Sips on the Road: A Fall Visit to Illinois Wine Country

Last fall my husband and I headed east to visit some of his family in Illinois. After a long weekend in Chicago being complete tourists, we headed out of town to see the countryside. As we all know, I LOVE experiencing other wine regions when I travel, so I was quick to do some research on Illinois wine and find a few wineries to try in our travels around northern and central Illinois. The Illinois Wine website has a great history page with a timeline of the (very lengthy) history of Illinois Wine. Fun fact #1: Illinois was one of the largest wine producers in the United States prior to prohibition! Fun fact #2: Illinois had 27 wineries in 2001, which grew to 105 wineries by 2011! It’s always so fun learning about different wine regions around the country.

An Afternoon of Rosé and Grenache Blanc at Taste Washington 2017

We enjoyed the 20^th vintage of Taste Washington last weekend and it delighted attendees with tastes and bites as it always does. I attended Sunday this year and I took the same approach that I have the past few years, and ventured out to try wines from wineries that I had never heard of before. With 225+ in attendance, there were many of them! The winery count in Washington has grown significantly in the past several years and it’s been exciting to try new things from our new up and coming winemakers and wineries.

Seattle Wine & Food Experience, Continued...

Hi Everyone! I am so excited for my first guest post at Sips & the City! The Seattle Food and Wine Experience is probably my favorite event of the year. And while I don’t know much about wine, I do know my food and beer! Here are a few of my favorites from the event that really stood out to me:

Duke’s Seafood & Chowderhouse These guys bring it every year! This year’s sample was a fish taco with: lightly blackened wild Alaska true cod with feta, tequila lime aioli, cabbage, avocado and cucumber pico de gallo. It was incredible!! And who doesn’t love tacos? I’m definitely making a visit to Duke’s soon.

Upcoming Event: Taste Washington 2017 - March 23rd to 26th - Various Locations

As we celebrate March as Taste Washington Wine Month, an annual month-long celebration of Washington State’s award winning wine industry, we get eager with anticipation of what’s coming up soon. Taste Washington, the nation’s largest single-region wine and food event, celebrates its 20^th Anniversary in 2017 with four days of wine, culinary delights, and education. With so much packed into such a short period, it gets difficult to choose what to attend (or just opt for the Connoisseur pass and attend all of the signature events!). But I’m here to give you a little insight into what will be happening for this year’s multi-day event so you can make your choices with ease.