Vintage Illinois 2013

Carol and I belong to WAM wine club. It is the Wine Appreciators and Makers. On Saturday we made our club's third annual trek to Vintage Illinois at Matthiessen State Park near Utica, Illinois. It is a wine event where all wineries in Illinois are invited to participate. You pay $20.00 at the gate and you receive a wine glass and five tasting tickets. Those tickets allow you five one ounce tastings from any of the 29 wineries present this year. You are able to purchase additional tickets, pay cash for full glasses of wine and buy bottles of wine to consume at the event or to take home. In addition to the wine there are bands playing throughout the day. We enjoy the event for several reasons. First, the WAM group is fun. Second, at least so far, every year the weather has been perfect. Third, the crowd is generally older and calmer. Finally, the bands are really good. It also saves you driving all over Illinois to sample wines from the various vendors.

This is our group. The orange shirts proved to be a good decision. As the crowd got bigger and the grounds more congested we were able to find our way back to the group regardless of our level of intoxication.

 Wally Mulso was the opening act on the stage. I must admit a certain weakness for an individual preformer on a stage. It tells me a couple of things. One that you are fearless or at least able to fight through your fear and two that you are good at what you do or insane. Wally was good and funny.

He was followed by a group called Midnight Shade. Another very good group. The saxaphone player was quite talented.

The third group performing for the 11th year at this festival was the Steve Sharp Band. Some very entertaining good old rock and roll.

While the Steve Sharp Band was playing Carol sent me to the Shawnee Winery tent to buy a couple of bottles of wine to take home. When I got back the majority of our group had decided to go up and dance with another group. The other group in an interesting play on words were called Girls Gone Wine.

They are in the bright red shirts.

The final musical group of the day was Lynne Jordan and the Shivers. Another very talented group.

If you are looking for recommendations on wines I will not recommend individual wines but provide you with a couple of excellent Illinois wineries.

Wild Blosson Meadery and Winery
10033 S. Western Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60643
773-233-7579
www.wildblossomwines.com

At the other end of Illinois.

Shawnee Winery
200 Commercial Street
Vienna, Illinois 62995
618-658-8400
www.shawneewinery.com

When we were done at the festival it was off to our nest traditional stop.

We go and stand in line for at least an hour to enjoy some of the finest Cajun food in the midwest prepared by Cajun Ron. He is a character. He came outside while we were waiting to apologize for the long wait. As he did more people got in line so he said: "Oh, hell! I gotta get back in there cookn." My selection for the evening meal was blackened catfish with red beans and rice with a Dixie Brewing beer called Blackened Voodoo. Cajun Ron never disappoints.

It was off to the hotel to relax for a few minutes and let the evenings meal settle. Our next traditional stop is a Mexican joint called Mi Margarita. Yes, dear reader, it was time to switch beverages again. So for the day it was wine, mead, beer and tequila. We all bellied up to the bar and started in on some great margaritas. One of the waitresses, a young lady in her 20's commented that her friends were at the wine festival and had been since 4 PM. She said they were hammered. We advised her we had been going at it since 11AM. Kids like her need to understand that alcohol consumption is a marathon not a sprint.

So mark your calendars. Vintage Illinois will be held at Matthiessen State Park on September 20 and 21, 2014. Come on out early, get a good spot in the shade near the stage, listen to some good music, drink some of Illinois' finest wines with 5,000 or so of your best friends. It is a mellow adult crowd, not a rowdy drunk fest. Hope to see you there. Any time you are in the area go see Cajun Ron.