Hinsdale Wine Shop Cash Mob

Ever hear of a Cash Mob? In cities all over the country, groups of people are getting together via social media and common interest to support local businesses and boost the economy in their communities.  How? On a designated day, the group brings a specified amount of cash, and spends it at the business of choice.  This type of event can mean double or triple the sales than a typical day for your favorite boutique or specialty shop. You can read about more Cash Mobs here.

Want to be part of this community-centered cause?

On January 26th, Hinsdale Wine Shop will be participating in a Cash Mob from 4:00-7:00 PM! We will be offering 8 wines normally priced at $30-$40 for just $25! All wines part of this deal will be available for tasting throughout the event. Just bring $25 cash and take advantage of this incredible deal!

Hinsdale Wine Shop

12 E Hinsdale Avenue

Hinsdale, IL 60521

 

Money, Markets and Mykonos: My Big, Fat Greek Vacation

Alexis Zorba: Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You’ve got everything except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else…

Basil: Or else?

Alexis Zorba: …he never dares cut the rope and be free.

Basil: …Teach me to dance….

– From Zorba the Greek

One travels to Greece with a certain degree of expectation. Sparkling blue seas should catch the sun and blind you with Greece’s unstoppable beauty. The scents of garlicky, grilled souvlaki and the sounds of energetic lute music should follow you as you travel through quaint, narrow streets lined with quaint stucco buildings. And you should encounter mustached men gulping ouzo and freely dancing their own version of Zorba’s Sirtaki.

So, when my good, good friend and Cellar Door manager Alex Shamsuddin and I spent eight days in Athens and Mykonos, that was the movie playing in my head as we began our travels. While we failed to see Anthony Quinn or have anyone teach us the secret to life, we did hear firsthand experiences about Greece’s recent economic woes, discover Athens’ central market, and become mesmerized by Mykonos’ splendor.

A taste of reality

The first thing we experienced in Greece was a taste of economic despair—not ours, thankfully. Coming into Athens, our hotel was conveniently situated near Syntagma Square, just downwind from the Acropolis and central to everything, including a huge protest. Greece’s economic hardships were hard to avoid in conversations with the Greeks we met. I lost track of the number of people inquiring about jobs in the United States, asking how to emigrate and relaying their own personal financial woes. You would think in that case tourists would find bargains everywhere, but just the opposite was true. Starbucks would have looked like a bargain compared to our coffee, which was selling for 5 euros/cup (about $7). And if the “Best Bartender in Greece” was telling us the truth, he earned the equivalent of $35/day – that doesn’t buy too many cups of coffee!  So, with all this bad news and warnings of pickpockets everywhere, it was a little hard to get comfortable in Greece…at first. However, Greece is a bit of paradise. And if one believes Zorba the Greek, this is a resilient culture that will rise above. Despite its recent travails, Greece is undeniably full of history, culture, and color and still makes for a restful vacation.

Going to the meat market

Jet lag can drive a person crazy. Unable to sleep, Alex and I decided on our second day to explore Athens – cigars in hand – at its least crowded – 5 a.m. And at that time of day, The Agora or central market was where the action was. We found butchers grinding, carving and macerating every meat you could imagine. Fishmongers, too, were sorting and cleaning fish, and flower vendors and vegetable sellers also received their day’s delivery of fresh, colorful produce. The air there was thick and gamey but the sights spectacular. Peach-colored squash blossoms that are sometimes filled and sometimes just lightly batter-fried were nestled among a brilliant array of colors in the many vegetable and fruit kiosks. The next day and the day after we returned to gaze upon the trays of goat heads or cured pork legs hanging along walls – literally the place was a feast for the senses. We would munch on olives and cheeses as we simply enjoyed walking through the market, listening to the Greek banter. On our second trip there, we discovered the Agora had cafeteria-like restaurants where locals were consuming ouzo even in the morning. We joined in, selecting spiced meatballs that went perfectly with a big glass of Greek frosty beer.

Sure we made it to the historic and massive Acropolis that looms above Athens. And through all our exploring we happened upon the bartender who had been voted best in all of Greece and made the most alluring cocktails. But likely the most memorable part of Athens will be the time spent in the Agora.

Magical Mykonos

Mykonos is the kind of Greece that people dream of. It’s what we see in movies, and when one is there, it’s hard to believe that these narrow gray stone-paved walkways are what they refer to as streets. Whitewashed buildings contrast against the azure sky and matching azure-painted balcony rails, window shutters, and doors. At night, the streets fill up with those who have spent their days sunbathing. Unlike the majority of other men traveling in pairs in Mykonos, we were not wearing skin-tight white t-shirts, hanging inside or outside of the discotheques whose house music radiated down the street, drawing in male European tourists like a Pied Piper.

No, Alex and I instead reveled in the pastoral side of Mykonos. It was back to nature for us with the gorgeous blue water, the blinding white sand, and, oh, the nakedness. No, we weren’t naked, but many around us were—even those guys who would later be sweating on a dance floor rather than lingering in a nice restaurant like we would. Yes, food in Mykonos was lovely, and surprisingly not always seafood. At Namma Barbecue, we had an assortment of grilled meats that went perfectly with an ice-cold glass of crisp, slightly salty Muscadet. However, one of my best meals was at Mouragio where you ordered an appetizer and selected your specific fresh fish from a case that they grilled simply with salt, pepper and olive oil. It was flaky, light and so fresh—one of the best fish dinners I have ever had. I’ve tried to replicate the process at home, but honestly, maybe I need the Greek sun and sand to do so.

After five days in Mykonos, I felt sated, re-energized and ready to return to my own hot Hinsdale sun. It had been a relaxing week, but I couldn’t help thinking of Zorba’s words again: “No more fooling around, not in this place. We’ll pull our pants up and make a pile of money.”

– Sean Chaudhry

 

Remembering Memorial Day with the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society

The one way to make drinking wine even better is to help out a great cause while doing so. This week – from Friday, May 27^th to Thursday, June 2^nd – Hinsdale Wine Cellars will donate $1 for every bottle of wine sold to the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society in honor of Memorial Day.

Since 1904, the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society has been a pivotal organization to nearly 4 million Sailors, Marines and their families. When disaster strikes, this is the organization they know they can turn to. It has a history of helping out when times get tough and has become an extended family of sorts to those in the Navy and Marine Corps.

Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society

For more than a century, the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society has provided financial, educational and other assistance to its constituents when they need it most. In partnership with the Navy and Marine Corps and with hundreds of volunteers, it has provided important educational scholarships, special health care programs and interest-free loans and other financial assistance, often in emergency situations.

During this past year of nationwide financial upheaval, it should come as no surprise that Sailors and Marines were not immune to the crisis. Last year, the organization provided $50 million in financial assistance. One in every five active duty Sailors and Marines turned to the Society for financial assistance, translating to nearly 100,000 financial cases. And another of the organization’s important resources, a visiting nurses program, continued to follow more than 1,000 wounded warriors, making more than 17,000 contacts in 2010.

After the earthquake in Japan, the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society provided service members with financial assistance associated with required evacuations. This is the group that has provided support to Sailors and Marines in countless other disasters too, including the attack on the USS Cole, 9/11, and hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and fires literally around the world.

How you can help…

Hinsdale Wine Cellars has made it easy for you to help. For every bottle of wine you buy this week, we will donate $1 to the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society. Of course, if you want to add to our collection and provide an additional contribution, that multiplies the impact we can all make together.

It’s easy for Memorial Day to be overshadowed by picnics, the opening of swimming pools and the Indy 500. However, Memorial Day is a day to remember our fallen heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. It is also a time to look at how we can help those who are still with us who have chosen a career that too often puts their lives on the line. I hope you will join us at Hinsdale Cellars this week in supporting the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society. To learn more, visit http://www.nmcrs.org.

– Sean Chaudhry

 

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