CHICAGO CITY SIPPERS
"Women Who Wine in the City"
Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized. --Andre Simon, "Commonsense of Wine" |
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Who We Are: Chicago City Sippers (CCS) is a women’s wine tasting society, with a strong emphasis on tasting, created to encourage women to celebrate their love and knowledge of wine/spirits, form new friendships and have fun in a non-pretentious environment. Our members range from single professionals to homemakers and young moms, all with a varying degree of wine knowledge, from amateurs to experts, who enjoy wine/spirits and who have a common interest in learning about and tasting fine wine/spirits they might not normally purchase for everyday drinking. The women who wine in the city: Donna Binbek and Jill Goldsberry met about three years ago at a Chicago-area charity event, and became fast friends, sharing their love of wine and great food by attending culinary events together. But they both soon realized attending tasting events was not enough to sate them. The pair wanted something more...What they wanted was a group that catered solely to women, where women, like themselves, could come together in a non-pretentious environment, learn and have fun. So, after years of planning and lengthy meetings over great wine, their dream of starting their own tasting group came to life and Chicago City Sippers was launched in January 2005. And then there were three.... As the group grew, so did the amount of networking among other women. The duo became a trio with the recent addition of Crystal Kennedy, whom Donna met at a wine related-event. Impressed by her enthusiasm, vast knowledge of the industry and charm, Crystal was encouraged to join the group for a trial run and then officially became a City Sipper in late 2006. Dirty Job, but someone's gotta do it..... The trio are having an unfair amount of fun running the tasting group. These three women absolutely love the fact that they are helping to educate women about wine while exposing them to new experiences and new friendships. Both women have a strong business sense and an entrepreneurial spirit which is a perfect match for planning wine related events for Chicago City Sippers. Donna, Crystal and Jill are dedicated to helping women learn about wine together in an enjoyable, sophisticated manner. Donna Binbek, President & Founder Donna is a Chicago native and is the founder of Chicago City Sippers. Donna has always had an interest in food and wine. She attended Kendall Culinary School in Evanston, IL, and from there went to do a stint at the famous Gordon Sinclair restaurant, Gordon's. After leaving Gordon's, Donna did some catering and even owned a Personal Chef service, but decided that writing and photography is what she loved the most. Ms. Binbek is Editor and Publisher of Pour Magazine Chicago, a wine lifestyle magazine for Chicago, and serves on the board of directors for the Chicago dining group ChicaGourmets!
When not attending wine tastings and dinners, or visiting her favorite restaurants, Donna enjoys spending time with her husband and children, reading food and wine related magazines, and culinary mystery novels, all while enjoying a glass of wine of course!
Donna can reached at: donna@chicagocitysippers.com Crystal L. Kennedy , Executive Director For six years, Crystal was the director of events & education for Sam's Wines & Spirits. She was in charge of the many wine, beer and spirits seminars including the annual grand tastings, winemaker dinners; and numerous special in-store events they offered at all stores. She has traveled to major food and wine events around the country while working with many local and national talents. Crystal has also served as the executive director of the Chicago Wine & Food Festival for three years and is an associate board member of Pediatric AIDS Chicago. Crystal can be reached at: crystal@chicagocitysippers.com Jill Goldsberry, Co-Founder
Jill
has worked in the Tourism Industry since graduation from
college and is a 1999 recipient of the Chicago Visitor
Choice Individual Award for “Best Attraction Marketing” in
the City of Chicago and is a 2000 recipient of Purdue
University’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award for the School
of Consumer and Family Science.
In addition, Jill has held several board positions within the Tourism Industry; including, Past President of the Hospitality, Sales & Marketing Association of Illinois and Past Vice-Chairman of the Team Illinois Board of Governors.
Jill’s favorite activities include spending time with her son Ryan and friends and family. She also enjoys exercising, traveling and reading a good book whenever time permits. Jill can be reached at:
justjillyg@chicagocitysippers.com
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