Blais, Burgers & Wine - Oh My!

Well, I must say, the last few days were a great wine-down from a hectic week!

The Grape Girls and I have had a whirlwind past few days. We attended a "grape" tasting at 10 Degrees South featuring lovely South African wines, went back to cool new find Cellar 56 Tapas & Wine Bar, I met African-American winemaker Johnathan Branch at The Colors of Wine and THEN caught up with celebrity chef Richard Blais at his new gourmet burger joint FLIP!

Ok, let me start from the beginning... (Whew!)

10 Degrees South - On Thursday, Feb. 19th Atlanta's only authentic South African restaurant celebrated 350 years of South African wine! South African experts paired up with wine guru’s from Vineyard Brands to hold a wine tasting reception, complete with South African delicacies from the highly acclaimed 10 Degrees South menu. The festivities topped off with live performances from authentic South African Zulu dancers.

Of course, when we left we just didn't want the party to end so the Grape Girls headed on over to Cellar 56 - read Christine's Feb. 12th post for more info on East Andrew's latest addition!

The Colors of Wine - This cool little wine retail store (located at 2355 Cumberland Pkwy in Vinings, GA) boasts a great wine assortment, accessories, gift baskets and more. I fell in love with this place a few years ago when former owner Twyla (rhymes with my name!) first opened shop. Now the charming Brenda & Clayton Brown are running things and haven't missed a beat, errrr sip! On Saturday, Feb. 21st my husband and I attended their wine tasting featuring the Georgia premier of Branch Cellars with Winemaker Johnathan Branch. He's an African-American chef turned wine producer who first fell in love with wine many years ago while visiting Alsace and honed his skills working with some of the best winemakers in Napa. We were lucky enough to sample several of his limited-production wines and purchased a bottle of the Branch Cellars Cabernet to savor on our upcoming 1-yr wedding anniversary. He even personalized it, see below! Meeting Mr. Branch and enjoying his wine was truly one of those great life experiences and I'm so glad I got to share it with my hubby Greg. See us with the winemaker (center) pictured below!

DID YOU KNOW? Though there are nearly 6,000 wineries in the United States, African Americans own fewer than a dozen.

Flip Burger Boutique - After the wine tasting, Greg and I stopped by Atlanta's newest culinary offering from Bravo's Top Chef (season 4) finalist and Food Network's Iron Chef competitor Richard Blais. Now, those of us in Atlanta have known of this hotshot since he opened Blais in 2003 - emphasis on the word hot! ;) This burger-meets-molecular-gastronomy eatery features a liquid nitrogen milk shake bar (look for the Krispy Kreme shake) and alterna-burgers like the Lamburger with green olive relish, cucumber yogurt, raisin ketchup and mint. My fave is the Butcher Cut with carmelized onions, blue cheese and red wine jam. Creative sides include sweet potato tots, vodka battered onion rings and tempura fried okra, all begging you to give 'em a try. Needless to say, this ain't your average burger stop. Look for more Flips, and Blais' signature mohawk, coming soon to a city near YOU!

Be sure to visit our blog again soon for the latest adventures of the Grape Girls and visit http://www.grapecrushevents.com/ to sign-up for our mailing list to receive your exclusive invitation to the official Grape Crush launch party coming this April.

Cheers!