Zantho to be Served at Party

By Donald G. Evans

Wine, in its best, most precious incarnation, elevates not only dining but socialization to an art. Wine encourages fraternization, and the quality of the wine sets the tone for the quality of camaraderie.

Zantho is a very good wine. It looks, smells and tastes fantastic, and is a perfect complement to an intimate cultural gathering.

Thanks to Andy Taylor and Vin Divino, it will be the perfect complement to OUR intimate gathering tomorrow night.

“Wine has a cultural element,” said Andy, Vin Divino’s director of marketing. “There is obviously a huge food association; wine is the best beverage accompaniment.”

Zantho comes from the Burgenland region of Austria, southeast of Vienna near the Austria-Hungary border. The name and logo refer to a small lizard that lives in the vineyards in this area. Zantho produces three red wines from three different red grapes: Saint Laurent, Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt, a hybrid. It also produces a couple of whites—a sauvignon blanc, Gruner Veltliner and muskat.

The winery is a cooperative, meaning it does not own its own vineyards but sources grapes from area growers, with whom it has long-standing relationships and contracts. This allows Zantho to dictate farming methods, including a sophisticated tracking method from vine to winery, that ensure high quality. The wine is made under the watchful eye of renowned vintner Josef Umathum.

That standard of perfection is Vin Divino’s standard, period. Vin Divino has been importing wines for 19 years and in the process has established a reputation for absolute top shelf quality. Vin Divino represents about 25 wines from several countries, most prominently Italy but also Austria, Spain and Chile. It consistently turns down solicitations to represent other wines in order to maintain such a peerless selection.

“It’s critically important to select suppliers that have quality levels that are acceptable to us and more importantly the market in general,” Andy said.

Vin Divino got into the Austrian market about a decade ago. After attending Vie Vinum in Vienna, Vin Divino researched the market, forged relationships and began investigating the best of the best wine available in that region.

We’ll all get to taste the results for ourselves Saturday night. Zantho is the perfect complement to what I’m sure will be a night of generosity and fellowship. 

Donald G. Evans is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and editor of the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. His short story collection An Off-White Christmas will be published by Simon & Schuster later this year. He is the current Senior Artist-in-Residence at Chicago's Cliff Dwellers Club and the Chicago editor of the upstart journal Great Lakes Cultural Review. He serves on the committee that selects the annual Harold Washington Literary Award recipient, as well as the Chicago Literary Advisory Council of the American Writers Museum.