Cooper’s Hawk Winery [October 2021]

So, last week I mention “a newly rediscovered tasting room." The reason I said that is because Shawn and I visited Cooper’s Hawk Winery back in 2001. I think the main reason was to get lunch or dinner [I can’t remember which] and even though it was pretty good, that was the only time I was there… until a couple weeks ago!! [February 2026] I don’t think, at the time I was a huge fan of their wines either. However, with several years to condition my palate [Haha] it turns out that I now love their wines!! So much so that I became a wine club member!! Isn’t that so crazy!?   

I’m a big fan of wine clubs; the only problem has always been that we travel around [at least twice a year] and that makes it hard to pick up wine club. Cooper’s Hawk has a unique club, unique in that instead of a quarterly or annually wine membership, you get a monthly membership, with monthly wine pick-up. Also, you get 2 free monthly wine tastings so I can take a friend!! [If you are a friend in Phoenix, hit me up during snowbird season!! LOL] The best part, if you don’t get to pick up your wine during a certain month, it will just carry over to the next month and then you can pick it up whenever you get around to it!! Sounds perfect for me!!

The founder of Cooper’s Hawk, Tim McEnery graduated from Perdue University with a degree in Restaurant and Hotel Management. His love for wine and visiting many tasting rooms around the country made him take notice that there was a lack of wineries with onsite restaurants. Tim started to dream about creating a place that not only had a dinner experience, but that also served meals that could be paired with his amazing, hand-crafted wines; a place to “build lasting friendships” where stories and memories could be shared. He brought this dream into reality back in 2005 in the little community of Orland Park, Illinois. Located about 25 miles from Chicago.

Tim named his Napa style tasting room with modern style dining Cooper’s Hawk, after the bird. [accipiter cooperili, is the scientific name] The Cooper Hawk is a medium-sized bird of prey known for hunting other birds. It is native to North America and has short, rounded wings and a long, banded tail with great speed and agility. Tim chose the name to “evoke a sense of nature and a sense of place.” Exactly what he was trying to create at his winery restaurants. Looking at his story, I think that maybe he also resembled this hawk in some ways, I mean he had the vision and started his Cooper’s Hawk empire at the ripe old age of 29!! Haha!!

Driven to be the best and to offer the best, Tim formed partnerships with grape growers all over the world. It is almost overwhelming when walk in through the winery/restaurant doors and see the “marketplace.” [which had amazing gifts and gift ideas, by the way] The walls are lined with bottle after bottle of beautifully labeled Cooper’s Hawk wine. In fact, when I went for my last tasting I said something to the effect to my sommelier that I didn’t know they served so many "other" wines. To which

he responded... no, all of these wines are Cooper’s Hawk, they makes all their own wine!! Wow.. no wonder you earn so many free tastings!! LOL

I just mentioned above that Tim wanted to serve meals that could be paired with his own wines. I think it’s pretty dandy that there is a wine pairing suggestion for every meal on the menu!! I have to say that the truffles [pictured below] seem to pair quite nicely with all of the wines that I’ve tasted!! Haha!! Today Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant has about 72 locations nationwide with over 4,000 employees. They have the country’s largest wine club, [which I am a new member of!!] the magic draw of becoming a member is the way you can custom fit their club benefits to meet your needs. I'm pretty excited to learn more about them and to visit different locations!!

Next week is going to be a little "off"… what I mean by that is I will be writing about a winery that I know I visited, because I have the photographic proof, but that I cannot find evidence to support when I was actually there. It’s possible the information was lost in the transfer of my “wine timeline” from a random notebook to my new awesome Trapper Keeper?? However, I have looked at my entire timeline as well as past FB posts and I simply cannot find it anywhere!! Talk about frustrating!! Join Wine with Wixy next week as we explore this “mystery winery” wine tasting!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!