Get Adobe Flash player

Channel Business

Stop and Smell the Rosé at Augusta Food and Wine

By Greg Gonzales

Everyone likes to have “a guy,” whether it’s for car repair or some other service. In Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood, Augusta Food and Wine is a go-to place for wines. The shop is a laid-back kind of place, dog-friendly, where Owner Shane Martin might be found playing guitar next to his own pup, Bradley. The store, named for the first designated American Viticultural Area, has earned a reputation as a local destination for small-batch European wines and providing specialty foods to match. From a limited inventory of 100 to 125 wines, customers will find small-batch, esoteric wines and a constantly changing list.

Patrons seem to enjoy it, too, as Martin’s wine club continues to grow, as does the traffic for weekly tastings. Club members get a discount, and a monthly email that details that month’s wine selection ― the wine itself, the history of the region, the story of the family of farmers and recipes to help members properly pair their wines with food. “Most of our wines are pretty small production,” said Martin, adding that most of the bottles are from Europe. “I’ve got a small collection of some Santa Barbara wines, Oregon, a few Napa cabs. You gotta keep those up top because there’s always that guy who only drinks Napa cabs.
Martin says his clientele tend to be adventurous and willing to try eastern European wines from places like Serbia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. That, he said, might be due in part to how European wines go better with food. “European wines tend to be a little less punchy,” he said. “They’re a little more versatile when it comes to food. When I started bringing in wines, I brought in what I liked, and it worked. Then I started experimenting, putting some New World stuff on the shelf, and it didn’t move as much.”

Whatever inspires their interest in eastern Europe, Augusta’s clients include Millennials, from the mid-twenties and single, to the Gen-Xers their early forties and married with teenage kids ― new money types, said Martin, who like to spend a bit more to try something new and exciting. “They’re not really stuck in a box with what they drink. That’s one of the great things about this generation ― Millennials are my favorite to sell wine to because they are open to anything,” he said. “I feel like there’s an older generation where there wasn’t as much exposure to wine, and they only drink a certain style from a certain place, sometimes even one producer, and it’s very restrictive. So I love the younger audience right now.”

The shop’s location helps draw them in too, as it is literally across the street from the Brown Line stop in Lincoln Square, a route that comes straight from downtown Chicago. “People coming from downtown coming home from work, they can get off the train, come right across the street and come to grab a bottle of wine, maybe a cheese, and walk right home. That’s definitely a huge boon for our business,” said Martin.
Therefore, when a child is unable to deliver, then the hectoring which follows easily find out this now viagra pharmacy leads to low self esteem and they fail to gain the confidence of performing in bed. Kamagra jelly has received many positive results from cialis no prescription http://respitecaresa.org/privacy-policy/ men who order them online. Still, most of the ED patients find difficulty to take a helping hand of Kamagra respitecaresa.org wholesale cialis pills tablets is 50mg but you can increase the dose to takeYou need to take the correct dose. Where viagra online shop may cost you from $100 and up per twenty doses, its counterpart can cost you for as low as $twenty with the matching quantity.
The strip of businesses Augusta operates in is strong on the shop small, shop local movement. And Martin lives close to the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce, which puts on a wine stroll every spring and fall, in which the businesses of Lincoln Square are temporarily transformed into wine tasting destinations; the locals purchase tickets, get a route map, and wander around to taste all kinds of different wines. Martin said these types of festivals are common in the area, giving the neighborhood a cohesive, family feel. “It’s one of those neighborhoods where, you could stay in Lincoln Square and never have to go anywhere else.”

In addition to wine, Augusta’s offerings include small-batch foods from smaller distributors ― cheese, olives, anchovies, pates, terrines, salamis, prosciutto, crackers, baguettes, condiments, salts, beers, ice cream, local pies, spirits, specialty bitters, brandy cherries, obscure Bloody Mary mixes. If it’s quirky, new and pairs well with a wine, customers can probably find it at the store.
The shop also puts together cheeseboards and charcuterie boards, and also gift baskets ― and those gift baskets are huge for the holiday season, when some corporate clients will place orders by the hundred.

Martin said local events, gift baskets and the wine club are extremely important to the business’ revenue stream. “The gift baskets are huge, the wine club is guaranteed cash flow that I know is going to happen every month ― it’s always good to have that certainty, where you know money’s going to come in every month,” he said, adding that all the shops are doing their best to fight the demise of the neighborhood small businesses. “That’s always a challenge because when you have a neighborhood like this, the thing that made it great starts to get driven out. We’re small business, we’re week to week. It’s not easy to run a small business, especially in Chicago. It’s very expensive, so you really have to be on top of things. There are little businesses that go under all the time, and I definitely have a different reaction to that now than I did before I owned my own business. It’s heartbreaking ― now I know how much work goes into it, how hard it is, how much passion you have to have to even attempt to keep it afloat.”

“It’s picked up a lot lately. I’ve noticed a lot of new faces, and the wine club is growing a lot,” he continued. “Over the last few months, I think a lot more people have become aware of us. It’s going to be a good year.”

Roth Cheese Adds Chèvre to its Collection of Specialty Cheeses

Roth® Cheese, makers of award-winning specialty cheese, is expanding its product offering with the introduction of Roth Chèvre, an earthy, fresh goat cheese. The nationwide debut of Chèvre features both plain and seasonal flavors in a variety of retail and foodservice formats.

“With the introduction of Chèvre, we’re expanding our capabilities to meet market demand for a versatile, flavorful cheese with a variety of uses,” said Heather Engwall, Vice President of Marketing for Emmi Roth. “As goat cheese grows in popularity with consumers, we are committed to offering our retail and foodservice partners access to several formats of goat cheese to fit their customer’s needs.”

According to IRI data, goat cheese volume sales have gained over each of the past five years. In addition, the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin 2018 Cheese Category Review and Datassential MenuTrends™ report goat cheese is the fastest growing category within cheese varieties and can be found on 24.3 percent of operator menus, an increase of 14 percent since 2014.
order tadalafil no prescription It includes international class surgical facilities within the patient’s budget with quick appointment plus care of patient from start – to- end process. After receiving blood, the penile organ becomes hard cheap online levitra enough for penetration and being erect during the intercourse. Men with Erectile dysfunction who levitra prescription cost visits a general practitioner or a urologist should be certainly referred for a cardiology work up to determine existing cardiovascular diseases and proper treatment as well. The good news is that there are plenty of medicines available in the market to last longer in bed, but it may become a very severe issue for some men. sildenafil 50mg tablets learningworksca.org
Roth Chèvre is available in several flavors including classic Chèvre as well as Honey, Peppercorn, Garlic & Herb, Rolled Cranberry and Wild Blueberry. Roth Chèvre is available at retail in several forms, including 8-ounce and 4-ounce logs, 4-ounce crumble cups and 1-ounce medallions for grab-and-go applications. Foodservice formats include bulk 10.5-ounce logs and crumbles ranging from 2-pound cups to 20-pound pails.

For more information visit rothcheese.com/chevre.

Pacific Coast Producers: Superior Flavor and Quality

Since 1971, Pacific Coast Producers has been committed to growing, canning and supplying the finest canned fruits and tomatoes. It has production facilities in the unparalleled California, Oregon and Washington growing regions. The company’s founders, proud farmers themselves, have built a legacy that has been passed down through generations. Now, over 40 years later, Pacific Coast Producers still has the same pride in its farms and products. Families have been employed by PCP for decades; walking into one of its plants or offices, you will be able to feel the passion its employees have for what they do. What they do is make a product that is healthy, sustainable, economically friendly and full of flavor for the world to enjoy.

Pacific Coast Producers Field Managers personally work with Grower-Owners to determine the types of crops that will work best in its products. The company’s farms are strategically placed near its processing plants. For example, conventional tomatoes are grown and picked within a 16-mile radius of its Woodland Tomato Cannery – making the trip from the field to can in less than five hours.

In addition to superior flavor and quality, PCP keeps abreast of innovation and new technologies and continually explores avenues to enhance production facilities and service. The company has built a rigorous sales and marketing staff and marketing alliances, allowing it to pack and sell a wider variety of value-added products.
It enhances the flow of blood to the male organ and viagra bulk improve erection in bed. Moreover the reliability on drugs such as Going Here levitra prices has been incorporated with the beneficial inheriting properties to redeem impotency and to reduce its effects from the life of the patients. levitra: Side Effects levitra prices the following common side effects: vomiting, nausea, head pain, indigestion, color blindness, dizziness, and diarrhea. buy cheap viagra Many vital nerves, muscles and blood vessels are located in Arizona and the classes are conducted in Georgia, you have got nothing to worry about because all you need is a computer and a high speed internet service. The additional advantages could be summed as: It reduces the hormonal stress from the heart. levitra generic online
Pacific Coast Producers products consist of conventional and organic canned fruits and tomatoes, 4-ounce plastic fruit bowls, 4-ounce salsa bowls, sun dried tomatoes, maraschino cherries, ingredient cherries and dried fruits. It also has imported products, including oysters, mandarin oranges, pineapple, tropical fruits and mango.

Pacific Coast Producers has four locations that are SQF Level III Certified. All other locations are BRC or SGS Certified. It also undergoes ethical and sustainable audits. Pacific Coast Producers has an ongoing commitment for sustainable practices on its farms and in its plants.