Illinois Sparkling Company

I visited the August Hill Winery tasting room in Utica, and had a tasting flight of their Illinois Sparkling Co sparkling wine. I was very pleasantly surprised.

They are using méthode champenoise, and we tasted the ISC Brut, Franken's, and Heirloom. I liked the Brut and the Heirloom (a rose) the best. I also had a sip of their Stereo, which is totally made of grapes grown in their vineyards, but I thought the honey note in it to be a little too much. The sparklers have very tiny bubbles.

They also have a tea-infused sparkler called Bride of Freak of Nature, which they produced in conjunction with Cleetus Friedman and uses Freak of Nature Oolong tea. I didn't try it, however.

So, chalk up another reason to head out to Utica. Starved Rock, fried chicken, and good Illinois sparkling wine!