City Winery Atlanta is so much more than meets the eye! Located in the trendy Ponce neighborhood in the 5th District of Atlanta, City Winery offers upscale atmosphere, in house winery, concert venue, restaurant, speak easy and more!
City Winery Atlanta – More Than Meets The Eye
When my team and I showed up at City Winery Atlanta, Marketing Director, Jim Ethridge greeted us with wine which is indeed the best way to greet people. As we sipped he and Marketing Coordinator Seth Ramsey spoke to us extensively about everything that this amazing Atlanta venue has to offer.
City Winery strives to deliver the highest-end combined culinary and cultural experience to our customers who are passionate in sharing wine, music, and culinary arts. ~citywinery.com
My first question out of the gates was, “Where is the vineyard?”. Jim explained that the grapes are imported from various regions all over the world. Grape types include: Sangiovese, Cabernet and Malbec to name a few. This makes it possible for City Winery Atlanta to produce quality wines all year long. They use a total of 16 vineyards to make 13 varieties of wine. It is nice to know that they also get a percentage of their grapes from right here in Georgia!
The Winery
We were taken on a wonderful walking tour of this entire facility. We got to see everything from top to bottom!
They process 62 tons of grapes each season using stainless steel tanks called fermentation tanks. One is for White wine. Its a very complicated process. The grapes are sorted and de-stemmed and pressed ALL in house with the use of conveyor belts and forklifts. In addition to fermentation tanks old school barrel aging is also used to bring multiple flavors to the wine.
The barrels are recycled and used for everything including decor.
Concert Venue
City Winery ATL is the perfect concert venue. Guests can enjoy many local artists, as well as major acts. Jim was especially descriptive when he spoke about the sound system. Optimum sound is created using a top of the lin sound system. It is then retained within that space with elaborate sound proofing. This prevents the sounds from the music from disturbing guests who may be dining or enjoying other areas of the building. Anthony David performed the night we were there.
SpeakEasy
The City Winery Speakeasy was my favorite part. A SpeakEasy used to be considered a place where people could go to drink illegal liquor during the prohibition era. City Winery’s Speak Easy is based on that. It is in the back and has a secret door that leads you to a room whose walls are lined with liquor bottles and mirrors. It is a tight space with a long bar and menus that look like album covers for you to order from. I loved it in that space. Of course liquor isnt illegal anymore but they do a good job of recreating the look and feel of that era.
City Winery Atlanta can also be rented for private events. Even the winery space where the tanks are is used for private parties.
Restaurant
Can we talk about the food for a minute?
Menu Tasting
After our tour was over we got to meet Executive Chef Don Cherry. Even though he was super busy he tookthe time to talk to us and take a pic. We were served Appetizers, Entrees and Wine. Here is what we had.
Appetizer
Truffle Parmesan Steak Fries
Entrees
Prince Edward Island Mussels – Lemon White Wine Butter / Toasted Baguette / Fresh Herbs / Tomatoes
Shrimp N Grits – Cajun Spiced Shrimp / Smoked Gouda & Tomato Grits Scallion
Pappardelle – House made pasta / Butternut Squash / Arugula / Wild Mushrooms / Winter Pesto / Toasted Pine nuts
Maple Leaf Farms Duck Cassoulet – White bean stew / Confit Duck Leg / HouseMade Duck Sausage
Buttermilk Fried Chicken – Pimento Mac N Cheese / Broccolini / Rosemary Country Gravy
Wine Selection
Chateau Montelena 2012 Riesling
Everything was DELISH! The Shrimp N Grits and the Duck Cassoulet were my fav entrees and the wine selection was impeccable.
We had a phenomenal time! Thank you to Marketing Director Jim Ethridge for inviting us out and for showing my team and I such a great time.
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