What a freakin blast!!! Wine Riot was an amazing event! The location of Union Station was perfect. A great central location to accommodate the event. You know what that means - the typical annoyance of Downtown Chicago parking, but whatever, it's Chicago, get over it! The place was PACKED! There were so many booths to go and sample wines from, as each worker educated you on the brand that they were representing. Wines were from all over the world and varied between whites and darks, drys and sweets. Maps located by most stations gave a direct look at where the wine was from as well as other facts about the brand. Every representative I interacted with was very patient and cheerful. There was a Bubbly Bar that was strictly for champagnes, mini classes were taught on wine knowledge, temp tattoos were cool, and went well with your pic if you decided to jump in the picture line. The amount of people stumbling around due to being tipsy?! HUH-LARIOUS! One chic fell flat on her face and tried to blame it on the floor being slippery. Yeah. Okay. Then as she walked off, someone mentioned that she'd been there drinking since the event started..... almost 5 hours ago. Sheesh! This was totally worth the $55 I paid. Only thing is, I wish there were Port and Ice wines. That would've been awesome. Needless to say, I will be back when the event returns in October. #ChiTownFoodieChic #WHONEEDSLOVEWHENYOUHAVEBOOZE read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Oh my goodness, this was SO MUCH FUN. How could you not have fun drinking various wines for four hours straight and hopping on the train afterwards so you don't have to worry about driving!? YES. This is my kind of thing. Wine Riot had a tattoo booth (I might have gone a little crazy there), a photo booth/Instagram station with fun quotes and props, a cool phone app to keep track of all the drinks you liked (and didn't like), and dozens of wine to sample. The cheese sample table was pretty sweet, too. Somewhere, a DJ was playing music, free bottled water was given away, and a food truck had food to purchase. All in the beautiful setting of Union Station. It was a great place for this event -- close to public transportation and not too crowded or chaotic. Some of the vendor spokespeople were very sweet, sharing information with us about the wine/company and pouring us generous samples. Others were standoff-ish, not saying anything and generally ignoring us. You can bet my friend and I returned to the tables with the nicer workers (and generally preferred those wines anyway). I thought that the four hours that Saturday afternoon would be more than enough time, but my friend and I ended up staying until closing (and could have stayed longer)! I left the event with a nice buzz and a list of new favorite wines. Thank you so much for the tickets, Candice/Yelp!! Much love! They were definitely put to good use. ;D read more

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Wine Riot Chicago May 2014 - 5 Stars: what a treat for those who like wine and like to smooze a little on a weekend. Maybe two dozen wineries gather around a number of booths putting their wares on display for unlimited tasting by the imbibing public. Situated in the Great Hall of Union Station in downtown Chicago, this two-day, three-session event was well planned and carried off seamlessly. The Great Hall has enough room to gather hundreds without crowding ... there were a lot of people but enough room to really pass from booth to booth with ease. Four ways to get in ... Entrance is $60 per at the door, $55 if you bought early online, Free if you volunteer to work a session, and Free if you got YELPed in by Community Kingpin Candice G (Thanks again). No matter how you get here, the price point is worth it. The process is you pick up a little plastic glass on your way in and begin working your way around any booth, each of which has four or so different wineries stylin their stuff. Each winery offers a couple to a half dozen wines...usually half red and half white. You get a tasting of what interests you, talk with the merchant/representative if you like, spill any leftover into the containers provided on each table, and move on. While the sip you get with each wine is small - just a tasting - remember that you'll probably taste 50 to 100 before you are done. While this event is really a millennial smooze fest, absolutely any age will feel comfortable. Maybe 75% of the peeps were between 25 and 35 - and many of the younger set came in groups and had a ball working their way around the Great Hall. Great event for couples also. This event was also a lot of fun for geezers like myself. PS: Don't forget to stop at the YELP stand and check out their swag, especially the red socks for Elite YELPers. The hit for me was the Crash Courses. Since they bill this event as the antithesis of being a wine snob, the Crash Courses they offer fit in perfectly. These crash courses are put on by some of the Wine Riot movers and shakers (in particular, co-founder Tyler Balliet who was wonderfully engaging) where they showcase a particular wine or region in a short 15 to 20 minute presentation with - as if you couldn't figure this out - a tasting of each wine discussed...usually four. I sat in for the Italian wine course (learning the differences among and tasting a Chianti, a Barbera, a Nebbiolo, and a Lambrusco). I also sat in for a course on Saki and Spanish wines - each of which also had four tastings. Two notes - 1. There is very little food here - I saw one cheese tasting table and there was a stand selling a variety of tamales...so have something to eat before you show up...everyone needs a foundation. 2. Since it is in a train station, try and take the train to get here ($7 round trip to Union Station on weekends); while you still have to exit the building and come in on the Jackson Street side...it is not a big deal and the benefit is you won't be driving when you shouldn't be. If Union Station doesn't work for you, Northwest (Ogilvie) Station is just a few blocks down the street. Take the train. Lastly - Wine Riot has tasting shows in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago every year. The second Wine Riot for Chicago will be at the same place on October 17 & 18, 2014. This was fun, give it a try. Highly recommended. read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Co-founder Tyler Balliet leading a Crash Course - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Great event. Not pretentious! How frustrating is it to go to the store and not know what wine you like or which wine you want to buy? Wine Riot can help you with that! They have 250 wines available for tasting and you can learn while you are at it. Everyone is easy going and friendly. Food was available for purchase. And because it is in a Union Station, which is a train station, well, it is easy to get home after trying a lot of wines. read more

My friend and I went to Second Glass Wine Riot last weekend and we had a great time! We weren't too sure what to expect but I really enjoyed the event. Some booths were better than others, some wines were better than others. Tattoo Booth - really friendly workers and got a cool drinking octopus temp tattoo. The lady told me it was the most popular one of the day, so silly! Photos - super fun sayings, great background and quality. 3 for $10 or $5 each. The guy taking the photos was kinda eh. He took the pix while on his cell phone, printed them while on his cell phone, 'twas a bit off putting. However the girl helping us view pix and explaining costs and such was super nice. We ended up with a super awesome picture! hehe The Naked Grapes ladies were the most friendly, most informative and I loved their wines! My friend and I seeked them out following the event and they are surprisingly super cheap! Less than $10 a pop! Their moscato and summer white blend are delicious! Mionetto's booth had a ton of options to try and we really loved everything we tried. Lynfred Winery is a tried and true favorite of mine so I was happy to see them reppin'. Loved the comparison booth. Everyone there was super nice (shoutouts to the girl with the cute boots who complimented my cheap purse haha) and helpful in their teachings. I really did learn a bit at the booth. Props to the vendors that had little cards or papers we could take to remember the wines we just tasted. Tamale Spaceship was there, but more food options would have been a plus for me. Their app which they were promoting the heck out of didn't work for Androids. Lame! I don't know why they didn't fix it so we could actually use it...would have been very helpful to keep track of our wines. Thanks, Candice and Yelp for the tickets!!! :D It was great talking to some of my fellow Yelpers. Overall a lovely afternoon event that I'd attend again. read more

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Our ever so awesome CM, Candice G. rocks! So does being a Chicago 'Burbs Yelp Elite! I was able to snag 1 of the 10 pair of tickets for this event and so glad I did. One of the best thing about Wine Riot is that it's at Union Station so my cousin and I jumped on the local Metra and rode it in, no worries about looking for parking and paying an arm and a leg to park. Cost us $7 for roundtrip, whoot! It was a riot alright, so many vendors and wine where do we start? We walked the venue at least 2-3 times, since there were so many vendors and so many wines! I'm more of a white wine girl and a novice, so I tried to try a few more reds and other types of white and did find a few I enjoyed, but my favorite of the night was Madria Sangria - red. Not dry like most reds with a fruity flavor. Best part is the next day I found some at my local Mariano's for our early Mother's Day lunch! The food was very limited, I was hoping for great food options that would pair well with wines, even snack tables of meats and cheese. They did have one cheese booth and it was a big hit! There were 2 food truck vendors,Tamale Spaceship and The Flying Slider. We enjoyed the duck confit tamale with mole sauce and the sirarcha chicken slider, while the second option of each were meh. Personally when it comes to wines I crave charcuterie and cheese, but that could be my limited experience and exposure to wine. We were also able to get some fake tattoos, me with the drink more wine globe, while my cousin opted for the naked mermaid. We also took pictures at the photo booth, but skipped the line to buy them. I really enjoyed the app so I can remember which wine I loved, liked, or wasn't fond of, but some of the booths had different wines compared to what was listed on the app so that wasn't helpful. Definitely an event for wine lovers, but also an adventure for newbies like myself. Maybe more food next year and free photo booth pictures, that would be awesome. read more

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Special thanks to Second Glass for all the complimentary tickets they made available and another thanks to Yelp Chicagoland for making my dreams a reality. I won a pair of tickets to Wine Riot through Yelp's Event + Twitter giveaway and I had a blast! My friend Katy M and I met up with Lori L, Megan G, Maria F, Dallas H, and Jeff B for a fabulous way to spend a hot time in the city. We were all surprised at how open the venue was and that lines to try wine were never more than a few people long. It gave us a chance to try a little bit of everything and chat with the vendors without feeling rushed. We took the most advantage of the photo portion and I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out. I'm a sweet drink kind of girl, so St. James Winery was the clear cut wine-winner for me. I've seen their bottles at Binny's, so I'll make sure to pick up a few of the flavors next time I need a bottle for BYOV. We also enjoyed NV Charonge Wine with the orange slices and I won a bright orange shirt when I guessed how many gummies were in their jar (it's totally getting cut up and made into my new Zumba shirt). Andrew Quady was another favorite along with 90+, Lynfred Winery & Sweet Wines Limited. Thanks for the swag! I looked and felt like Mardi Gras. We were a little disappointed that we weren't able to take any of the wine home. A few wineries would have been more than willing to part with a few bottles, but apparently that was a big no-no. However, we drank more than our fair share after scoffing at the "how to taste wine" poster that suggests you spit or pour your wine out (amateurs). We were also sad when one of the employees came up to us and asked us to attend a seminar on Riesling and when we tried to go, it was full and we were turned away. But all in all, it was run very well and we learned more than enough about wine from each vendor. We liked the plastic tasting cups with the thumb mold and hope Wine Riot will maybe consider handing out glass souvenir cups when you leave next time. Again, thanks to Second Glass and thanks to Yelp! We had a great time and will recommend this festival to all our wine-loving friends! P.S. - Please, please, please have the temporary tattoos again next year. That was one of the highlights. I got the double glass Second Glass logo on my cheek. I call it my teardrop tat. It represents the glasses I killed at this killer party! read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Huge THANK YOU to Yelp for the pair of tickets to this shin dig. My sisters and I had planned to attend for months, literally, and I had tickets burning a hole in my pocket. The extra tickets I scored went to friends who shared in the boozy delights. First of all, this was so easy to get to from the suburban outpost I occupy. Train it in, train it out, everyone's happy. Checking it was a breeze and I was immediately hooked up with a glass and free reign on a huge arena of wine purveyors. The swag was awesome - my sisters loaded up on sunglasses, playing cards, reusable bags, wine stoppers and coasters. I was far more interested in the temporary tattoos and photo options. I loved that if you used #WineRiot on Instagram, your photos automatically printed out for free. I also appreciated that you could tweet your photo booth pics to yourself. Someone is smart with this social media stuff. Kudos. But let's talk about why we're all here: the wine. We really got our drink/education on. I appreciated that none of the wines were super pricey, so I could totes pick up all my favorites at Binny's without breaking the bank. I found a few new favorites and a few that I wouldn't buy if it was the last wine on earth, so I'm glad I did this all in a setting where we could come and go and taste and enjoy. My sisters et al had an awesome time. This was the perfect girls afternoon and the crowds weren't prohibitively heavy. I would have like to see more food options (as the booze increased, so did my visits to the Cabot cheese table), especially for the price tag of this event. They could have at least sent me home with a bag of pretzels to soak up all that vino. That said, the siblings and I are already planning to attend next year. It is quite expensive at $55, but we certainly got our money's worth. read more

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This was a fantastic event. I've been to my share of beer/wine tastings and this was really well run. First, the wine. With approximately 50 vendors, both domestic and international, there was something for everyone. Each vendor had a table with 4+ selections. They were knowledgeable about their products and were able to recommend wines based on your preferences. Then, you could rate each one as "meh", one thumb up or two thumbs up on the handy dandy app. Great idea, because my memory is a lost cause, and I get bored writing my ratings on a sheet I will inevitably lose in the bathroom. The atmosphere was grand in the Great Hall of Union Station. The Second Glass staff circulated efficiently to bring the vendors what they needed. The photo booth and temporary tattoo station were really fun (I ended up with a sign that read "I like 'em big and juicy", but could have gone with other gems like "I spit"...) The event had the perfect number of attendees, it was not, as some have been in the past, oversold to the point where you could not circulate freely. If there was a crowd at one table, you could go to the next and come back. Really well put together, Second Glass, cheers to you. For $45, you really couldn't ask for more. I challenge you not to leave this event with a drunken smile on your face. read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This is one of the best wine events. My second time coming and loved it. Besides all the different wines from all over the world they have tasting of other things as cheese, beef jerky and other stuff. I always seem to have an amazing time at this event. Always seem to find really good wines. Perfect place to meet new people. I'm definitely coming again next year. read more

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After almost 2 years of wanting to go to this event, I finally went this past weekend. During previous years, this event was held at Union Station, but the October 2016 event was held at Venue One. Venue One is a beautiful venue, and provided more than enough space for the amount of people that attended my Saturday night Wine Riot session. I had some fears about obnoxiously long lines and packed rooms, but this wasn't the case for the most part. The longest lines were the bathrooms during the last 2 hours of the event. There were a couple of bathroom attendants in the bathroom that helped keep things moving along smoothly, which was good. The wines were mostly organized by countries and states. Each of the representatives I encountered were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the wines. Most of the wines offered would not be considered "fine" wines by any means, but most of the ones I tried were great. Second Glass is very upfront about the fact that most of the wines are under $30, so you have to come here with that in mind. If you are someone that likes at least 2 or 3 different varieties of wine, there is more than enough to choose from. $60 is seemingly steep for a festival, but having unlimited access to around 250 wines during a 4 hour period makes it worth it. My friends and I had a great time, and I would probably go again. read more

Went to my second annual Wine Riot and believe it will become a tradition. Was only there 2.5 of the 4 hours - walked out a bit worse for the wear. Was really happy to find some delicious whites. I'm a total red hound, and find it difficult to find a tasty white that I don't get sick of after one glass. I will definitely be stopping into Binny's to find a few of my faves of the night. I'm just glad I took business cards because whooooo doggy...in no shape to be rememberin' after the first round of vendors... Definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys wine. No need to be snob and put your nose in the glass and act like you know what you're doing. But hey if that's your thing, enjoy yourself by all means. Me, well, I just throw that little pour back and try another. And who doesn't love photo booth pics after the fact...just a nice reminder my eyes were crossed. read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Truths. - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I really enjoyed getting unlimited wine, and getting to learn all I wanted about them. Even an art station for your glass, temporary tattoos, champagne booths, and crash courses! Cons: There is nowhere to just sit instead of in the classes. My friend, and I would sit in on classes so we'd be able to sit and eat. App was awesome, but easily overloaded. It would frequently freeze when booting up. Lastly the entrance was difficult to find. Union station employees would send us there, but we didn't know we had to enter from the outside. They would direct us to the closest entrance to the hall, but we couldn't get in that way. Being able to see it, and not enter was quite frustrating. My friend, and I joined a group of people also looking for it. Our group that easily grew to a dozen could only find the entrance after searching for about an hour. All-in-all I wish it was more clearly marked where to go. I lost an hour of the event trying to find the entrance :( Otherwise it was quite great. A bit overwhelming with all the varieties, but fun none the less. Would have appreciated more Ice Wines, and ports though. Also an ETA on postcards. I attended the event in October, but just got my post card in December. read more

This was probably the coolest wine tasting event to which I've ever been. There were tons of wine vendors from all over the world, two wine classes every 30 minutes, an app, and other fun activities (I loved sending two free postcards to some lucky friends). I found that most of the vendors were friendly, down to earth, and willing to explain their wines. We were buzzed (if not drunk) after two classes, eleven vendors, and a table of eight wines designed to teach me how to taste wine. There were some things that I really didn't like. For example, getting to the event was kinda tricky. Although there are multiple entrances to the Union Station Grand Hall, we could only enter through one. It was long and cumbersome and could have been avoided if only directive signs had been posted at strategic locations. I also was not a huge fan of not having many food options. I probably could have kept tasting wine (beyond eleven vendors) if there were some bread or crackers or SOMETHING to help absorb the alcohol. Lastly, the Android app didn't work. They explained that it was a problem they'd run into for the past two days. They encouraged me to use their mobile website instead. It worked okay, but I suspect that the app would have been better. The app was to be used for tracking vendors and the wines they offered. Beyond those hiccups, everything was pretty cool. I would have loved staying longer and trying more wines and taking more classes. I found it to be super informative and a lot of fun. I even found some wineries that would make for a fun road trip! read more

I won! I won! I won! I'm not a betting kind of gal, so it's no wonder I never win anything. However, I was exceptionally grateful to win a pair of a tickets to this event. I had a great time with some Yelp friends while trying some new wines. This event was very cool and unique. The Great Hall at Union Station is a perfect setting for it - there's lots of space to walk around, stand and chat, stand and drink, or dance around - without being bumped by the tons of people that were here. We had some trouble finding the entrance to the event, as many entrances were blocked. I was more than a little annoyed - a lot of people took the Metra to get to the event, but then we had to go outside and walk around the block just to get inside Union Station again. Oh lame. Signage, Second Glass! Signage! I was a little grumpy when we walked in, as I don't like disorganized chaos, but after a few wine tastes and bumping into some friends, I was back in the fun zone. The wine was never ending. There were 30+ vendors, all of which had at least 2-4 options to taste. All of the vendors seemed friendly, although I wasn't chatty with any of them, and the pours seemed tiny but added up fast. We stayed 4 of the 5 hours of the event and made our way to each table, but didn't sample every single wine. There were some familiar wines like Naked Grape and St. Michele, and some were not so familiar like Bonfire Wines and Milestone. The highlight of the day really was the cheese booth featuring 4 different samples of goat cheese, and I kept going back for more. I know I wasn't the only one, so yay for no shame! I took one of their stickers so I'd remember their name. Truffle Goat Cheese, you will be mine! The only other food option was Tamale Spaceship. My husband loves tamales, and I've never had one, but we tried the combo of the peppers with cheese and the barbacoa chicken, and they were fantastic. I've been missing out! If I had paid full price for my tickets, I would have been disappointed at the lack of food options. I probably would have smuggled in some of my own crackers and brie. The tattoo booth was a fun addition, as was the photo booth, but I wasn't feeling the $10 pricetag. So now that you don't I don't bet, I'll add that I also do not pay for cheesy, vacation-like photos. I take enough photos of my own. If I spent all my money on tickets and photographs, I wouldn't have any money for that goat cheese, see? Priorities. I would have liked to see more food options, because drinking that much wine did leave us both feeling quite drunk, which became clear when we later got into an argument about crossing the street. Taking the Metra made everything a lot easier though. Parking in the area is pricey, and I don't know who would've drove us home anyway. read more

Such an ingenious idea: there are so many beer festivals, why not a wine festival? And I love me some wine. For the most part, the execution was flawless. The iPhone app especially made all the techies happy. The people working the booths were helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. The wines generally were in the 10-15 dollar range, which is to be expected. A few not so great things: some booths were incredibly crowded and difficult to get to--it was rather chaotic. While it was nice they offered some food, it was not at ALL reasonably priced like they originally suggested it would be--$4 for a single crostini? Meh. And at some point, I would have loved a full glass of wine--it would be great if they added that option somehow. With a few tweaks, this could be a 5 star event. read more

I love wine riot It's so much fun and you get to learn and try so many different wines that you had no clue about and find a new one you love :-) read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have been sitting here trying to see how I can start this review so you can see and experience what I did when I stepped into Union Station to enjoy Wine Riot. First I was one of the volunteers that helped with set-up and I had the Pleasure of meeting Tyler and Morgan. They are so sweet and humble but they have a vision and their vision is being seen with just about every happy guest that stepped into the space that was transformed into a place that made me forget that 1 I helped set it up...lol and that it was Union Station. When you walk in you are greeted with smiling faces and wristband after they take your ticket. You are given your Second Glass Wine Glass that you will use throughout the night. The best thing is that it is made of a durable plastic so you don't have to worry about a bunch of broken wine glasses all over the place. They also give you complimentary bottled water which I was happy about because after doing so much tasting you need to keep yourself hydrated. When I get my first sip of wine I think I can master each table no problem(next time I'm going to have a better plan)...lol because I did not hit all 40 something tables and 250 wines and the 4 different Saki in the Crash Course. I will pass on some advice that was given to me The Wine Riot is not a Race but a Marathon so take your time enjoy the wines and Saki and if you don't like something don't drink it just to drink it(I didn't do that at first) because you will be surprised at how those little taste can creep up on you. Another piece of an advice Don't Drive after you leave get a cab, Uber, Public Transportation or a friend to get you home. (That's the momma in me speaking) They had free cheese from the Cyress Grove Chevre all I can say is OMG it was just so smooth and flavorful it made me think I never ate cheese before this or at least real cheese. I will be looking for this brand because it tasted so good paired with the wines. I was told that one block wheel can cost up to 30 dollars and if you can get a taste for free you better go for it...and I did, oh yes I did...lol I also enjoyed the Crash Courses which start every 30 minutes where they give you information about the wine or Saki that you were drinking. Where it originated, how its made, cost, etc. The bubbly bar where they taught you about Champagne it was just fun. Have you ever been to a wine tasting event and couldn't hardly hold your head up wishing they would just give you the wine as you are checking to see how many bottles are left so you can gauge if you can get another taste. This was polar opposite of that people were gathered around asking questions laughing and sampling. I meant to go to the Instagram photo booth but by the time I thought about it, it was time to go...I still have a sad face about this one. They had a temporary tattoo booth which was fun and I wished I had got more than one(picture coming) but I will when they come back into town. Another thing I missed was mail a post card but I won't next time. Now, this is why I took a star away there really isn't a lot bathroom stalls for the women. We were lined up for almost 30 minutes at one point which takes away from your time to taste more wine. I wish they could have made it where we could go to another restroom and get back in with our wristbands. Some women took to taking over the men's restroom because they had to use the restroom so badly. They also had food for purchase there and don't get me wrong the 2 vendors the Tamale Spaceship, and the Slide Ride had some delicious food, but it was 8 dollars for two tamales and 5 dollars for a scoop of guacamole. The sliders were good especially the bread they used but it was 5 dollars for one steak slider, 4 dollars the other two selection they had and 2 dollar bags of chips. I did research the chips which are called Dirty Chips and understood the price point. They are fabulous and I would pay the 2 dollars again for them. Next time I'm going to eat before I go but make sure I have my 2 dollars for my Dirty Chips. I wish they had a couple of more food vendors as well but truly that didn't take away from the event or my wonderful time with wine, family and friends. Second Glass will be back on June 14th for the Riesling Riot and October 17-18 for another great Wine Riot. (2014) The tickets are about 60 dollars but it is well worth it!!! You can start saving now for the one in October you won't regret it! Enjoy! read more

As always, this year's Wine Riot was a ton of fun. I especially liked the addition of the Instagram photo printer. I got several fun prints from that. My one complaint is that they didn't have as many sweet wines as they did last year, but then I realize that I'm in the minority when it comes to wine preference (I hate dry wines). All in all, I'd definitely recommend it. read more

This was such a fun event! With 250 wines to sample and a mini education behind all you tried it was a great way to find new wines and learn more about those you're already a fan of. Also loved the photo booth and Instagram booth - a fun way to capture memories from a great event. read more

As a child, I had long dreamed of the moment of my first wine tasting. I pictured myself in a tuxedo with monocle perched atop my cheek. I would coy chuckle at presumptuous jokes while one hand would twist an end of my oversized and styled mustache. The other hand would hoist a wine class, pinky raised of course, and deliver the punch line to a ridiculously corny joke while a gaggle of stale cohorts would chuckle with the same dry, soul-less, laughter. NO! NEIN! Wine riot wasn't so! I would call it more of a modern wine tasting, and not very snobbish. Candice G., the Queen of the Chicago Suburb yelpians, served as our ambassador as we floated from one wine table to the other. Having received free tickets from yelp, I was very pleased with our experience. The wine was very abundant, with nearly every vendor offering a few whites and a few reds. The Wine 101 tables were helpful and informative, ripping the "snob" label right off by giving straight, useful information that came in very handy for the vino novice like myself. There was even a cheese table, and I didn't even have to put on a phony mustache or throw my hoodie up for quick disguises for seconds. They didn't mind! I did have tamales from Tamale spaceship, as well as a few sliders. That was one of the things I wish they had more of...food! I was kind've hoping for some semi-snobby accomplices for the vino...like pears, walnuts, crackers, mas queso...maybe even some sausages...and I was hoping even more for more food vendors. The only other downside did not concern me personally, but that doesn't mean I don't care! The women's washroom was absolutely ridiculous. Even though there were two locations, the main one was tiny and the line wrapped around the wall. I would suggest more signs, at the very least, to let the chicas know there is another place to let that wine go! Another thing I would've liked was the option to purchase wine from the vendors. Alas, all I got was some literature on where to find it in my hood. That's all mighty fine, to be sure, but the impulse shopper in me was severely disappointed. So! All in all, thumbs up! read more

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My friends and I really enjoyed our first Wine Riot. For a $50 ticket, we had 4 hours of wine tastings from about 20+ wineries in the beautiful Great Hall in Union Station, along with wine tasting classes and pintxos (mini sandwiches for $4 a piece). My only gripe was the slow pours and the long waits behind DBs holding hour long conversations about the wine so they could hold their spot at the booth for subsequent pours. But overall, a great time. read more

Thank you yelp for the pair of tickets to this event, without it I'm not sure I would have shaded $60 per ticket out of my own pocket. I'm glad I went and the event was well organized and it perfectly fitted its intent: increase the level of awareness of wine offerings to Millenials. As such the wines presented were not high end but rather entry level prices or middle of the road. Yet the event was really well set so you could learn a lot in a small amount of time (oak aged or not, different types or wines, different regions...) and at the end you could leave the event with a few favorites of your own. The accompanying app was really well built as well so you could rate the wines throughout the event and also see what were the crowds favorites so you would not miss the top wines. Overall, this was an excellent event. read more

Woo hoo! Thanks for the pair of tix to this event. I didn't know about it, and therfore wouldn't have made it otherwise. This was perfect for a wine-o to be like myself. I loved learning about the wines, pairings, and new varietals these wineries had to offer. It was perfect that most the wineries that participated sell their wines at Binny's or other local stores. So you could write down your favorites to remember when you head out to buy some for yourself. The app. for this event was perfect for this reason! I was expecting a little better food offerings though. Not much to choose from and it wasn't the best to go with wine. Overall, this was such a fun event and perfect that it is at the train station. read more

Www.OMG.org!!! Yasssssssss hunni child this is where it's AT!! Best decision I've made all year!! Wine Riot is where the cool & chic gather. From tattoos to Tee-shirt, Wine Riot exceeded my expectations from the moment I stepped into Union Station (Great choice BTW). I cannot wait to go again. Yes I did get tipsy, yes there was lots of laughter and falling, and plenty of WINE...and wine and more wine. read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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If you are new to the wine tasting experience, then you will love Wine Riot. However, if you are a veteran of the wine tasting experience, then Wine Riot is an average wine tasting event with very little variety. For instance, where's the port wines and the ice wines? There are hundreds of different types of ports, yet they were not present at the Wine Riot. The same can be said for ice wines. Hell, you can get a port wine and an ice wine at Cooper's Hawk. As a matter of fact, Cooper's Hawk was at this event, and they didn't bother to bring their port and ice wine with them. You will get your share of the Pinot Noirs, the Merlots, basic sweet wines, and the Cabernet Sauvignons of the world, but that's about it. read more

Great wine event! Reds, whites and sparkling from many, many different countries. Lots of free giveaways and coupons as well. My favorite stop was the champagne tables. My only issue is that there was not nearly enough food and it was tough to find the main entrance. A lot of the entrances were blocked so I had to walk all the way around Union Station. Also, there needs to be more seating, my feet hurt after standing for so long! read more

For $60, this was not worth the money. Reasons? - Majority of the wines were $10ish bottles, wines I could find at 7-11. One of the bubbly tables was freixenet (um, no.). - The wines that were quality like Bordeaux table were giving away pours that were about the quantity of a teaspoon. - The table hosts, for the most part, acted burdened to tell you about the wine and mostly just wanted to move you like an assembly line. When pressed about the wine, I would get a few words at most. - The crowd was a strange mix. It came off to me as primarily a mix of suburbanites and the lincoln park $1 miller lites happy hour crowd. - Absolutely nowhere to sit except the stairs - And finally, the event was scheduled from 7pm - 11pm. However, over HALF of the tables closed up by 10:15. Totally unacceptable. Not sure if it was because it was the last night, they ran out or were burnt out, but shouldn't matter. The only reason I give it two stars was the venue, the cheese table (which was swarmed at all times), the bubbly bar (again, for the one luis pato bubbly that was high quality), and the quady winery vermouth cocktails. read more

Give it three stars for experience. Nice place for the event, but none of the wines were good. At some point in the night we were given wine out if boxes, $60.00 is a but overpriced because 99.9% of the wines are cheapy ones! Did have lots of fun however. Make sure you eat beforehand, no good food selections and cheese station sucks! read more

Freaking awesome event. Morgan and Tyler, you ruled with this idea. I learned so much about wine and had a great time at the same time. This is my second Wine Riot and I'll make sure I attend it every year. Cheers! read more

We had a good time at Wine Riot. It was a nice size crowd for the space ... not too crowded by any means. Of the 250 wines, there were some that were decent but a lot that were really really bad. We enjoyed the Spaceship Tamales but were disappointed that the sliders were all gone, save for a not very good caprese by the time we made it there. For $60 + food, this was an ok deal. We'd consider doing it again. read more

So much wine, so litte time... meaning I got drunk in very little time, but between the app and getting to sample so much in so little time made it a great experience. I've already bought a few bottles that I tried. It's a very fun event. My only suggestion would be maybe to add in a whole section of food or food trucks, I think people would love it. read more

Amazing event! My friends and I had such a great time. $50 and you can try almost 250 different types of wine. Everyone there was so friendly, from the people working each tasting spot, the Second Glass people and just regular guests like myself were all so friendly. I went with a group of friends but we ended up meeting other people as we wandered around from table to table getting slizzard. The crash courses were great, very knowledgeable people that were patient answering my wine neophyte questions. I also thought it was absolutely genius to have an iPhone app that allowed you to track all the wines you tasted and tag them if you wanted to buy them later. The app was organized by table number the same as if you were standing at the table and had a complete list of what you were tasting there. Then to top it off there were tv screens that showed you what wine was "trending" by how people rated it on the app. Excellent! I can't wait for this event to come back next year. My only suggestion would be to have more food options. The tiny open-faced sandwiches were ok, but I would have liked to see a few more options and A LOT more cheese. At the very least I suggest eating before you go to this event otherwise you'll end up at some late night dive stuffing your face like I did. =] read more

It was a well organized festival but I thought the selection was a bit lacking. There was a lot of wine, but a limited selection from many wineries present. Tamale Spaceship was probably my favorite part. The boyfriend and I had a good time but we both felt the 60$ plus 10$ fees to print the tickets (that part made no sense) was a bit crazy. Both agree we have been to better and cheaper wine fests in the Chicago area-If we had discounted tickets would probably be only way we came back again. Many good stands set up such as photo booth, YELP and Skinny Pop. read more

Wine Riot was a blast. I thought the venue was perfect for the event. The price was worth the wines that were available. However I wasn't a big fan of the food they had on hand. It was a good idea in theory but not sure if I wanted to pay 3 for bread with some goat cheese. My only other issue is that some of the wines aren't available at the event and some vendors didn't even know where you could get their wines. Outside of that this event was great and I'm going back. Shout out to Yelp for being there and giving me my awesome bag. read more

You throw a great party Second glass wine Riot! The Great Hall of Union Station was an amazing place to hold this event. There was so much room to move around and not be afraid you would spill your wine on someone. The event was well organized with wine from all over the world. The classes were informative but not stuffy. Classes were two every 30 min. I was impressed by the number of vender's and the staff were patient and knew their stuff about their product. Thank you Yelp people for you kindness and friendliness and for taking the time to snap a few pictures for us. We will come again! read more

Such a fun event! Attended with my parents and had an amazing time.

My friends and I had a fantastic time at our first Wine Riot at the Great Hall in Union Station! The setting was perfect, so much space that you didn't realize how many people were truly attending. The opportunity to be able to taste so many different wines from so many different areas was priceless. I definitely found some wines to purchase that I don't believe I ever would have considered before this event. We also attended two of the workshops they had offered - Moscato and Reisling - and both presenters did a wonderful job fitting in a lot of information in a short period of time. The pace was perfect and the wine was even better! My only recommendation would be to have some sort of crackers, bread or "fancy snacks" available to purchase - a little something to soak up the wine:)! We did try the food available and it was wonderful, just a little limited depending on your pallet. We can not wait to come back next year and see how this event develops! Very nice job to all involved! read more

Second Glass did a great job of making wine tasting more youthful and modern. They set up a photo shoot area and even created an app to track and rate the wines you've tried. I absolutely LOVE wine tasting, even if it's in a small liquor store, it is a sacred tradition that my mom and I have. This was a great Mothers Day present for her, and we even won a carafe and wine glass set at one of the vendor tables. All of the vendor reps were extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and happy to talk wine, regions, origins, travel, you name it. I only withhold the fifth star due to ticket price... After I purchased my tickets to this event, Arlington Park announced they were doing a huge wine tasting at the track with over 250 wines and admission was half the cost of Wine Riot, I kicked myself a bit! Other than that I recommend this event for anyone who wants to try great wine and get into the whole scene without worrying about pretense or snobbery. read more

My fiancé and I had a blast with some of my coworkers. He is not a wine drinker and we found about 4 wines that he liked. I wanted to taste all of them then I realized that it was a futile effort but nevertheless a novel attempt. Sugar Bliss cakes & Tamale Spaceship were delicious. TONS of different activities. I wish that I would have gotten a shirt (get the shirt if you go). With over 250 wines one would be hard pressed to not find at least a few. Had a cool little class/tasting on the different chardonnay's which was truly a fun experience. The place seemed packed but it flowed so well. Everyone was nice, social and having a good time. I would say go in a counter clockwise fashion start on the outside and work your way in, if you are trying to taste a majority of the wines that is. Of course some stations are more crowded than others. The people at the booths are helpful and sometimes knowledgeable, I'm sure a few were drunk but it is wine riot. They also hand out plenty of water. To pay 60 bucks to spend 4 hours tasting all the wines you can manage I say it was well worth it. Especially with activities scattered throughout. Bring something to clear your palate with because if you like reds some are so dry and bitter that it will make all of them begin to run together as far as taste and smell. read more

Second Glass Wine Riot - Wine riot - Festivals Near Me - Chicago, Illinois