Seven Sparklers in Manhattan

So, what was the special "French themed" celebration my daughter and I went to in Manhattan to celebrate her upcoming Master degree graduation that I hinted about in my last blog post?

It was a champagne tasting event hosted by Gotham Wines at the Rouge Tomate restaurant located at 10 East 60th Street, in midtown Manhattan!

I read about the tasting in the New York Times newspaper and called for reservations right away as I knew my daughter and I would love to take part in this fun event!

Champagne first gained world renown because of its association with the anointment of French kings. It is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation, and is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, form which it takes its name. Champagne has been associated with luxury, festivities and rites of passage.

The event took place in the lower lounge of the Rouge Tomate. It was our first visit to this large and beautiful restaurant and lounge. The restaurant follows a healthy nutritional cuisine under the acronym of "S.P.E" which stands for " Sanitas Per Escam" or "health through food" and was developed by chefs and nutritional experts for balanced and optimal nutrition through sourcing, preparing and enhancing.

The principles are explained as:

"Sourcing: by selecting ingredients seasonally, locally and with a focus on nutrition.

Preparing: using cooking techniques that preserve the integrity and nutritional qualities of the ingredients.

Enhancing: optimizing nutritional value by synergy of the product combination and menu diversity."

It sounds like an interesting philosophy for restaurant cuisine and I'd love to go back one day to have dinner at this establishment.

The tasting was held in a relaxed walk-around format, allowing the guests to take time and enjoy, and enjoy again, the champagnes.

We were given a booklet describing the different vintages and their description and suggested order of tasting, with a place to record our own notes.

I purposely blurred the next few photos as I did not ask permission to take photos of the Sommeliers pouring the champagne, and of the other guests, but it will give you an idea of how the tastings were done. I'd say that at least a hundred people were guests at the event.

The seven champagnes available for tasting were:

Moet Imperial

Moet RoseMoet Imperial

Moet Grand Vintage 2000
Dom Perignon 1999

Dom Perignon 2000

Dom Perignon Oenotheque 1993

Dom Perignon Rose 1998

Selected canapes were also served during the champagne tasting, prepared by Rouge Tomate Executive Chef Jeremy Bearman.

Here are some that I was able to take photos of:

Duck Pate with Rhubarb and Pistachio

Beef Crostini with Caramelized Spring Onion and Horseradish

Avocado Torchon on Toast with Tomato Marmalade

Jumbo Asparagus Spears with Crab Almond .

There were also stuffed dates, with goat cheese and pistachio, and steamed pork and vegetable dumplings. Everything was delicious!

The event lasted three hours from 6PM till 9PM. It was wonderful to try the different vintages of champagne, some of which we would never be able to afford to buy. We are not connoisseurs of wine or champagne by any means, but we did learn a lot at this event and were happy to find out that we actually preferred the least costly champagnes!

A wonderful part of the champagne tasting was the gift bag were given on our way out. It, alone, was worth the price of admission!

It was a gift box of Dom Perignon 2000 champagne with two wine glasses!

The champagne tasting was a perfect "mother and daughter" outing that made us feel elegant and pampered for the evening. It was also a wonderful way to celebrate a very happy occasion, and now we both have a very special bottle of champagne to share at our next happy event!

Thanks for coming along with us, and "Cheers!"