Welcome to the fifth edition of La Fête du Champagne, to be held in New York City on November 8-10, 2018! The festivities kick off with our Déjeuner Champenois at Racines on Thursday the 8th, featuring Laurent Champs of Vilmart & Cie., Jean-Hervé Chiquet of Jacquesson, Quentin Paillard of Pierre Paillard and Charles Philipponnat of Philipponnat, who will each be pouring three vintages of a selected cuvée. That evening we welcome Rodolphe Péters of Pierre Péters to a dinner at Eleven Madison Park for a once-in-a-lifetime vertical tasting of Les Chêtillons, featuring 12 vintages of this storied wine, all served in magnums sent directly from the estate’s cellars.
On Friday the 9th, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon of Louis Roederer will pour an array of champagnes both young and old at a special dinner at The Pool, showcasing the house’s extraordinary vineyard holdings. Also, Olivier Krug of Champagne Krug will be at The Beekman for a Krug x Vinyl event, pairing the house’s champagnes with music by a live DJ and small bites prepared by Chef Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise in Reims and Chef Tom Colicchio of Temple Court.
I’ll be hosting a seminar on Saturday the 10th with importer Terry Theise and wine writer Jon Bonné, talking about different terroirs of chardonnay in Champagne and pouring a selection of Blanc de Blancs from across the region. Daniel Johnnes will also be leading a seminar with four of NYC’s top sommeliers—Michael Engelmann, Sabra Lewis, John Burns Paterson and Hristo Zisovski—each of whom will choose a champagne to pair with a dish created by Chef Abram Bissell of The Modern.
La Fête du Champagne culminates with the Grand Tasting at Pier 60 on the waterfront, which features 34 of Champagne’s finest houses and grower estates, pouring over 125 different champagnes. As always, each of these producers is represented by a winemaker or principal figure, offering the chance to meet some of the region’s most notable personalities, and service is provided by a team made up of a number of the country’s top sommeliers. My book will also be available for purchase at the tasting, along with new books by our friends Terry Theise, Jon Bonné and Rajat Parr. That evening we host our Gala Dinner, where Chef Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise is joined by our chef d’honneur Daniel Boulud, James Knappett of Kitchen Table in London, Michael White of the Altamarea Group, and Philip DeMaiolo of Pier Sixty and the Lighthouse. In addition to enjoying the special bottles provided by all attending producers, guests are invited to bring bottles of Champagne from their own cellars to share throughout the room.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, please visit our website.