About Us
We are both from the Midwest, one from the city the other from the country. We met years ago and discovered a mutual appreciation of trying new things, notably wines, and giving amateur recommendations to family and friends. As time progressed, our love for the addictive vine expanded to other tasty beverages as well as food. Our vision is to provide our readers with an unbiased perspective on wines, spirits, beers, food, travel and anything else we come across that we think you might enjoy. We would love for you to join us on our journey and we look forward to hearing about what your thoughts and ideas are for us to try! Cheers and get ready to wine a lot.
Tina
Born and raised in the woods (ok, mostly literal, but yes, there was a town in those woods) of northern Minnesota, I grew up as that token tomboy girl being raised by that single mom on a very tight budget. Translation – worn-out shoes and no dining out, like, ever. So, admittedly, my taste in the finer things, above and beyond McDonald’s, was depressingly bad by the time I reached adulthood.
Fast forward several (ok, more like decade-ish), years later. I’ve moved to the suburbs of Chicago and I find myself having to make meals for my kids. So, I Google. I pin. I read. I find recipes that I like, recipes my kids, YES!, like. And this stumbling into cooking led to label reading, organic blog searching, DIY attempts, and of course, wine. The wine eventually accompanied the DIY projects.
Then I noticed that close friends began to ask my advice about certain products, from make-up to baby toys to meal ideas, knowing that I enjoyed spending time doing the dirty, and often-time consuming, online research.
So, here I am. I’ve learned a bit. I’ve burned (no rhyming intended here) a bit of food, I’ve sipped wines, both budget friendly and budget busting, I’ve sat next to an ocean tasting fish caught hours before and I’ve enjoyed Chicago style hotdogs, no ketchup. I like it all. Simple or stylish.
Now I want to share my experiences with you! Bloggers have helped me to buy better, shop smarter and find fun places to go with delicious beverages to drink…so why not pass along the knowledge and offer insight as I continue to explore?
David
Hi everyone, I was born and raised in Chicago, complete with accent, and tend to now embrace the fact that I sound like Ray Liotta from Goodfellas. Although I grew up in the city (not a surrounding suburb) and was raised a diehard White Sox fan, I admittedly prefer thin crust over deep dish pizza and wait for it… I do put ketchup on my hotdogs. If you’re unfamiliar with putting ketchup on hotdogs, it could get you killed where I’m from (not really but some restaurants will refuse to serve you if you ask for it).
I will be the first to admit that when growing up my parents didn’t cook much at home and I had the privilege of eating out a lot with them. Eating out was not just a dining experience so much as it was a complete social experience. It was not uncommon for a dinner with my parents to last three or four hours. Between the cocktails and appetizers before ordering our dinner, there was the conversation that seemed to last forever especially when you’re a kid bored out of your mind.
I contemplated attending culinary school but ultimately became a Chicago Police officer for a number of years before deciding to pursue my true passion of obtaining my Juris Doctorate. I joined a small family law firm a number of years ago and recently decided I needed to continue pursuing my dreams of opening my own firm. That decision has not only been rewarding but also given me the motivation to finally begin sharing my past time of drinking wine and providing some insights from a novice perspective for the novice drinker.
My love for wine came from my parents and has expanded the more I learned about different wine regions and varieties. I worked in a tasting room at a then expanding winery where my love for the juice really took off. We intend to focus on reviewing budget conscious wines with the occasional splurge on the pricier grapes, however, seeing us post and discuss food, restaurants, travel and other beverages is not going to be uncommon. Thank you for visiting our page and we look forward to sharing, learning, and interacting with you!
Wine Review 