From the Saturday, Oct. 11, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …
By Dave Wischnowsky
The WISCH LIST
It may be best known these days for its craft breweries, the creative cocktails that the trendy crowd sips downtown during wild nights out and the blue-collar guys perched on barstools with a shot and a beer at corner joints throughout the city, but Chicago has a wine crowd too.
And come next weekend, Tyler Balliet will again tap into it and let it breathe as he also continues to work to inspire a new generation of wine connoisseurs in the Windy City.
“We held our first Wine Riot in Boston in the spring of 2009, and the whole idea was to have a place where people could come to learn about wine, and do it in a fun way without spending a bajillion dollars,” explained Balliet, the co-founder and president of the events and technology start-up Second Glass.
Since that inaugural event, Balliet and his business partner Morgan First have held gone on to stage 27 more Wine Riots in seven cities, including Chicago as recently as just this past May. Based on the success that the events have enjoyed in Chicago thus far, Wine Riot is rolling back into town for its first-ever fall event this week.
On Oct 17-18 inside the spacious Great Hall at Union Station (500 W. Jackson Blvd.), three Wine Riot sessions will be held on Friday (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.). Tickets are $60 and can be purchased online at secondglass.com.
Wine Riot gives attendees the opportunity to sample from a selection of more than 250 wines from every region around the globe with the fall edition including a designated Riesling area where “rioters” can taste both sweet and dry versions of the German wine, and learn about them while having fun, which, Balliet says, is the point of Wine Riot.
About traditional stuffy wine tastings, he said, “You’ve usually got a guy in an ascot telling you about ‘notes of blueberry,’ and it’s a lot of people not really having that much fun. And you think to yourself, there’s a huge group of people and alcohol. How’d they screw that up?”
Described as a reinvention of wine tasting for the “thirsty and curious,” Wine Riot is “two parts education, one part revolution” as it generates fun times for both serious oenophiles and newcomers alike.
Balliet said he only works with wineries willing to send knowledgeable people to work the Wine Riot tasting booths, ensuring that they’ll be educating guests while serving them.Twenty-minute “crash course” sessions taught by Balliet and others can provide expert insights. And for visual learners, eight-foot maps will stand behind each booth so you can see exactly where wines come from and why that’s important while you sip away.
The event also features a DJ, photo booths and other sidelights, while a free downloadable Wine Riot app that has every wine at the event pre-loaded helps you easily remember your favorites.
“People say, oh, you just can’t remember your favorites because you drank too much wine,” Balliet said. “But, really, if you’re trying to remember a German wine with nine consonants in its name, and a Portuguese wine and an Italian wine, and a Spanish wine … well, it’s not that easy.”
Wine Riot is seeking to make enjoying wines easy, and fun and affordable. And Balliet said he’s happy it’s returning to Chicago.
“Chicago is one of our best cities,” he said. “We’re really excited to be back.”