WineStyles Main Street at Seven Bridges
6430 Main St., Suite 100, Woodridge
630-241-9463 winestyles.net/sevenbridges
Summer hours: 3-7 p.m. Mon.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tues.-Fri.; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sat. Closed Sun.
Choose your adjective: Wine shopping goes beyond red vs. white at WineStyles, a franchise popping up throughout the Chicago-area. Customers choose a style, not a color: Wines are organized under the monikers of Crisp, Silky and Rich (for whites); Bold, Fruity or Mellow (reds); Bubbly (sparkling wines); or Nectar (dessert wines). You might see a port or Sauternes in Nectar; you may find a buttery, oaked chardonnay in the Rich section, and a leaner, unoaked chardonnay in the Crisp.
“It makes buying wine extremely easy,” said Charlene Pontrelli, who opened the Woodridge shop with her husband, James, seven months ago. “We find a lot of people who really don’t know too much about wine . . . are happy that we’ve broken it down for them.”
Fortunately, the wine savvy will discover that the inventory isn’t dumbed down. The Pontrellis stock an intriguing lineup of about 150 domestic and imported wines in their elegant, 1,300-square-foot shop. Most are in the $7 to $25 range, though a few higher-end boutique wines are here too.
What else? Accessories range from the practical (corkscrews and copies of Wine Spectator) to the splurgey (wine-friendly picnic baskets and wine-tasting kits for parties). At the Woodridge store, there always are a couple of bottles open for complimentary tastings. More structured, themed tastings of four to five wines are held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays. This week’s tasting, in honor of the Tour de France, will focus on red and white French Bordeaux and Burgundies. Wine classes also are offered; check the Web site.
Suburban expansion: WineStyles shops can be found in many suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Bolingbrook, Darien, Frankfort, Homer Glen, Lake in the Hills, New Lenox, Shorewood, South Elgin and Tinley Park. Several more shops are slated to open in the coming months. Expect each shop to be different: Owners choose their own inventories, hours and events. (Visit winestyles.net for details on a specific store.)