bottle sizes. This information comes courtesy of the Word of the Day online newsletter from January 1, 2008.

Join us this Saturday, 11:00-5:00, as we restart our regular tastings with reds (and a few whites) that are bound to warm you up during these cold winter days. Our Deli department will also offer some great warmer-uppers. Hope to see you there!

That's all for this week. If we may be of any further service, please stop by our store at 9965 Gross Point Road in Skokie (for directions, click here), visit our website at http://www.schaefers.com, give us a call at 847-677-WINE (9463), 800-833-WINE (9463), or click here to contact us.