Sunday Wine Tastings: Lush Wine and Spirits
For a while a friend of mine has tried to pursuade me to visit Lush Wine and Spirits. Tucked away in Roscoe Village, it is a bit out of the way for me geographically so I never stumbled upon an opportunity to check it out. Finally we met up for a free Sunday wine tasting.
One of the first things that caught my attention was the vast variety of wine and spirits--the place is a bit larger than some of my favorite wine shops. The second thing I noticed was the types of wines they were letting customers sample for free. It was a Pinot Noir tasting, and they weren't holding back on what people sampled. The first wine was a Bulgarian $10 bargain. The second was a red Burgundy, a 2000 Premier Cru Chambolle-Musigny from Ghislaine Barthod. In Burgundy, premier cru wines are one step down from the famous (and extremely expensive) Grand Crus. This went for $80 a bottle. The noise was exquisite, and it had the earthiness one would expect in a very good Burgundy.
Moving on there were numerous examples of Pinots ranging from $30 to $75, from Tasmania to Calfornia, from over oaked and fruity to lean and subtle. The characteristics of many of the wines were beyond typical cherry and plum flavors--some of these had mint, anise, and tobacco flavors. One of the wines sampled was jammy, whereas another had characteristics like a syrah.
This place gets it--I spent a fair sum on wine, as did others. Some places charge $35 a head for a wine tasting and don't bother opening anything for more than $30 bottle and you're lucky if you get enough bread and water.
Lush's staff are knowledgable, approachable, and really try to give the customer good value for money. The owners started out with the biker barTwisted Spoke and Pie Hole, and they expanded their foray into wine. The original location is actually in University Village. I will not hesitate to go here again.
Lush Wine and Spirits
2232 W. Roscoe
773-281-8888
The "The noise was exquisite"? How noisy is this place. Sounds like a bummer.
Posted by: Bill Versia | March 05, 2008 at 06:13 AM
Thanks for spotting that, Bill. It should say "nose was exquisite". - Brian
Posted by: Brian | March 05, 2008 at 08:12 AM
I don't know if you've been to a tasting at West Lake View Liquors (Addison and Leavitt) but I've had very good experiences there.
http://www.wlvliquors.com/
Posted by: Cheryl | March 05, 2008 at 05:50 PM
Thanks for the tip Cheryl.
I'll check it out sometime.
Posted by: Brian | March 05, 2008 at 09:14 PM