Pomegranate Wine

Anybody know a place to buy some pomegranate wine?

I have a friend from Armenia who lives in IN and he asked me to see if there was any of this stuff around here because he can't find it where he lives. Do we have any Armenian food shops in Chicago?

Well, there's an Armenian place on Milwaukee in Niles -- Arax Foods. It's a fun store.

And if they don't have the wine, I know Super H Mart is always pushing their Korean pomegranate wine. Tasty stuff, too. I've had a few bottles. Maybe that would work.

Arax Foods
9017 N Milwaukee Ave
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 966-1808

Pomegranate wine: You might take a look at Binny's or ask at Sam's Wine. They'd probably have a starting point for you.

I've seen pomegranate liqueur carried everywhere lately, and Jewel-Osco was clearing the larger bottles (1L? 1.5L? Around that size?) in favour of the smaller ones, so it was pretty heavily discounted. Not quite the same thing though.

I was just at Eurostyle Deli in Skokie, and they have pomegranate wine and also other Armenian varieties including honey and quince. The former was $9.99/bottle and the other two $10.99.

(Photos taken from my phone)




(BTW, I love this place! I'm surprised every time I go. Their emphasis is on eastern European goods, but I just discovered today that they carry my favorite preserves in the entire world, Verger Duhaime from Canada. I'm always toting this stuff back from Montreal, haven't seen it anywhere else in the Chicago area. Go figure--I just had to look in a Russian deli in Skokie!)

Eurostyle Deli
4861 Oakton St.
Skokie, IL 60077
847-329-1430

I was just at what I think is called "Grand International Supermarket" on Touhy in Niles. It's in the same plaza with the Walmart and the Babies R Us, in the space that used to be a Cubs Foods less than 2 years ago. I just saw pomegranate wine saw this evening, considered buying it, but put it back...

Anyways, they have it...a LOT of it. And, apparently the place is going out of business so all liquor and wine is on sale for 30% off. I just bought about 12 bottles of standard wine and didn't break $60. I was also able to buy a pretty cheap-o bottle of Absolut Pear for $14 and a bottle of soju for $6. I can't remember how much the pom wine was going for, but it wasn't much...I remember that.

Pretty sweet.

Cogito wrote:I have a friend from Armenia who lives in IN and he asked me to see if there was any of this stuff around here because he can't find it where he lives.

I noticed that Gilmart, a pretty good Polish market, carries two different types of Armenian pomegranate wine, the one that happy_stomach pictured above ($10.99) and a different one ($9.99).



This other one has a tag saying pomegranates have 365 seeds. What's the deal with that?

Gilmart
5050 S Archer Av
Chicago
773-585-5514

How about some pomegranate beer? Last month I tried my first bottle of He'brew ("The Chosen Beer") Origin, a pomegranate brew. It was better than I expected, with a pronounced sour-sweet flavor, somewhat reminiscent of a Belgian red ale, balanced with a fair bit of hoppy bitterness. Duchesse de Bourgogne came to mind though you'd never mistake one for the other. Not nearly as freakish a beer as I'd expected but probably not something I'll go out of my way to find. If you're a pomegranate fan I'd say give it a try. I'm not sure about availability in Chicago (we had it at Flying Saucer in Nashville) but you can find more information at www.shmaltz.com.

Rene G wrote:This other one has a tag saying pomegranates have 365 seeds. What's the deal with that?

It's just folklore. 365 is just supposed to be an auspicious number.

Rene G wrote:Last month I tried my first bottle of He'brew ("The Chosen Beer") Original, a pomegranate brew. I'm not sure about availability in Chicago

I think I saw He'brew at the Trader Joe's on Ontario downtown. I'm pretty delirious when I stop in there after yoga, but I've made a mental note of the label the few times that I've seen it...I'm pretty sure it was there...

(False alarm, see my correction below--no He'brew at Trader Joe's! )

happy_stomach wrote:I think I saw He'brew at the Trader Joe's on Ontario downtown. I'm pretty delirious when I stop in there after yoga, but I've made a mental note of the label the few times that I've seen it...I'm pretty sure it was there...

Just note that Shmaltz make four or five varieties of He'brew. If it's Origin you want, make sure it's Origin you get.

germuska wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:I think I saw He'brew at the Trader Joe's on Ontario downtown. I'm pretty delirious when I stop in there after yoga, but I've made a mental note of the label the few times that I've seen it...I'm pretty sure it was there...

Just note that Shmaltz make four or five varieties of He'brew. If it's Origin you want, make sure it's Origin you get.

OK--apparently I didn't see He'brew at Trader Joe's, but I know I saw Origin somewhere in River North. I'm completely delirious these days--60 consecutive days of yoga can really mess up one's brain, far more than pomegranate beer can--I can't be trusted.

However, I can confirm that Quencher's has Origin.

Quencher's Saloon
2401 N. Western Ave.
Chicago
773-276-9730

Cogito wrote:I have a friend from Armenia who lives in IN and he asked me to see if there was any of this stuff around here because he can't find it where he lives. Do we have any Armenian food shops in Chicago?

The Russian owned Extra Value liquor store on Western in RP sells Georgian and Armenian wine and brandy.

Extra Value Wine & Liquor
7300 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60645
(773) 764-2933

While I haven't gone scouting recently, I once noted that Devon Market seemed to have at least one bottle of wine from just about every Eastern or Central European country I could think of. I know I got up to over a dozen countries represented that aren't necessarily known for their wine production.

Devon Market
1440 W Devon Ave, Chicago, IL
(773) 338-2572