On the heels of moonshine
November 26th, 2007The Times published a nice story about specialty liquor production:
With its abundance of grain and fruit, the Midwest stands poised to capitalize on the confluence of trends unlike any other region and could, in time, come to rival California, currently the leader in small-scale distilling, experts said. (source: New York Times 11/25/07)
This is an interesting idea that never occurred to me. I had thought about wine, and how nice that would be to have a local wine industry. There are a lot of areas in our region with gravelly soils and varied terrain consisting of kames, etc., and I’ve thought for some time that this could possibly be good wine country if real estate were not so expensive. We are pretty far north, but Wollersheim, which is even further north–in Wisconsin, has produced good wines from lesser-known grapes like Marechal Foch. But liquor may be, as the New York Times suggests, more promising for this region. We certainly have a lot of corn…
there are a couple of wineries in southern kane county. my mother in law has bought some stuff from there. its not bad.
Posted November 27th, 2007 at 9:43 amBig news! Hastert retires, effective monday http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/668418,3_1_EL27_A1HASTERT_S1.article
Posted November 27th, 2007 at 9:44 amHi Marc,
Are you talking about Fox Valley Winery?
I also noticed a vineyard somewhere on the way to Dekalb. That was interesting to see. I wonder what they planted.
A lot of wineries in Illinois (probably most) use imported grapes, an idea that doesn’t appeal to me. Without terroir, I’m not sure what the point is. And a lot of wines–going by what is presented at state fairs here and in Wisconsin–are just designed for a different palate. What that palate is I don’t know and I don’t want to find out, but it’s so far off from mainstream wine drinkers are accustomed to that there’s no realistic chance of these wines making a dent in the wine market.
It’s unfortunate because our region is capable of great wine provided we choose the right variety.
I’m intrigued by Marechal Foch and Norton.
Missouri Norton used to be one of America’s and the world’s (it won Gold at Vienna World Exhibition in 1873) great red wines before prohibition and industrialization killed off the vineyards. It would probably do well here, because it can deal with cold winters and hot humid summers.
U of I Extension is supposedly growing grapes, but I don’t know what they’re working with or what they found out. They refuse to give me information.
Posted November 28th, 2007 at 4:49 pm