Bishops Hill Winery Tour and Tasting

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• IFT members, please enter the discount code RCAMEMBERS (case sensitive) when you register to receive the discounted rate.

Agenda Summary:
3:00 - 4:00 Winemaker presentation and winery tour
4:00 - 4:30 Wine tasting
4:30 - 5:00 Networking

Event Summary

The new vintage season is an exciting time at any winery. Grapes being pressed, barrels being filled and nature starting the process of fermentation. Join the RCA Chicagoland for our own fête des vendanges, celebrating the art and science of local wine making. Bishops Hill Winery in Joliet, IL is an award-winning winery sourcing its grapes from noted California vineyards while processing, fermenting aging and bottling in its winery located in a historic castellated facility dating from 1865. Tour the winery with winemaker Damon Zdunich and experience at tasting of six varietals with sommelier Linda Kloss accompanied by charcuterie and cheese provided by the “Beard House Boys." Must be 21 to attend.

Event Speaker:

Damon Zdunich – Winemaker
Damon grew up in a large Croatian family in Joliet, IL where Old World traditions of winemaking were practiced by his father and grandfather. In his 20’s Damon started dabbling in winemaking and beer brewing. Later, along with other friends in the Croatian community in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, he furthered his wine making experience picking grapes, crushing, fermenting and aging wines.

After 7 years of making wine as a hobby, this small group made the leap into small batch commercial winemaking. In 2016, the group purchased the site that is now Bishops Hill Winery. The first Bishops Hill vintage was made in 2018. In 2021 the winery was opened to the public. The wines quickly began winning awards in the largest wine competition in North America, some designated Best in Class.
Damon oversees winemaking at Bishops Hill and is collaborative with the other owners in the choice of varietals and winemaking style. Additionally, he is managing a major expansion of the winery facility to further improve the winemaking process.

Linda Kloss - Sommelier
Linda received her Advanced Sommelier Certification through the Napa Valley Wine Academy and the WSET (Wine, Spirts Academy Trust) in London. Prior to Linda going into wine education, she was a music teacher for 28 years & joked about drinking a lot of wine.

RCA Disclosures

• Nonrefundable: Registration fees are nonrefundable, but may be transferred to another person. If RCA must cancel or reschedule the event, your registration will be refunded.
• Contact Information: By registering for this event, you consent to the sharing of your contact information (such as name, email address, and company) with the event’s sponsors. This information will be shared exclusively with sponsors for purposes related to the event and will not be shared with other attendees or third parties.
• Photographs and Videos: During this event, RCA may take photographs and/or video of you which may be posted to social media and on the association’s website. By registering for and attending this event, you agree to the use of images in photographs and/or video for this purpose. Additionally, other event attendees may take photographs and post said photographs to social media. RCA shall not be responsible for photographs taken and/or shared by other event attendees.
• Session Recordings: This session may be recorded for the purpose of education, training, and use in RCA’s Learning Library. The recording will be used for this stated purpose and shall not be used for any other purpose. Do not share information that you do not wish to be recorded. If you are uncomfortable being recorded, please refrain from speaking and submit questions via email.

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