A conversation with sommelier Derrick C. Westbrook

Tom, Chip, and Lainie get together to talk about recent wine adventures including a tasting of Troon Vineyard wine at Bodin Street as well as visits to Uvae Fromagarie, Andersonville Wine & Spirits, and Kopi Cafe. Lainie & Chip also describe a recent wine tasting/class led by Todd Hess of Hart Davis Hart at Birch Road.

Our guest was Michael Kush of Chasing Harvest, a Chicago-based wine company producing wines in Portugal and New Zealand.

This episode features Collin Moody of Vom Boden, a Chicago distributor focusing on German and Austrian wineries! Collin has a great backstory about his history in the food/beverage/wine business and was kind enough to lead us in tasting some fantastic wines from Vom Boden's portfolio.

This week’s show features a round-robin conversation between all three hosts and a short interview with Jennifer Van Buren of Wine Dogs Imports. We caught up with Jennifer at a New Zealand and Australian wine tasting hosted by Bodin Street Wines & Spirits.

The first is Daniel Pyne of Pyne Properties who talked about his experiences working a French wine harvest and making the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.Then, Tom interviewed Morten Sorensen of ISH Spirits. They had a fascinating discussion about how Morten champions mindful drinking with his line of non-alcoholic sparkling wines, spirits, and canned cocktails.(Use code MINDFUL10 to save 10% on your ISH order!)

This week we welcomed Mia Sakai of Àndale Market, an Andersonville specialty grocer with a beautiful selection of foods from around the world. Looking for wine snacks? Visit Àndale Market for conservas, Spanish potato chips, charcuterie, cheese, and other delightful treats. We at the Chicago Wine Report are grateful to our sponsors and supporters! Without them, we would not be able to bring you our show, newsletter, and social media content each week.Thank you to:Velocity Courier offers professional delivery services in the Chicago area. Yes, they deliver wine and have a lot of experience in doing so! Contact them at: (312) 944-0754.Pyne Properties: "Broker, Investor, Advisor." Your one-stop shop for residential and commercial real estate brokerage. Need help finding a place to live? Dan's your man! Give him a call at (877) 944-3744.Birch Road: We tape a lot of our shows at this amazing BYOB club with locations in Chicago, Denver, and Seattle. Please tell our sponsors, guests, and supporters that you heard about them on the Chicago Wine Report!

Our guest this week is Diana Hamann, owner of The Wine Goddess, a wine bar and shop in Evanston, Illinois. Diana is an experienced wine educator who offers her patrons numerous opportunities to learn more about wine. She also has a fascinating story about how she went from being an English major to entering the wine industry as an educator, consultant, and business owner. A special thank you to our sponsor, Velocity Courier in Chicago!

This week’s show featured Susan VanKoughnett and Laura Busso of Bodin Street Wines & Spirits.Bodin Street, by the way, specializes in Mexican wines and spirits, and we got to taste two outstanding Mexican wines on the show: Vina Cava Big Blend and Casa Jipi Sauvignon Blanc!

Our guest this week was Rendi Graham of Anderson Ganne wines, an importer of French wines and the originator of the Vin de Terrasse boxed wines. We also talked the 2022 Chicago Reader "Best Of" nominees, included some tips for taking care of stemware, and shared some upcoming wine events in Chicago.

Our guest this week is sommelier Derrick C. Westbrook, a co-owner of Juice @ 1340 who has directed wine programs at NEXT and Elizabeth. He was recognized by Wine Enthusiast magazine as a 40 Under 40 Tastemaker and was the first African-American in the wine industry to grace the publication’s cover. We had a fabulous conversation about his journey to wine, his musical approach to wine and wine education, and how he introduces wines to his customers.Each week we get together for a production meeting. This is also a great opportunity to try out some wines. This week we had two very different wines that came in at very different price points. Still, we enjoyed both immensely!The Curator 2021 (South African white blend by A.A. Badenhorst) $13 at Augusta Food & WineCarl Ehrhard “Frau Ehrhard Naturlich” 2017 (low-intervention, slight skin-contact, German Riesling) from Independent Spirits. $30.Lainie also reported on a tasting of ISH non-alcoholic wines and spirits offered at Birch Road in Roscoe Village.ISH products are available locally at:Bendición Dry BarFoxtrotYou can also get 10% off your first order at ISH’s US website with code MINDFUL10.