Grower Champagne Dinner at The National

If you know me in the very slightest, you know of my obsession with sparkling wines. So when I dined at The National in Athens recently, I was excited to see that they are having a Grower Champagne Dinner.

A terrible iPhone pic of a dinner I had at The National.
Please note my glass of prosecco to the left!

"Grower Champagne Dinner
Wednesday, December 10, 7:00pm
at The National
$95 per person

oyster soup with fideos and saffron
Pierre Peters, blanc de blancs, grand cru, Mesnil

salmon "slider" with avocado, fennel,
roasted tomato-mayo and romaine
Alain Soutiran, perle noir, blanc de noir, grand cru, Ambonnay

fried Cornish game hen, chopped watercress,
caramelized onions and apricot aioli
Gaston Chiquet, tradition, 45% meunier, 35% chardonnay,
20% pinot noir, premier cru, Hautvillers

braised pork shoulder, crispy prosciutto and sofrito
Aubry, rosé brut, 60% chardonnay, 40% pinot noir
and meunier, premier cru, Jouy les Reims

French cheeses with toasts, lavender-honey and almonds
Jean Milan, tendresse, blanc de blancs, sec, grand cru, Oger"

What is Grower Champagne, you ask? Here is a site with more information on Grower Champagne and an excerpt from that site is below:

"The biggest problem in Champagne is that there are 15,000 growers in the region who do not make their own wine. If more growers produced their own wines instead of selling their grapes to the houses and cooperatives, the power of the houses would diminish and quality would rise due to competition. But it’s very easy for the growers to sell their grapes to the houses and so the majority of the growers choose this route."

The National
232 W Hancock Ave
Athens, GA 30601
706.549.3450
www.thenationalrestaurant.com

By the way, my other obsession is taking pics in the mirrors of restaurant bathrooms. Please to behold the picture I took at The National.

Stories from a Sparkling Wine Tasting

Something that you will be quick to pick up on after hanging out with me is that I love, love, love sparkling wines. Obviously this includes champagne but it doesn't leave out prosecco, cava, nor sparkling rosés. I'm not sure what exactly it is that I love about them but sparkling wines are my drink of choice.

So, when B. emailed ETK and I about a sparkling wine tasting at ONE Midtown Kitchen, I was all over it.


The wine tasting, dubbed "Champagne Ain't All That", was organized by Chris Gaither. Chris G., as he calls himself, puts together wine tastings at ONE Midtown Kitchen and Parish and arranged this tasting because, "Many people think of Champagne first when it comes to sparkling wine, but there is a plethora of other sparkling wine styles and regions!"

Chris G. in the flesh!

I enjoyed all the wines we tasted, especially one that I probably would have dismissed in the store, a sparkling white wine from Argentina called Strip Tease. (Don't try Googling the name to find it online - trust me.)


The other wines we tried were:

• 2005 Mont Marcal Brut Reserva, Spain
• "Brut" A Private Cuvee by Zardetto, Italy
• 2006 Howling Wolves Sparkling White Wine, Shiraz, Margaret River, Australia
• Jansz N.V. Premium Cuvee, Tasmania
• Taltarni Brut Tache, Victoria, Australia
• "Birbet" by Monchiero Carbone, Italy

Chris G. had a great deal of knowledge about all the wines and passed on a lot of information on all of the wines we tried. Many studious people took notes but I was more interested in drinking and eating...and then more drinking. So, I apologize for having nothing more to say than them was some good dranks. I would recommend all of them. (In fact, I would recommend that you buy a bottle of each and then call me to come drink it with you.)

The sparkling wines were paired with items off of the ONE menu, including an arugula salad with grapefruit, calamari, grilled shrimp and orzo, peach and prosciutto pizza, homemade kitkat bars, and biscotti. It was all tasty, although I might have enjoyed the pizza the most.

Arugula Salad

Calamari

Grilled shrimp, orzo pasta, cucumbers tomatoes, feta, olives, & greek yogurt

Peach & Prosciutto Pizza - a little toasty, no?

Homemade kitkat bars - mmm...look at the sea salt on top!

Overall, it was a very fun night. The food was yummy and the wines were fantastic. Plus, Chris G. was an entertaining and fun host of the night. I'm eager to attend another one of his wine dinners. He has an interesting one coming up on Tuesday, August 26th at Parish, a "Farm 2 Table Dinner". This 4-course dinner will be paired with wines picked out by Chris G. and is only $60 before tax and tip!

If you want to get in on Chris G.'s wine tastings and dinners, you can sign up for his email distribution list here. Do it now - you won't be sorry!