I’ve been bragging to BK about great the liquor laws are here in Chicago, including the giant Whole Foods in Lincoln Park with two bars in it. And since I miss making dinner with him, I decided to take him on a boozy Whole Foods trip.
Upon entry, we stopped at the first bar in the store, which was filled with people watching da Bears. A pint of beer for him and a glass of wine for me while we shopped. And then we went to the in-store wine and cheese bar, where they do frequent wine and cheese flights. Fortunately for us, the day we were there, they just so happened to be doing a Spanish flight as their specialty flight, which they do every Sunday. Obviously we were immediately sold and we each plunked down $17 for an awesome spread.
The pairings were perfect. We started with a 2007 Llopart Brut Rose paired with a Cana de Cabre, a goat cheese from Murcia. I’m not usually a big rose fan but I do like Spanish roses. A white came next – the 2009 Gessami Blanco, a crisp muscat-Gewurtztraminer blend that was paired with another Murcia goat cheese, the Murcio Aged Curado Goat. These were followed by two reds and a sherry. I normally prefer sheep and goat cheeses, but my favorite of the bunch ended up being a cow’s milk cheese – a Mahon from the island of Menorca.
The plates came with candied rhubarb, quince paste, nuts and water crackers for BK, gluten-free crackers for me. By the end of it, I was feeling pretty good, if you know what I mean. So good, in fact, that I ended up dropping a lot more dough than I’d anticipated for a grocery trip. Ooops. I wish I’d written down tasting notes too… Oh well. Next time.
Drunk grocery shopping! BEST. I just got back from Whole Foods with a 6-pack of Redbridge… while I’m happy enough with that I wish it were wine! or that it wasn’t illegal to drink IN the store. JEALOUS of your state laws