A distinguished wine crafted in the Rhone Valley by a family that’s been in the trade since the 1600s was among the offerings at Festival of the Vine in Geneva.
There was also an opportunity to knock back a taste of dark chocolate cabernet, yogurt-infused fruit wine or a barbecue zinfandel with overtones of hickory smoke and bacon. In fact, the festival offered a vintage and a varietal for every palate, just waiting to be sampled for a small fee — or sometimes, for free.
“We look for unique wines to bring to this festival every year, as well as more serious wines,” said Donna Goodwin, owner of Midwest Sine Selections distributor, as she poured samples of regional wines on The Little Traveler’s front lawn. “People come here to find things that aren’t available in their local supermarket’s liquor section.”
For example, most liquor sections won’t carry BBQ Zinfandel, a California wine distributed by Glunz Family Winery in Grayslake. “It contains essence of bacon grease, which makes it really good to drink with a cheeseburger,” said sample server L.A. Holmes. “We brought it here last year, and it sold out really quickly.”
Tasters also lined up to try Crema Fina, a cream-infused spiced orange wine that one taster described as a “mimosa milkshake.”
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“This is more all-purpose than most wines,” advised pourer John Beckman. “You can mix it with root beer and make a grown-up root beer float. You can use it as coffee creamer, or you can add vodka to make a Nutty Russian cocktail. If you’re baking a recipe that has milk in it, you can substitute Crema Fina to give it some extra zing.”
While a few people grimaced over the strawberry and peach yogurt-infused wines, others said it would make the perfect base for a fruit smoothie. “I’ve had people try it and say, ‘Wow, it’s yogurt! I can have it for breakfast,'” said server Julia Kizhner of distributor Intertrade USA.
The Little Traveler’s wine tasting on the lawn also boasted a variety of unusual fruit wines, such as cranberry, strawberry/rhubarb and pumpkin. Two vendors offered pineapple moscato and blue-tinted coconut moscato. “I’ve never even seen a blue wine before, so I had to try this,” one visitor told her friend.
While Geneva Cellars, on the other side of Third Street, offered a more traditional range of wines at its sidewalk tasting area, it included at least one curiosity — an Italian negro maura with a distinct licorice taste.
“This is a pretty rare wine,” observed pourer Deanna Rubino. “The negro maura grapes are only grown in the boot of Italy in wet, sandy soil. It’s as close to a wacky wine as we get.”
Inside Geneva Cellars’ basement tasting room, Steve Vesely of Michael Corso Importers prepared a $25 VIP tasting station with wines costing between $19 and $54 per bottle — plus a free history lesson with every taste.
“We don’t do chocolate wines here,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re presenting unusual wines with a history behind them, like a dry rose from Provence or a granache from the Chateneau du Pape, the estate where the French popes lived in the 15th century.”
People who enjoy mixing wine with chocolate had to wait until evening, when Graham’s Chocolates and Geneva Cellars presented their 29th annual Bacchus Meets Quetzacoatl wine-and-chocolate tasting.
“Our pairings this year are the ‘same old, same old’ because the event is so successful as it is,” said Graham’s co-owner Beckie Untiedt as she set up the outdoor tasting area Friday afternoon. “We always sell out weeks in advance, even after all these years.”
There was a chance for visitors to invent their own pairings at the festival’s Flavor Fare at Fourth and State Streets. After picking sample-sized entrees, side dishes and desserts from local restaurants’ booths, they could choose the perfect glass of wine from more than a dozen varieties on sale at the Chamber of Commerce wine bar.
Festival of the Vine also included cooking demonstrations, live entertainment, screenings of short films from the Geneva Film Festival and free carriage rides.
Denise Linke is a freelance reporter.