ENO Wine Room in Chicago’s Intercontinental Hotel has been educating customers on all things wine for abou a decade. The corner wine bar’s program celebrates good taste and the appreciation of unique wines with an array of international bottles, cheese and chocolates.
The casual, interactive tasting experience explores different varietals and regions from Spain to France and Bubbles to Old World vs. New World. The kickoff ENOversity event in Chicago was a “Wine 101” course showcasing classic wines from regions from all over the world, says Mark Canak, ENO’s sommelier and beverage director.
“Our team of sommeliers helped the guests navigate through the regions,” while taking a more critical look at why and how the wine is from that specific region, Canak says. “This course remains one of our more heavily attended events.”
ENOversity is in session once a month, on Sundays with classes at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The classes for the most part are priced at $35, which includes cheese and chocolate pairings to go along with the wine tastings. Class size typically ranges from 10 to 15 “students,” Canak says. “This is our sweet spot to keep the class more engaging and intimate, and the students focused.”
Aside from the Wine 101 sessions, the courses focused on France and Italy tend to be the most popular, Canak says. “Every once in a while we also have a class titled ‘Bucket List,’ where we open some rare and exclusive bottlings for the students.” This course, unsurprisingly, tends to sell out more often than the other sessions.
