“Snow Days” will magically morph into “Pinot Days” in less than a month — which should come as a welcome relief to residents of Chicago, who have been shivering through another frigid winter.
Pinot Days Chicago is scheduled for Saturday, March 21 in the Lakeview Terrace room on Navy Pier, the Windy City’s top tourist destination.
The Grand Festival will run from 2 to 5 p.m. that day, and tickets are priced at $75 per person. A VIP ticket, which costs $50 more, gets you in two hours earlier and includes a special tasting and seminar. (The VIP event is sold out, but there is a waiting list.) And if you’d simply like to get a one-hour head start on the rest of the Grand Festival attendees (entrance to the main tasting at 1 p.m.), the cost is $100.
Leading up to the event, a number of local restaurants will be hosting winemaker dinners, local wine bars will be offering food-and-wine pairings, and even some downtown boutiques will be offering samples. All will have one thing in common: Pinot Noir.
The list of participating wineries numbered more than 65 when last I checked, and you can view the updated list here: http://www.pinotdays.com/Exhibitors.asp?Year_id=2015&Loc_ID=CHI
Giving some serious thought to going? You can find a ticket order form here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/8th-annual-chicago-pinot-days-tickets-12324726589
Based on the list of wineries and the venue, I can pretty much guarantee you a great time, no matter which “experience” you select.
As for the weather… good luck!