Now Open: City Winery Chicago

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 15, 2012 7:00PM

After months of buildout and hype, City Winery Chicago is now open and ready for its closeup. Owner Michael Dorf, who also owns City Winery New York and founded the Knitting Factory concert clubs, said Chicago was his top choice to open a new location.

"We wanted to open a City Winery in a city that was savvy about wine and gave us a great opportunity for immediate success," Dorf said last week. "We learned a lot running City Winery in New York. What we hope to do is improve upon the model."

City Winery Chicago certainly has the original beat in terms of space. At 33,500 square feet there's much more room to maneuver. Much of that area is reserved in the 300-seat, soundproofed, state of the art music room. City Winery shows are sit-down affairs and Dorf had the tables and chairs in the room made from re-purposed wood harkening back to the space's past as a food distribution warehouse. The current concert lineup looks to set up City Winery as a competitor with Mayne Stage, Martyrs' and SPACE in Evanston for bookings. Dorf downplayed that City Winery was in a race for bookings. "I'd like to think that the concert programming we do actually complements what other places are doing around town," he said.

Temperature-controlled barrel rooms located in the main dining and serving area and behind the music room reflect Dorf's desire to have City Winery be connected to winemaking wherever someone is in the facility.

City Winery will be able to ferment the equivalent of 6,000 cases of wine, with the first harvest arriving next month. For those who champion Midwestern wines, Dorf said not to hold your breath. "We'll make some nods" to Midwestern grape producers, Dorf said. "The problem with the Midwest, as it is in New York, is that of terroir. The best cabernet fruit grown in the country is in Napa Valley. The best pinot noir in Oregon's Willamette Valley. We want to serve the best wines to our clientele."

Fourteen wines will be available on tap, served with an argon gas-based system to allow the wine to last longer. City Winery will also offer barrel making and wine making classes.

A private dining space surrounded by barrel storage can seat 30 people.

Please read Melissa Wiley's earlier sneak peek inside City Winery Chicago, located at 1200 W. Randolph St.