Honjozo: Sake that receives asmall amount of distilled pure alchohol to smoothen and lighten the flavor, andto make the sake a bitmore fragrant.Honjozo sake is often a bit lighter than other sake, due to the smallamount of grain alcohol added atthe end of the ferment.

Junmai: A pure rice distillate with no added alcohol. Junmai is fuller, richer, withhigher-than-average acidity, but a less prominent nose than other types of sake.

Junmai-Ginjo: One step higher than the Junmaiclassification. The rice must have a seimai-buai (milling rate) of at least 60%,meaning at least 40% of the original rice has been milled off, leaving more purestarch for the sake. The resultant sake is in turn more light and delicate thanJunmai, but also more complex, layered andfragrant.

Namazake: Unpasteurized sake that is very fresh and lively with a very clearflavor. There is often an herbaceous aroma from the living enzymes. All types ofsake (junmai, honjozo, ginjo and daiginjo) can be made as namazake. Namazakeshave more acidity, which makes them good to pair with food that has strongsavory qualities.

Nigori: Roughly translates to ‘cloudy’, an unfiltered sake that tends to be sweet.

         Yuri Masamune (Honjozo)                                                       $17.50

         A local favorite from the Akita region, can be served chilled but

         is best served warm. Medium-bodied with hints of roasted cashew.

         Eiko Fuji Ban Ryu (Honjozo)                                       $22.00

         Made by the Fuji Brewery which was founded in 1778. Light and

         fruity with hints of black currant and black liquorice.

         Chokaisan (Junmai Ginjo Nigori)                                            $35.50

         An unfiltered sake with floral aromas, hints of anise, and a touch

         of sweetness, great with spicy foods.

         Chikurin Karoyaka (Junmai Ginjo)                             $18.50

         Brewed at the Marumoto brewery in Okayama where they have

         been producing sake since 1867.  Cherry fruit with a touch of cotton

         candy sweetness.

         Seikyo Takehara (Junmai)                                                       $25.00

         A mild and mellow sake from the coastal town of Takehara. Flavors of

         clove honey and blood orange.

         Eiko Fuji (Namazake Junmai Ginjo)                            $46.00

         Unpasteurized sake from the Yamagata region.  Extremely fresh

         with green apple and rock candy.

We are pleased to share the spoils of last year’s harvest in Oregon’s Willamette Valley this month. While the red wines from this part of the world usually need a few years of rest to find their stride the white wines are meant to be enjoyed immediately. We encourage you to try a glass of fresh and bright white from a cool and cloudy valley as you soak up the beauty of late summer in our corner of the world.

These wines are made by very good friends of the In Fine Spirits family - Dai Crisp, P.K. McCoy, and Julia Cattrall. Dai manages the vineyard, P.K. runs the winery, and Julia Cattrall is the winemaking prodigy in the cellar. And once a year they let me come out and jump in when the fruit starts to pile up by the ton.

Lumos 2009 ‘Rudolfo’ Pinot Gris - $16 - Stainless steel fermentation over the winter preserves the snappy acidity in this single-vineyard Pinot Gris dense with layers of citrus and lychee.

Lumos 2009 ‘Temperance Hill’ Pinot Gris - $20 - Sourced entirely from the Temperance Hill Vineyard that Dai and his crew have been farming organically since 1999 this is a stunning example of a weighty Pinot Gris with great aging potential despite an overwhelming immediate deliciousness. 181 cases produced

Lumos 2009 ‘Temperance Hill’ Gewurtztraminer - $20 - Our one day of fruit turned out to be a great one last year producing this dry Gewurtztraminer bursting with rosepetals, citrus, and wildflowers. 195 cases produced

Please join us as we welcome winemaker Julia Cattrall to the shop next month for an exciting neighborhood double-feature…

On Saturday September, 11 2010 Julia will be pouring wines from Lumos in the shop from 3-6pm. This tasting is free.

This event will showcase wines not poured in the afternoon tasting at the shop and may just turn into a bit of a party if you feel like staying as we welcome local musicians Baby and Hide and Flying Stones after 10pm.

Abacela 2009 Grenache Rose - $17

Abacela 2009 Albarino - $21

For more on Hilda and Earl’s story please visit their excellent website – [www.abacela.com ]

Patrick of Dominio IV replaced Tad in the granary district this year and the harvest crew did their best to foster an environment of cooperation and peaceful coexistence. Patrick brings new perspective from his path to winemaking that includes a functional use of biodynamic principles and a serious commitment to having fun in the most stressful season of the year. He also works with grapes not normally grown in the Willamette Valley including viognier, tempranillo, and syrah. His wines are not yet distributed in Illinois but we would love to have him on the shelves of the retail shop.

Since the majority of the locally-grown fruit was picked in one manic week this season rather than spread out over two the grapes went through the process of soaking, fermenting, and pressing together. Once the raw fruit is sorted, de-stemmed, and isolated in 2-ton bins it is allowed to cold-soak in its own juice for a few days to stabilize the vital compounds in the skins. After a few days of soaking a difficult punch-down is performed in order to tenderize the fruit in preparation for the introduction of yeast. As soon as the grapes are inoculated with the specific strain of yeast chosen by the winemaker the ‘yeastie-beasties’ get to work converting the sugars in the grape flesh to alcohol. As this process continues for anywhere from 5-8 days the skins rise to the tops of the bins leaving the infant wine beneath. At this stage the winery resembles a sort of gym with bleary-eyed crush labor balancing precariously on top of tons of precious fruit while performing the delicate business of isolating the color, texture, and tannins from the skins. When one loses balance at this stage it is best to head straight into the fruit as the landing is much softer than the concrete floor.

This is when the grapes begin their second life, brought back from the brink of death by intended and wild yeasts in the air. The fruit is full of life, noisily gurgling as the byproduct of fermentation, carbon dioxide, fills the air threatening to separate one from standing consciousness. As the yeast settles down after converting the fruit sugars to a completely dry wine the juice is pumped from underneath the skins through a stainless steel wand straight into a settling tank. The remaining skins left in the fermenters are dumped into one of the two presses and then gently squeezed for the last drops of juice. Once the dry skins have been removed from the press they are dumped into the county compost pile as the last refuge for the season’s yellowjackets and ladybugs.

The new juice is allowed to settle for a few days in stainless-steel tanks in order for the particulate matter or lees to settle on its own without human intervention. The lees make beautiful patterns when dumped out onto the crush pad and hosed down the salmon-safe drain. The next step for the juice is into freshly rinsed neutral barrels which will hold the Pinot Noir safely for at least the next year. By this point in the season the crew was exhausted and as the work slowed down so did our bodies, finally allowed to get sick and rest for the first few days of November. The wines are all sleeping in as well, developing and growing stronger with each day that passes. After a final feast and the climactic arm-wrestling showdown between Julia and Genevieve, which ended in a definitive tie, my harvest was over. A successful harvest two years in a row is a bit of a rarity in Oregon and we counted this year as a major blessing.

To see photos of this year’s harvest - including our own beer-specialist Kyle after falling into a fermenter visit Ransom Spirits on Facebook

Cheers!

This is a man who left the moral wilderness of a Manhattan law firm to seek a higher happiness in the early stages of the Willamette Valley wine industry that was a ragtag collection of farmers, alchemists, and cultural desperados. Tad studied under many masters of the hills, worked inhuman hours, ate unspeakable things, and was often found sleeping on the floors of the wineries for whom he was apprenticing. Twenty years later he is soon to be in a position even he could not imagine at that time.

After a year of nauseating bureaucratic wrangling with the state - much much less painful than dealing with Chicago - Tad moved his distillery from Portland to the farm. When we arrived on the 4th the new winery building was up but empty and trenches for drainage into the soon-to-exist pond were being dug. I sliced my right wrist open on the first piece of sheet metal I carried and if it were slightly deeper may have been quickly in trouble but after hearing how tough my female crew members were this year I quickly tore up my favorite t-shirt, washed off the surprising amount of blood, sterilized with the ready supply of high-proof spirits, and went back to work.

This year the crew leader is Julia Cattrall, Tad’s apprentice and head winemaker. Julia is the fifth generation of Cattralls living on their land in the Eola Hills and the second generation to embrace winemaking. Her father planted his Pinot Noir vineyard in 1971 just four years after the first in the valley planted by Eyrie’s David Lett. She is able to keep the entire operation running smoothly while holding everyone in good spirits all the while looking like an Oregon backcountry supermodel. She is greatly feared in the annual end of harvest arm-wrestling competition and loved like a daughter by the older generation that continues to teach her so much.

The rookie of this year’s crew is Genevieve Joy of Westchester, New York. A recent graduate of Colombia University in New York Genevieve is soaking up everything this place can teach her in the effort to round out her excellent education and east-coast experience. She was captain of Columbia’s crew team and seems more than able to make a run at Julia’s arm wrestling title. Genevieve is on her way to replicate her crush experience in New Zealand this year as both regions share similar climate and grape varietals.

The trick of the harvest is to receive all of your fruit before the rainy season arrives in the valley and when it does it is sudden and final. In the rush to ready the winery, schedule the pickers, arrange transportation, and feed the tired crew nerves get frazzled in the high energy. If you are off by hours or god forbid a day fortunes can be lost to botrytis, the fungus that loves the tight Pinot clusters and moisture of the valley. This year we pulled it all off thanks to many loud playlists, calorie dense meals, the help of amazing volunteers including my own parents Steve and Mary Malinsky, and the general bond of the crew. Working until 2am a few nights and setting new records in the winery - 6 varietals crushed on one day and 35 tons in one day respectively - our fruit made it in with twenty minutes to spare.

When we slept in on Tuesday the 13th and struggled into the winery the grapes were sleeping restfully in their own cold-soak and an air of peacefulness hung over everything. Struggling to make some meaning out of the raging harvest that looked like a ten day party in retrospect we glanced at the Biodynamic calendar hanging on the wall and noticed that it was Perigee, the one day of the monthly lunar cycle dedicated not to flowering, rooting, or leafing but to rest. With that good omen we rested our bodies and prepared for the next stage of the winemaking process.

All is well in the valley.

——————————

From: Kissack, Jill M.
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 5:43 PM
Subject: Jill and Shane are “In Fine Spirits”

For $1,000 you too can own your own company…

Friends, Family and Colleagues - As many of you are aware, we have been planning and strategizing for over two years to open a wine shop in the Chicago area. I am happy to announce that as of this week In Fine Spirits, Ltd. is an official corporation!! As we officially launch the start of our company, I am implementing what we in the consulting world call a “communication plan” and we in the retail industry call “PR” - we would like to share with all of you our triumphs and setbacks as we continue through this process through periodic e-mails.

We would also like to take these opportunities to publicly thank anyone who has gone above and beyond for us. At this time, we would like to thank our very creative friend, Sal Syed, who came up with the name “In Fine Spirits” in exchange for dinner. Thanks Sal and please let us know when and where you would like to dine!

And what do two individuals with a future in the wine industry do to celebrate a momentous occasion like this, you may ask? We shared a glass of Sparkling Wine from J Winery. Some of you may or may not know, but J is a special nickname that Shane has for Jill and they have some excellent tasting wines - as such it has become one of our favorite wineries. What made this situation even better is that we were vacationing in Sonoma last week and enjoyed a glass at the winery itself.

Next up on our agenda…Location, Location, Location…

All our best,

Jill & Shane Kissack
Owners - In Fine Spirits, Ltd.

——————————

From: Jill Kissack

Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 4:25 PM
Subject: “In Fine Sprits” has found a home!!

Friends, Family and Colleagues

After meeting with three different Chamber of Commerce offices, three different Alderman offices, three different real estate companies, visiting/driving by ten different spaces, placing two proposals, hundreds of phone calls back and forth to our real estate agent and numerous bottles of wine to ease the stress, we are happy to announce that In Fine Spirits has a location!!!!

Last week we signed a lease to a 925 square foot space located at 5418 N. Clark, in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. The space is located down the street from a local coffee shop, a local restaurant (Tomboy, for you Chicagoans), an art gallery and a chocolate shop; all of which we believe will have some excellent cross-marketing opportunities. Andersonville is an old Swedish neighborhood that has recently blossomed. There are a lot of small upstart boutiques and specialty shops in between historic Swedish places. For more information on Andersonville, see www.andersonville.org

At this time, we would like to thank our very patient and wonderful real estate agent, Katie Kinsella with Sussex & Reilly! Katie has been working with us since early October and was willing to work with us, even though we were a start-up business and we knew very little about the commercial real estate business. I know that we could have never done this without her! Thanks again, Katie!

As always, we believe in celebrating a momentous occasion like this with a special bottle of wine. Tonight we will be sharing a bottle of Syrah from Cascade Cliffs. We happened upon this winery a few years ago when we were vacationing in Columbia Valley, Washington. We spent a wonderful evening with the owner of the winery talking and tasting wine; he even extracted still aging wine out of oak barrels for us to try! It has been one of our favorite wineries ever since. Unfortunately, they do not distribute in Illinois - but we are hoping to change that in the very near future!

Next up on our agenda…even more meetings, phone calls and waiting for our permits to come through so that we can begin working on the space!!

All our best,

Jill& Shane Kissack
Owners - In Fine Spirits, Ltd.

——————————

From: Jill Kissack
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 4:03 PM
Subject: Set-backs, Challenges and Finally Forward Movement

Family, Friends and Colleagues

When we announced in March In Fine Spirit’s had a location our hope was that we would be open by now. However, the Small Business Gods have decided this would not be the case.

The first of our struggles began when Jill picked-up the liquor license application and discovered our location was not zoned for the type of liquor license that we needed. At this point, a meeting with our alderman was promptly scheduled but would not occur for ten days. During these days of anticipation, Jill quickly studied up on the intricacies of the city zoning laws (by the end she was on her way to becoming an expert…as much as one can be when dealing with the city of Chicago). The alderman was unaware of our zoning problems and quickly pulled out the zoning code book…which he couldn’t figure out either. The meeting concluded that he would do whatever was necessary to help, however, he wanted the full support of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce.

We were fortunate in that we were scheduled to appear in front of the Chamber of Commerce that very same week. At the meeting, the Chamber was also in support of our store (one member’s first comment was something like “finally, someone is putting in a wine store - we need one around here!”). At the meeting, one of the local bar owners suggested that we hire his liquor lawyer to help with this matter. As such, we promptly called this liquor lawyer who told us that our best option was to ask for a special use permit. He unfortunately, wasn’t the best man for the job so he referred us to another lawyer (who has a relative that is either is currently/was on the zoning board).

So that is what we have done. We are currently waiting to appear before the zoning board (hopefully at the end of August) so that we can get our special use certificate which will allow us to apply for the liquor license. This can, and will be taken care of, for the bargain price of 10K (hey, it is Chicago) and a two/three month set-back.

At this point, we were on our way! We had received the permits back from the city and were waiting to start construction on the space! That was until we got the final quote back from the contractor. Our lease agreement states that the landlords would provide a set amount of money to fix-up the space. This sum of money was determined by a high-level quote that we had done in December. Through the permit process, the city required quite of few additional items that were not in the original estimates (a water fountain in the bathroom…..still can’t figure that one out). As such, the quote for the work came back at 75% higher than the original estimate but the landlord was still only required to provide the original agreed-upon money. In came the other dilemma - would we have enough money to cover these additional costs?

A quick look at our financial statements indicated that we would have enough money to cover our costs but we would be strapped for cash that we may need at opening. We quickly called our lawyer to determine our options. She suggested a compromise: the landlords would provide additional money for the build out and we would agree to pay higher rent than originally agreed upon (this way the landlords get their money back over the life of the lease). After a couple more weeks of negotiations, this is what we have decided to do.

The good news however, is that construction began this week!!!! Our space is currently a mess with the crew wrapping-up demolition but we are on our way. There are still a lot of outstanding issues and potential areas for additional set-backs but we took this to be a very good week for In Fine Spirits. Our hope is that we are making the sacrifices now to the Start-Up Gods so that they will bless us when we open!

One additional highlight in this is that we have also settled upon a logo for our store (see at the bottom of this message). We hired an excellent marketing company, Project 36, and have two amazing people, Ann Marie and Chris, working with us through this process.

We are hesitant to suggest an opening date but are hoping that it will be well before the Christmas holiday season begins. Jill’s cousin Dave, who is getting married in December and plans to purchase the liquor for his wedding through In Fine Spirits, is praying that the toast will not conclude with “If you could all raise your water glasses please…”

At this time, we would like to thank our architect, Joel Berman for all of his hard work and dedication. Not only is Joel an excellent architect, he has gone out of his way to help with anything that we needed from negotiating with our landlord and contractor, faxing documents to our lawyer and suggesting ideas that have helped contain costs. Joel, you have been a lifesaver and we thank you!!

As you can imagine we have consumed quite a few bottles of wine for therapeutic purposes throughout this entire ordeal!However, we are planning to celebrate with our friends this evening a mark this special occasion with a rack of lamb and a bottle of River’s Edge Pinot Noir from Oregon. As many of you know, we were married in a winery in Michigan were we had taken our very first vacation together four years prior to our wedding. During this first visit, we stayed in a bed and breakfast called River’s Edge. Not only that, but Lamb and Pinot Noir is an excellent pairing.

All our best,

Jill & Shane Kissack
Owners - In Fine Spirits, Ltd.

——————————

From: Kissack, Jill M.
Sent: Monday, November 22, 2004 11:16 PM
Subject: In Fine Spirits Update - Crossing Our Fingers

Family, Friends and Colleagues

We are happy to report that as of Friday, November 5th the fate of In Fine Spirits lies in the city of Chicago’s hands as we submitted our liquor license application. The requisite faith we need in the city does not necessarily provide a sense of calm and peace even though the 50+ page application, requiring six month financial statements copied, explained and notarized is complete.

Part of the liquor license process includes 5 different inspections from the city’s health, ventilation, fire, building and plumbing departments as well as being fingerprinted and having an FBI background check completed. The fingerprinting took place last Monday and our inspection was last Thursday. After staying at the store until the wee hours Wednesday morning we were relieved to discover the process to be relatively pain-free; a blessing from the Small Business Gods.. We are currently tying up all of the loose ends and expect to receive final inspection sign-off by the end of this week.

By law, the city must wait at least 45 days to notify us of our approval; at that time, they could also decide to extend the process another 35 days waiting for further information. The 45th day from our submission of the application will be Monday, December 20th. At that time of notification, we could be open within 24 - 48 hours so we are hoping to make it just in time for Christmas and plenty of time for everyone to purchase their wine and spirits, from us, for New Year’s Eve!!

As you can imagine, we have spent countless hours in the store getting ready for this inspection and are very encouraged by amount of neighborhood residents stopping in and inquiring “When are you going to open? The neighborhood has needed a wine store for a long time.” As such, we feel very confident in our location decision and believe it will be well worth the wait.

As you can imagine, we have celebrated these milestones with multiple bottles of wine, - but not necessarily on the same evening! To celebrate submitting our application, we drank a bottle of ZD Cabernet from Napa Valley with a nice steak grilled at home. Interestingly enough, we visited this winery when we were in Napa last year, but Jill wouldn’t let Shane buy any of the wine. It’s now become her favorites Napa Cab and she recently purchased three bottles! This weekend, we celebrated the inspection process with a bottle of White Star from Moet Chandon; this is a perfect champagne for us as its not too sweet, which Jill appreciates, but not too dry for Shane.

Last but not least, we would love to express our abundance of gratitude to two individuals who have also spent countless hours with us helping with construction; Craig Einfeldt, Jill’s dad, and Dave Gean, both Shane’s best friend and Jill’s cousin. One of the biggest lessons we have learned through this process is that neither Shane nor Jill are competent in construction matters, so without these two we may never have finished. Dad, consider my college paid for and Dave, free dinners for life. We would also like to thank Jill’s uncle Ande our friend Harry and Jill’s brother-in-law Ted for their help as well; not to mention the wives of all of these men who have spent more time with us than at home for some time now.

We have attached a ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture for you to see the progress. Next up on the agenda, EVERYTHING ELSE!!

All our best,

Jill & Shane Kissack
Owners - In Fine Spirits, Ltd.

——————————

From: jill@infinespirits.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2004 11:31 PM
Subject: In Fine Spirit’s Belated Christmas Present

Friends, Family, Colleagues and Future Customers

In Fine Spirits now has a liquor license!!! We are planning to open Friday, December 31st from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. - just in time for you to purchase your wine and spirits for New Year’s Eve.

More details to follow…

Jill & Shane Kissack
In Fine Spirits
5418 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 506 - WINE
www.infinespirits.com