Wine on the Fox

On Saturday, May 1, we headed out to Oswego, Illinois for the Wine on the Fox festival.  This was E's second year attending, and M's first.  The festival takes place in Hudson Crossing Park, right alongside the Fox River.  It's a gorgeous venue for a wine festival - tall trees, lush plants, a playground for kids, enough room for a stage with live bands, and plenty of room to mill around without feeling crowded.  Also, since Oswego is one of the far western suburbs of Chicago, this festival is most likely "too far away" for a lot of people and the crowds are blessedly small compared to some of the larger wine festivals in the Chicagoland area.  And honestly, you just can't beat the scenery.

Twenty different wineries from throughout the state of Illinois participated in the 2010 festival.  Like last year, Fox Valley Winery in Oswego acted as the "host" for the event, along with the local park district and village visitors' bureau.  Two wineries were new in attendance this year: Hailey's Winery and Vineyard (Byron, IL) and Rocky Waters Vineyard (Hanover, IL).  The full list of wineries can be found here.

We all found this festival to be extremely enjoyable, for several different reasons.  First, there's the lovely venue.  Second, this is a truly affordable wine festival.  For $10 you receive a complimentary wine glass for the event, and five tasting tickets.  If you attend with a group of friends and don't mind sharing (which was our M.O. for the day), then you can get a sip of everything.  Third, the vast array of wines available to sample and buy are phenomenal.  Unlike some wine fests we've visited in the past where the wineries are only allowed four or five wines to sample, this festival is a free-for-all when it comes to how many wines are available.  Some have ten or twelve, others have well over twenty wines on hand.  Everything from sweet to dry, red to white, fruit to sparkling, it's available here.  And fourth, the people hosting the event are great.  If they see guests carrying a case of wine out to the parking lot, they'll load you and your purchases onto a golf cart and drive you to your car.

The Wine on the Fox festival is really a great way to usher in the warmer months, and for us it's become the unofficial early start to the summer season.  As long as Oswego keeps hosting, we'll be back in 2011.