Are you looking for the perfect Chicago wine bar to check out? A cozy-date night? A fun time with your friends? Look no further, I’ve got you covered! Let’s dig in.
Joe’s Imports
Joe’s Imports is a quaint and sexy wine bar located in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. They offer wines-by-the glass as well as an extensive cellar list. As a Michelin restaurant, this cozy bar also showcases exquisite entrees, carefully-crafted small plates, and savory pastas. Reservations go fast, so if you want to sip and taste the West Loop’s best offerings, plan in advance!
Webster’s Wine Bar
Webster’s Wine Bar, located in Chicago’s famed Lincoln Park neighborhood, claims its prize as the oldest “natural wine” bar in Chicago. Webster’s voted “best wine bar” and “best wine list” in Chicago for 2021, lives up to their hype. Once you take a look at their menus and wine lists, you’ll understand why! The bar offers an array of Old World wine styles from France, Italy, Spain, and Germany, as well as New World styles from the U.S. and Southern Hemisphere. With so many “wine by the glass” choices, it was hard to choose! I could not pass up the opportunity to try Georgian orange wine for the first time. If you ever happen to be in the neighborhood, put this gem on your list of must-visits!
Lush Wine & Spirits
Lush Wine & Spirits has 3 Chicago area locations: West Town, Roscoe Village, and Evanston. Their cozy bars are the perfect place to cool off on a beautiful hot summer day, or warm up on a snowy day during the polar vortex. They showcase an array of wines from around the world, crafted beers and interesting cocktails. For the hungry foodies, Lush offers delicious eats to go along. The staff is most friendly and knowledgeable. You have to check out one of their locations!
Printer’s Row Beer & Wine Bar
I’ll cut right to the chase- I love this wine bar! Most bars and restaurants offer the “usual,” but Printer’s Row Beer & Wine Bar, in Chicago’s South Loop neighborhood focuses on something specific: Eastern European wine varietals from countries such as Armenia, Slovenia, and Serbia. Here you are able to taste premium Old World wines at affordable prices-wines you may not see around town. Printer’s Row offers tasting by the glass and bottles for sale. In addition, you can order a variety of yummy tastes to compliment the different varieties.
Vin 312
Vin 312 is a small family winery and wine bar in Ravenswood Chicago, run by wine-maker Warner. The facility is housed in a beautiful, rustic loft that doesn’t look or feel like your average winery. However, upon entry, you find yourself in a quaint tasting room with open views to all the machinery and barrels used to make the wine. As soon as you enter the winery, it’s quite clear the staff work very hard to make all the wine in-house with grapes sourced from California and Washington State.
Outside Voices
Do you like wine? Do you like vinyl? Do you like a laid-back vibe? If so, shimmy on over to Outside Voices wine bar in the heart of Chicago’s Logan’s Square to enjoy all 3! This wine bar sure knows how to get the party started and pair your exquisite wine with an ambience that will make you dance in your seat. And by dance, I mean, DANCE! They even have a disco ball that spins to get the party started! My tasting started with a glass of Italy’s Garganega and ended with the rich and spicy Touriga Nacional, one of Portugal’s principle black grapes. As I sipped, the sommelier also spun on the 1s and 2s, creating the perfect pairing experience.
City Winery
If you’re in Chicago and looking for a large local winery, you must check out City Winery! Located in the heart of the West Loop, this enormous facility operates as a winery, restaurant, and entertainment venue. They offer tours and wine-tasting lessons with experienced Sommeliers. Their tour features the process of wine-making, a showcase of their equipment, a discussion about their barrel-aging techniques, and the process for choosing restaurant wines from their cellar. Also, if you like music and entertainment, be sure to check out their events page!
Sip Wine Bar & Restaurant
Sip Wine Bar in Tinley Park, IL is one of my favorite wine spots to date! Similar to a kid in a candy store, there 69 wines to walk around and sample. The bar is laid out with 8 different stations based on various themes: both Old and New world white and red wines, Rose’s, Pinot Noirs, sweet wines and premium labels. Pour, sip, pour, sip…..repeat until your heart’s content. Your bill gets tabbed and you pay at the end!
Vintrendi
Vintrendi is a chic, Black-Owned wine bar located in Chicago’s Park Forest suburb. Here, patrons gather to taste the “trendy” wines, mingle, and listen to music. They offer an array of popular wine flavors including “Almond,” “Blaqberry,” and “Toffee Temptation.” They also sell fun retail items from gift sets, to wine accessories, to candles. Customers can also dine on fun snacks for amazing wine and food pairings.
J9 Wine Bar
9 Wine Bar, located in the heart of Lincoln Park, Chicago, is a fun trendy bar with an exquisite wine menu, and various wine-tasting events that take place during the course of the year. Chicago got a taste of Texas when Williams Chris Vineyards hosted a Texas wine-tasting at J9. This winery grows their own grapes and makes their wine on-site. In this tasting, we sampled French Rhone varieties of Muscat, Roussanne, Cinsault and Mourvédre as we snacked on cured meats and cheeses. I purchased a bottle of Mourvédre as my parting gift. Stop over at J9 to enjoy a glass or bottle!
Cheers!
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