Adding to the Euphoria - true champagne is made in France

By J.S. Fletcher and Kathy Newbern © 2009

Greenville, SC's Euphoria includes Saturday night wine dinners where participants are assigned to different  downtown Greenville locations with multiple chefs bringing their talents to the multiple courses.

Ours was at Northampton Wines & Wine Cafe owned and operated by Richard DeBont. He began the business as a wine store, but seeing an opportunity, added a restaurant to please the palates of his patrons. The concept has been a huge success, largely based upon the fine selection of wine and the chance to shop the store, purchase a bottle or two of wine, and have it served (for a simple corkage fee) at your table at the restaurant. (Photo upper right courtesy Hampton Wines & Wine Cafe; photo left of owner Richard DeBont is by J.S. Fletcher; bottle from Duval-Leroy; Michel Brismontier with Kathy Newbern by JS Fletcher and veal dish by Kathy Newbern) See the slideshow of more shots of the evening.

For our Euphoria wine dinner, we were paired with a grand champagne dinner showcasing Duval-Leroy Champagne. What a bubbly evening it was.

Duval-Leroy is produced in France near Vertus in the heart of La Cote des Blancs, one of the three regions known for making champagne. The company currently has about 200 hectares, much of which is devoted to production of high-quality Chardonnay grapes. The company started as a family business in 1859 as a merger of two champagne growers and has remained privately owned ever since. From 1991, Carol Duval-Leroy has been president and chairwoman for the company.

Michel Brismontier, Director of International Sales, Duval-Leroy, was the host for our wine - oh, make that champagne - dinner, (officially called and he most cordially presented the champagne selections paired with our courses.

We started with Gruyere cheese-flavored choux cheese puffs accompanied by Duval-Leroy Brut.

A chilled champagne peach soup with a touch of anise came next, served with Duval-Leroy Cuvee Paris.

Next up was Alaskan halibut with butternut squash puree and red bell pepper coulis with Duval-Leroy Blanc de Chardonnay Vintage 1998.

The veal-roast with braised cabbage and Madeira wine sauce came next. With it was poured Duval-Leroy Vintage 1996.

The cheese selection (very European) was Gruyere, Doux de Montagne, and Passendale, with Duval-Leroy Rose de Saignee.

The dessert was a fresh fruit and chiffon cake layered with champagne Sabayon mousseline. With it was served a Duval-Leroy Lady Rose.

Chef Liz Bardsley came out and took a well-deserved bow for her culinary creations. We hope she had access to some of the champagne as well.

Throughout the event, we were entertained with the most cordial Michel Brismontier. His stories and anecdotes were genuinely captivating; however, the overall setting really proved to us that champagne can be served with every course of a meal but it might not be to everyone's preference.

We particularly love champagne to toast an event and to have with a dessert, but as a main wine to serve at every course would be like suggesting baseball is a sport for every season.

Yet when all was said and done at Northampton Wines & Wine Cafe and all the bottles of Duval-Leroy Champagne were empty, the overall evening, with friends and new acquaintances to share in the spirit of the Euphoria event, was one to behold as we all walked away from the dinner with new-found understanding and appreciation for champagne and what it can and cannot do.

Here's another piece about Euphoria with slideshow of downtown.

Here's another on Taste of the South with slideshow of events.

International Travel Examiner J.S. Fletcher and spouse, Kathy M. Newbern, report on luxury destinations, spas and cruising around the globe. They are award-winning members of the Society of American Travel Writers and operate their personalized romance novel business.