Northern Illinois Weekender - 021321

Weekender NORTHERN

ILLINOIS

YOUR GUIDE TO ARTS & LEISURE IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021 • ShawLocal.com

CHILL OUT

Ice climbing returns to Starved Rock / 3

FROZEN TREAT

Ice sculpture on display in Downers Grove / 5

COLD CALLING

Ice Castles a wintry wonderland in Lake Geneva / 4

UNCORKED

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An expert taster shares favorite finds to consider adding to your own wine racks.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

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By JAMES NOKES

Bordeaux blend is hitting its sweet spot

N

icolas Glumineau remembered when Chateau de Pez was famous for its wines.

When his parents were younger, it was one of the top chateaus in France’s Medoc.

Today, they are in their 90s, and under Glumineau’s guidance as winemaker and general manager, the chateau on the Left Bank of Bordeaux’s Gironde River has reemerged with improved knowledge of its vineyards and additions to its cellar.

“Today, we have science,” said Glumineau in a Zoom interview. “We’ve replanted almost the whole vineyard and have invested in efficient tools. We are very conscious of our ability to improve, and we have all the cards in our hands.”

If this was poker, the cards Glumineau played were a straight flush. The Chateau de Pez Saint-Estephe 2016 ($55) was a powerful Bordeaux blend that elegantly mixed fruit flavors with silky tannins and a backbone of fresh acidity.

The best is yet to come for Chateau de Pez, as Glumineau raved about the 2020 vintage. After recent blending trials, he said the chateau has the chance to “run a fantastic trilogy of vintages – 2018, 2019 and 2020 are ones that we’ll talk about for a long time.”

“It has everything we look for,” said Glumineau about the 2020 vintage. “The balance between strength, elegance, the power and the suavity of the wine. In Bordeaux, it’s all about the blend. Ripe merlot adds the freshness to the wine. But climate change allows ripe cabernet sauvignon every year with refined tannins. There’s the strength of a very sharp tannic structure, but it’s not over-extracted.

Rather, it’s obvious in your mouth but silky at the same time.”

For Glumineau, he accesses an extensive library of images when it comes to making wine. At a recent lunch, he had wine from the 1959 vintage. The lasting impression was a wine that “was complete and full of everything.”

“I like balanced wines with a silky tannic structure that is precise,” Glumineau said. “At the morning blending sessions, I always keep a few images in mind to convert them to wine. I like the image of an arrow that’s a straight shot. The arrow is the tannins, yet, all around it, there’s a cashmere scarf.

That’s the merlot around an arrow of cabernet.”

Because chateaus in Bordeaux have a more extensive library than their counterparts in the New World, Glumineau can compare decades-old wines with more recent vintages. While he yearned for old vintages and their proportionality, warmer growing seasons have changed a winemaker’s approach.

But, the most important decision Glumineau said a winemaker has to make after harvest and bottling is when a wine can be accessed.

“The most important challenge a winemaker deals with is the opening of the tasting window,” Glumineau said. “Do you make a wine that can be enjoyed in five to 10 years or keep a wine for 30 to 50 years and have the pleasure of having it with your grandkids.”

For those who don’t have the cellar or patience to wait for the next generation to come of age, Chateau de Pez has offered a compromise. It’s a wine that can be thoroughly enjoyed immediately, but based

Photo provided by Gunther Vicente

Chateau de Pez is one of the oldest properties on Bordeaux’s Left Bank. on its acidity, it could be laid to rest for years before being opened.

As the vineyard’s average age approached 25 years old, its maturity – coupled with a vineyard map used to determine the chateau’s various soil plots to maximize root stocks and farming practices – has produced stellar results.

“Our vineyard’s average is 25 years old,” Glumineau said. “That’s a sweet spot, and we are pleased with the way they are producing. We are in a terrific period. Once again, we have great summers and autumns that allow us to ripen cabernet sauvignon perfectly.”

Affordable wine

Mary Taylor has had several careers.

Dishwasher for a caterer. Clerk at a cheese shop.

She was a writer for a while and a retail buyer for wine auctions. But it was her experience writing for Sotheby’s Wine catalog that was transformative to her Mary Taylor Wine.

“There’s something about food and wine,” Taylor said. “It is a welcome space for misfits. When I got a job at Sotheby’s and wrote for their wine catalog, it was great but didn’t pay. Living in New York City on $20,000 a year, I’d go to the liquor store and get a bottle of something cheap. That was a big foundational moment.”

The hedge fund managers that frequented wine auctions invited her to blind tastings where her distinct palate stood out. She knew what she wanted – an authentic wine that tasted of its place.

So, she tapped into an artisan wine market in Bordeaux, where she would taste up to 100 wines in one day at a wine fair. Sellers were skeptical at first.

But 13 years later, Taylor has built an extensive wine catalog with wines from France, Spain and

Italy. All retail between $14 and $19. The Bordeaux Rouge ($14) is a rustic wine with dark fruit flavors and is a good introduction to a wine region where expensive prices can snuff out regular consumers.

“People are desperate to understand a little bit about wine in an affordable way,” Taylor said. “I think about selling a bottle of wine to my 24-year-old self with no money leaving Sotheby’s.”

Be mine

Here are some last-minute gift ideas for your valentine.

TableTopics Couples ($25): A cube of cards with unlimited questions that prompt funny, personal and sometimes risqué responses. While I wasn’t ready for what item of your significant other would you most like to throw away, paired with a bottle of wine, sausage and cheese, it made for an entertaining night of witty banter.

Chocolats du CaliBressan ($14.50 to $92): A small business in need has closed its Santa Barbara location, yet Jean-Michel Carre still turns out decadently beautiful bonbons, truffles and chocolates from another location. The 24-piece box ($53) is ready as a gift for my valentine.

Riedel Performance Pinot Noir ($53): The wider base is a nice perk, but it’s the fuller bowl that enhances the seductive aromas of pinot.

Wine Enthusiast Stem Shine Glass Washing Liquid ($24.95): Use it to clean the newly gifted wine

glasses. We’ve tried the generic brands and none have equaled the cleaning power with no residue or leftover flavor.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

STARVED ROCK COUNTRY

3 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

Dedicated to growing the awareness of everything the Starved Rock area has to offer

Shaw Media file photo

Climbing frozen waterfalls is a winter adventure for experienced climbers at Starved Rock State Park.

Ice climbing thrills at Starved Rock State Park

By RYAN SEARL

C

rsearl@shawmedia.com

rack open your carabiners – experienced climbers are permitted to scale three famous falls inside Starved Rock State Park.

As snow begins to melt and refreeze, this trio of popular winter photo-ops transforms into a must-visit destination for avid climbers across the Midwest. Since the early 1980s, Starved Rock Country has been a leading wintertime draw for outdoor adventurers looking to challenge Mother Nature.

Every year, hundreds of experienced climbers flock to Starved Rock State Park to spend a day scaling enormous frozen waterfalls with little more than an anchor line, ice axe and helmet. When ice conditions are suitable, the following three ice falls will be open for public climbing.

LaSalle Canyon – A long, cur-

tain-style fall, offering a milder climbing experience.

Ottawa Canyon – Often one of the widest falls in the park, also one of the first to form in the winter.

Wildcat Canyon – Easily the tallest fall permitted for climbing, a true highlight of the park for climbing enthusiasts.

Climbers are required to bring their own equipment and have prior experience ice climbing, or have a chartered, experienced guide. All ice climbing is done at the climbers’ risk, and they are required to sign in at the park’s self-check-in station prior to their climb and once again upon exit.

The self-serve, check-in sheet is located outside the park’s Maintenance Building, across the road from the Visitor Center. Sign-in sheets, as well as rules and regulations, will be posted on the wall, near the entrance to the Maintenance Building.

Climbing the three falls isn’t for novices. Here are some fast facts you should know before you start preparing to scale the frozen falls.

• The Department of Natural Resources does not test the integrity of the ice; it is entirely up to the climbers to determine suitability before their climb.

• Solo climbing is expressly prohibited; you must climb with at least one partner.

• Ice climbing is only allowed between 7 a.m. and dusk at the park; all climbers must be off the trail before dark.

• Mixed surface climbing or any other form of rock climbing or scaling is banned in the park. Starved Rock’s canyons are composed of incredibly fragile sandstone. These surfaces are not suitable for, and can be permanently damaged by, climbing equipment.

• All equipment, such as riggings,

ice cleats, crampons, ice picks, rope, and other supplies, must touch the ice/ice falls only.

• Due to damage and hazardous trail conditions, ice climbing will not be allowed at Tonti Canyon this season.

• Do not wear your crampons on the park’s wooden bridges and walkways.

Ice climbing is a serious endeavor and should not be undertaken without the proper training and guidance from veteran climbers. One cannot guarantee the surfaces of the ice falls will be suitable for climbing this weekend.

The integrity of the falls changes from day to day, so use your discretion before attempting to climb.

For more information on winter activities in Starved Rock State Park, visit www.dnr.illinois.gov/Parks/Activity/Pages/StarvedRock.aspx.

The park is at 2668 E. 873 Road, Oglesby. For more information, call 815-667-4726.

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Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

SHAW MEDIA

Ice Castles artists create a wintry wonderland

Photo provided by Bryan Rowland

I

SHAW MEDIA

ce Castles is an award-winning frozen attraction built using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists.

“The castles include breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, fountains and much more,” a news release stated.

The family-friendly Ice Castles experience is created in four cities across North America, including near Lake Geneva in Wisconsin, close to the Illinois border.

Each year, Ice Castles brings fairy tales to life for hundreds of thousands of families across the country, the release stated.

Since 2011, Ice Castles has been dedicated to creating an experience that will live on long after the ice melts for everyone who enters through the icicle-adorned archways.

Founder Brent Christensen crafted his first icy creation in the front yard of his home for his children. After moving from California to snowy Utah, Christensen did what any father of six, stir-crazy kids with cabin fever would do, the release stated. He built an ice cave in his yard to get his kids out of the house.

His icy invention wasn’t just a hit with his own children.

Kids from all over the neighborhood – and eventually from all across town – got wind of his creation, bundled up, and headed outside to play at Christensen’s wintry wonderland.

The kids affectionately called the winter playground an “ice castle,” a name that stuck.

The latest block of tickets for Ice Castles will be released early this coming week for February visits after Feb. 21, with previous dates sold out. Thanks to our region’s chilly temperatures, a spokesperson said that if the weather permits, the attraction possibly could remain open in Wisconsin until March 7 or 13.

Each of the four U.S. locations offers unique designs and features.

As part of the health guidelines in place, a 6-foot distance must be maintained between each household group at all times while seated, the release stated. All Ice Castles employees will be masked. Guests are required to wear masks/face coverings in common areas, near other guests, and when interacting with employees.

Online tickets for Monday through Thursday visits cost $18.99 for ages 12 through adult; and $12.99 for ages 4 to 11, and increase to $22.99 and $18.99, respectively, Friday through Sunday. To learn more or purchase tickets, visit icecastles.com.

5 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021 Shaw Media file photos

LEFT: Ice crystals fly as Al Ramirez of Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures starts cutting a new piece with his chainsaw. RIGHT: Spectators of all ages get a close look at the ice sculptures.

COOL ART

Ice Fest celebrates cutting-edge sculptures

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SHAW MEDIA

howcasing the art of ice sculpting is the annual Ice Festival Downtown Downers Grove, returning Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 13 and 14.

More than 40 artworks will be on display – primarily along Main Street, but also spilling onto side streets.

This year, the Ice Fest will look a little different but still will be a weekend of outdoor, socially distanced fun, a news release stated.

Visitors can enjoy live ice carving demonstrations from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday at the Main Street Train Station at 5001 Main St. Event organizers encourage visitors in downtown Downers Grove to stop by the boutiques, cafes and

restaurants. Everyone is asked to wear face masks and maintain social distance.

People who post a photograph of their favorite sculpture on Instagram with the hashtag #dgicefest will be entered into a drawing for a $50 downtown Downers Grove Gift Certificate.

The annual event is sponsored by local businesses and organizations. A printable map showing the positions of all the displayed works is available on the event website at downtowndg. org/whats-happening/ice-festival-downtown-downers-grove.

And for people in need of last-minute Valentine’s Day gift inspiration, check out the event website’s gift guide.

For more information, go to downtowndg.org or call 630-725-0991.

A valentine heart is depicted in ice.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

SHAW MEDIA

6 STREAMING THIS WEEKEND

Sia, ‘Clarice’ and Kristen Wiig new this week

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

Movies

Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations might normally send moviegoers to theaters to see some of the top films. But this year, many of the leading nominees – among them “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “One Night in Miami,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” – are already streaming. One nominee, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” arrived Friday on HBO Max (as well as in theaters). The film, directed by Shaka King, stars Daniel Kaluuya as Black Panthers chairman Fred Hampton, and Lakeith Stanfield as the FBI informant who infiltrated the group in the 1960s.

Kaluuya was nominated by both the Screen Actors Guild and the Globes.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s last writing partnership turned out pretty well. Almost a decade after the Oscar-nominated “Bridesmaids,” Wiig

of African American artists. Among the visual artists showcased are Kerry finally arrives, debuting for digital James Marshall, Faith Ringgold, Amy returns with “On Earth, and in Heavrental. (It was originally planned for en,” a project coming after Thicke lost Sherald and Carrie Mae Weems. theaters last summer.) The two wrote his father, actor Alan Thicke, and his “Silence of the Lambs” is three and star in a vacation romp about two musical mentor, Andre Harrell. The al- decades in the rearview mirror, but only Midwest friends on a trip to Florida. bum even features “Take Me Higher,” a year has passed as CBS’ “Clarice” picks Monday marked the centennial of a song Thicke and frequent collaboup the story of FBI agent Clarice StarLana Turner, the sultry, oft-mytholorator Pharrell first worked on eight ling. It’s 1993, and Starling, played by gized 1940s and ’50s movie goddess, years ago, finishing it for the album.

Rebecca Breeds, is back in the field after and both Turner Classic Movies and Before the members of Florida ending a serial killer’s reign of terror. the Criterion Channel have done their Georgia Line release solo efforts, they Her life as well as her work are the drabest to celebrate it. TCM aired 12 of dropped their fifth album. “Life Rolls ma’s focus. As co-creator Jenny Lumet her movies – including “The Postman On,” which includes 16 tracks, was said of the role that earned Jodie Foster Always Rings Twice,” “The Bad and mainly recorded in the Bahamas. Bri- an Oscar, “Clarice has a depth and a the Beautiful” and “Ziegfeld Girl” – an “BK” Kelley and Tyler Hubbard mystery that we haven’t examined yet.” while Criterion’s hosting three of her co-wrote 13 of the tracks, and some The series debuted at 9 p.m. Thursday. films on its streaming service. famous folks helped with songwritKevin James goes from mall cop to – Film Writer Jake Coyle ing, too.

NASCAR crew chief in the Netflix com– Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu edy series “The Crew,” debuting MonMusic day, Feb. 15. The owner of the Bobby Sia’s Golden Globe-nominated direc- Television Spencer Racing team decides to hand torial debut, “Music,” is accompanied In 1976, a Los Angeles County the reins over to his daughter (played by a 14-track album. “Music – Songs Museum of Art exhibit detailed the

by Jillian Mueller), and that means From and Inspired by the Motion Picture” contributions of Black artists in 19th trouble for James and his crew. The was just released. It’s inspired by her and 20th century America with more new boss wants to modernize the team, film starring Leslie Odom Jr., Maddie than 200 works. The HBO documenwhich includes the revolutionary idea Ziegler and Kate Hudson, who earned a tary “Black Art: In the Absence of of putting a woman behind the wheel.

Golden Globe nod for her performance. Light” examines the influence that Bruce McGill guest stars as Bobby. the exhibit, which traveled to other Sia briefly appears in the film, and the – Television Writer Lynn Elber major U.S. cities, had on generations album is her eighth studio release. and Mumolo’s long-awaited followup,

“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,”

It’s been seven years since Robin Thicke has released a new album. He

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By PAM OTTO

Taking interesting dives into the natural world around us, Pam Otto opens new avenues of exploration.

Screech owls survive by using camouflage

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o last week we ventured into unfamiliar territory, melding nature references with quotes from William Shakespeare – primarily from his play “As You Like It” and the monologue that begins with “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”

We mentioned two lead performers of nature’s winter stage – coyotes and great horned owls – and noted that while these large and dynamic animals garner a lot of attention from January through March, we actually have a couple other cast members who also are rocking their roles – albeit in more inconspicuous fashion. One is the red fox, which we covered in detail, and the other is this week’s star: the eastern screech owl.

Weighing roughly one tenth as much as its scene-stealing counterpart, the eastern screech owl is sometimes mistakenly called a baby great horned owl. It has feather “horns” atop its head and yellow, owlish eyes.

But as we learned way back in Good Natured 101, all birds old enough to fly – even if they just recently fledged – are the same size as their parents.

Fully grown, an eastern screech measures a little over 6 inches tall (for males) to over 9 inches tall (for females) and tips the scales between 4 ounces and 8 ½ ounces. Before you get too flabbergasted by the screech’s lack of bulk, keep in mind that, as a bird, it really can’t weigh very much or it wouldn’t be able to fly. Its feathers are literal fluff and its bones are hollow.

In fact, even a female great horned – the largest owl in North America – peaks at around 5 ½ pounds, or a little bit more than a sack of flour.

It may be small, but the eastern screech is mighty good at what it does.

A generalist predator– another way of saying it’s not picky – this bird will feed on a wide range of invertebrates (mostly insects but crayfish too where available) as well as tadpoles, frogs, rabbits, rodents and birds.

They’re even agile enough to grab the occasional bat. I remember following some wildlife biologists on a tour of bat habitats in abandoned mines in southern Illinois. As we stepped inside the first mine, one of the scientists casually pointed to some headless bat carcasses on the ground and offered a two-word explanation: “screech owls.”

We don’t typically see signs of such vigorous feedings in our area, save for the occasional pile of cast pellets near a favorite roost. I’ve got a small col-

Photo provided by John Heneghan

Small and nocturnal, screech owls seek daytime refuge in tree cavities and nest boxes. lection of them from a long-ago winter when a screech owl took shelter near a park district building. I swear, if not for these jelly bean-sized mementos, I wouldn’t even have known the bird was there, despite passing it frequently.

It’s this sort of subtlety that’s one of the keys to the screech owl’s survival.

During daylight hours, they rarely advertise their presence; to do so might invite attention, which is most unwanted. Many animals, including hawks and larger owls, consider these pint-sized predators as prey; meanwhile blue jays and crows consider them threats and will gang up around them, jeering and cawing, in a behavior called mobbing.

So it is that a screech owl will sit, nearly motionless, for hours at a time.

Against the bark of a tree, the bird virtually blends in, thanks to exquisite patterns of either gray or rusty red, aka rufous.

But then when night comes – and not just sunset, but actual darkness – a switch flips, and these little owls come to life. They forage, they feed

and, when the mood strikes, they sing.

Both males and females vocalize and, let me tell you, there’s no mistaking their distinctive songs.

One, known as the whinny, starts off high-pitched and then descends in tone, like a tiny horse neighing.

Another, known as the tremolo, is a single note trilled as long as six seconds at a time.

Neither, by the way, is screechy.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the whinny is used to defend territories, while the tremolo is used as communication between mates or family members.

These sounds might be your first and perhaps only clue that you have a screech owl living nearby.

“You’re going to think I’m making this up but I’m not,” says Peggy Cain, who lives in the Fox River Valley.

“The first time I heard a screech owl in my neighborhood was 3 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2011. I know this because we attended our niece’s wedding later that day. I slept with the windows open that night and awoke to the whinny of the screech owl – though I

didn’t realize it at the time.”

She and her husband, Tom, have heard the owls every year since, and have encouraged their presence by building and installing screech owl boxes. They caught a glimpse of a gray individual in March 2017. This winter, a red screech owl is occupying their new box.

“I was so excited when I finally got to see one,” she says. “Hearing doesn’t count in my backyard bird book log, so I’m happy to be able to check that box. Simple pleasures in a COVID world.”

At the end of “As You Like It,” the character Rosalind states that “a good play needs no epilogue,” but then goes on to deliver one. Well, you know what? A good screech owl story doesn’t need one either. But we have lots more to share. Watch this space in the coming weeks for more news about screech owls in northern Illinois.

• Pam Otto is the outreach ambassador for the St. Charles Park District.

She can be reached at 630-513-4346 or potto@stcparks.org.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

GOOD NATURED

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, February 13, 2021

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