A Sip of Illinois History

Yesterday it stormed all day long. The cold and overcast ambience almost begged for Beef Stew. So, we made Beef Stew for dinner (with some toasted Rustic French Bread for sopping).

In need of the perfect wine pairing for Beef Stew and Storm, we perused the wine section of our local Schnuck's for a dry, light-bodied red to cleanse our palates after every delectable bite of beef and potatoes.

Since we're aspiring Illinoyances, I thought it appropriate to sample an Illinois wine. I have read about a few wineries in the area and, surprised that Illinois even has a viticulture, I have wanted to taste a little homegrown.

We stumbled upon Illinois Cellars Norton Wine.

Let's talk about Midwestern wine. There's a band that runs from Virginia westward into Illinois that provides the perfect soil and climate for certain types of grapes. In fact, Illinois had been a major wine grape producer before Prohibition. Obviously, Prohibition was a buzz-kill for wine growers, so they all switched over to Concord Grapes (for juice and jam) in the 1920s. Benevolent FDR gave us our adult beverages back in the 1930s, but we had this Depression and then a World War, so Illinois wine growers didn't get back into the swing of things until much later. By this time, the California wine industry was pumping out so much wine, that it drove down the price of grapes and forced Illinois farmers into crops like Field Corn and Field Soybeans. You know, to make ends meet.

So the grape potential of Illinois lay dormant until the late 90s, when Californian investors started buying up land in Illinois to plant vinyards. One of those new vinyards, Illinois Cellars, sits in the middle of a triangle formed by St. Louis, Springfield, and Hannibal. This, apparently, forms the northern extent of the growing range for the Norton grape, a cool region that allows for a longer "hang time", which makes the grapes extra juicy and sweet.

The Norton grape, a hybrid between indigenous American grapes (undrinkable by all accounts) and European grapes, originated in Richmond, Virginia, and dates back to the Colonial Era. Illinois Cellars touts this grape as America's First Red Wine Grape. Also, the Norton grape is the State Grape of Missouri.

For any aspiring wine tasters, here's a bit of advice. There are four stages to wine tasting:

• Appearance (you know, how it looks)
• In Glass (how it smells)
• In Mouth (the flavor sensations)
• Finish (aftertaste)

Upon pouring the wine into a glass and swirling it gently, it looked pretty much like red wine. It was dark red. I don't know what else to tell you. I took a whiff and noticed distinctive floral and fruity aromas. Intrigued, I took my first sip. The flavor sensation can best be described as terrible. Seriously. This stuff tasted disgusting. I didn't catch the "finish" as I was spitting it into the sink.

Of course, I am no wine connoisseur, so I turn to John Wine Snob for a technical description: "At first it has a nice spicey peppery taste, but shortly thereafter it disintegrates into a medicinal grapey plummy sort of concoction."

Do what you want, but my recommendation: Do Not Buy.