The wine was flowing at Wine on the Fox in Oswego, an annual event held over the weekend in Hudson Crossing Park along the Fox River in the heart of the village’s downtown.
The outdoor gala was held Saturday and Sunday and featured varieties of wine from Illinois wineries each offering its own distinctive sweet and dry pours.
Sisters Amanda Heidorn of Aurora and Ashley Heidorn of Geneva have become regulars of the festival.
“It’s become a tradition to attend the Wine on the Fox together. It’s a nice setting and there are lots of different wines to sample,” Ashley Heidorn said.
“I feel this festival kicks off the spring and summer seasons. It’s overall a pleasant and good time,” Amanda Heidorn said.
Small Memories Winery and Meadery – a newcomer to Wine on the Fox – had a line of wine lovers eager to sample their wines as well as offerings from its mead selection.
Stephanie and Rick Small founded the business about a year ago.
“We are very excited to be here for the first time,” Stephanie Small said of the family-owned winery based in Ottawa, about 35 miles southwest of Oswego.
“A lot of wineries do more grape wine. We produce fruit wines as well,” she said.
Small Memories is in its early growing stages, the winemaker said.
“We source everything around the five Finger Lakes in New York. Since we are so new, we haven’t found those sources in Illinois just yet. Eventually we’ll get to that point where some of our wines are Illinois wines,” Small said.
She said that unlike wine, mead is made with a honey base.
“Mead tastes like honey at the front end and at the back end you have the flavoring,” she said.
Mary and David Jacobsen are regulars at Wine on the Fox in Oswego.
“This is where we actually realized that we love drinking wine,” David Jacobsen said.
The DeKalb couple said they appreciate the friendly atmosphere at the fest coupled with the opportunity to experience their favorite as well as emerging wineries.
“We appreciate the vibe here. Wine festivals by nature are relaxed and people are friendly. That’s hard to get these days,” he said.
“This is by far our favorite wine festival,” Mary Jacobsen said. “In today’s political climate, there are differing opinions but at a wine festival it doesn’t matter. All of that gets checked at the door and everyone is your friend.”
Her wish for other wine lovers is to visit the wineries making the products they enjoy.
“After you discover a winery that you love, do go visit the winery. It’s well worth it,” she said.
Joliet couple Cindy and Eric Mikutis frequent wineries on road trips and Oswego’s wine event is a must every year.
“We have come to Oswego’s wine festival for the past several years. We visit wineries when we travel on the road. Each have their own character and taste,” Eric Mikutis said of the varieties of wine.
“I sampled the blackberry mead from Small Memories. It’s flavorful and not too sweet. It’s right in the middle,” Cindy Mikutis said.
Dori Saad recently relocated to Oswego from Denver, Colorado, where she lived for 15 years. She grew up in Illinois and is glad to be back, she said.
“This is my first time at the wine festival and the wine is wonderful,” she said.
She said she appreciated having the chance to sample wines from different wineries.
Vicki Bruno Olson is co-owner of Fergedaboudit Vineyard & Winery in Hanover, Illinois, a family-owned business that participated at the event in Oswego.
Her father, age 87, started the winery, she said.
“Our father has been making wine since he was a teenager. He grew up in an Italian neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. He started growing grapes in Galena in 2000. He wanted to make wine and grow grapes and do the whole thing from Earth to bottle,” she said.
“Originally we pride ourselves on our dry red wines but now we offer a diverse selection of wines to appeal to every palate,” Bruno Olson said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
