Swirl, sniff and sip your way into a wonderful week ahead with these upcoming vino-centric events going on at restaurants and lounges around town:
Partake in a new prix-fixe menu at D.O.C. Wine Bar's Lincoln Park location starting on Tuesday, Aug. 4. A three-course menu will be offered each week for $30 from 5-10 p.m., featuring dishes and wine pairings with different national and international themes. The first installment will offer tastes from California (think tuna tartare with avocado vinaigrette paired with a Milat Chenin Blanc and pan-seared halibut with artichokes, asparagus and grape tomato salad accompanied by the Orin Swift "Veladora"), followed by France on Aug. 11, Spain on Aug. 18 and Italy on Aug. 25.
Head to west suburban Naperville for a special winemaker dinner on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at SugarToad featuring the wines of the famed Cakebread Cellars in Napa Valley. Winemaker Dennis Cakebread will join SugarToad chef Jimmy Sneed for this paired dinner featuring five courses of seasonal and signature dishes accompanied by hand-selected Cakebread varietals. The dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be served on the 12th floor outdoor terrace at the Hotel Arista, where SugarToad resides. SugarToad's Cakebread Cellars winemaker dinner is priced at $85 per person; call 630-778-8623 for reservations.
Kicking off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6 and continuing every week thereafter is a wine tasting with Park 52 sommelier Alain Njike. Four different wines will be paired with light bites at this welcoming Hyde Park restaurant, all for $25 per person. Njike will select a theme for each week's tasting, beginning with champagnes as a fitting debut on Aug. 6, followed by wines of South Africa on Aug. 13, Bordeaux on Aug. 20 and Chile on Aug. 27. Call 773-241-5200 to reserve your spot in the tastings.
