New downtown wine walk replacing Wheaton's wine festival
A new Thursday night wine walk is coming to downtown Wheaton in August, replacing the city's annual Wine and Cultural Arts Festival in Memorial Park.
The Downtown Wheaton Association and the Wheaton Park District co-hosted the wine and arts festival for the past three years, but decided to scrap it this year due to rising costs.
"It was a great event, very well-received," said Paula Barrington, executive director of the Downtown Wheaton Association. "However, the expense and logistics of setting up the event in the park was becoming cost-prohibitive."
Looking to towns like Libertyville and others that have successful, sold-out wine walks, the association decided to create a new wine event on its own.
"The park district has a lot of events on their plate," Barrington said. "It was agreed that for this event the DWA would be completely responsible."
The first Wheaton Wine Walk is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at more than 20 locations in downtown Wheaton. Tickets are available online at downtownwheaton.com for $35 and include a map with participating locations, a wine tote bag, 12 tastings and a souvenir glass.
"We've very excited," Barrington said. "We wanted to take the wine festival and bring it into the downtown area and engage our retailers and our restaurants."
Attendees will start the night at Martin Memorial Plaza on the southwest corner of Main and Front streets. They will pick up their map, tote bag and glass and head out to any tasting location that sparks their interest.
"You decide where you want to start," Barrington said. "It's a very social event. You're moving from restaurant to restaurant, retail shop to retail shop."
A trolley will take participants to four of the outlying tasting stations, including Adele's, Wheaton Center Apartments and The Perfect Thing. There will be complimentary appetizers at various locations, along with live acoustic and jazz music on the sidewalks. All tastings will take place indoors.
Reds, wines and roses from different parts of the world will be served at the festival, including a malbec from Argentina, a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand and sparkling wine from Italy, among others.
They will be shared as one ounce samples, which means the total amount of wine served will amount to about two glasses.
More than 200 tickets already have been sold for the event. Barrington said participants are excited to visit shops and restaurants they've never been to before, and she hopes hosting it on a Thursday night will help retailers see the benefits of staying open later during the week.
"It's just a wonderful way to get together with friends, learn about some new wines that are on the market and enjoy a fun evening," she said.
If you go
What: Inaugural Wheaton Wine Walk
When: 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11
Where: Features more than 20 locations
Tickets: $35
Info: downtownwheaton.com