Tickets now on sale for the sixth annual Athens Wine Weekend at The Classic Center

ATHENS, Ga. – Tickets are now on sale for the sixth annual Athens Wine Weekend, scheduled for Friday through Sunday, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, at The Classic Center in downtown Athens.

Athens Wine Weekend was recently selected as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events. It was also named Best Event in the Athens Banner-Herald’s 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards.

The event benefits The Classic Center Cultural Foundation, which provides resources to entertain and educate the community by supporting diverse performing, visual and culinary arts programs, while also offering scholarships to upcoming students of the arts.

The Foundation annually awards three performing arts scholarships and one culinary scholarship. The audition process for the culinary scholarship will take place in conjunction with Athens Wine Weekend. Applicants will prepare a dish that will be judged by a panel of three local chefs, and the scholarship winner will be announced during the Gourmet Dinner.

The weekend kicks off with a special reception Friday evening. Featured chefs will conduct an in-house presentation of Amuse-Bouche, a sampling of each chef’s cooking artistry, all paired with the perfect wine to arouse the pallet. This year’s lineup of local chefs includes Chris McCook of Athens Country Club, Patrick Anderson with Speakeasy, Jennifer Price with Waterfall Club and Daniel Massie with Levy Restaurants. An Amuse-Bouche ticket includes five tasting coins, and more tasting coins are available for an additional charge.

The Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting will showcase hundreds of wines from around the world. Last year, more than 800 people sipped and reviewed wines from various distributors. A Grand Tasting ticket includes 10 tasting coins, and more coins will be available for purchase.

Wine lovers can purchase tickets to select wine seminars on Saturday, as well as a premier food and wine pairing seminar with Jaamy Zarnegar, co-owner of the Last Resort Grill.

Topping off the day is the six-course Gourmet Dinner featuring dazzling presentations, expertly complemented by a wine selected specifically for each course. The dinner will feature ceviche of octopus and bronzino, osso bucostyle pork, pistachio almond cake and much more prepared by local chefs Peter Dale with The National, Mike Sutton with Five & Ten, Chris McCook with Athens Country Club and Daniel Massie with Levy Restaurants.

A silent auction is slated for Friday and Saturday, which in addition to the event proceeds, benefits The Classic Center Cultural Foundation. Attendees will be able to bid on items at the Amuse-Bouche, Grand Tasting, as well as the Gourmet Dinner. A large variety of auction items will be available, from football and concert tickets to fabulous trips and accommodations.

The weekend concludes with a Sparkling Wine Sunday Brunch, featuring culinary delights with chef tables that include specialty Eggs Benedict, a mimosa bar and much more.

There are several ticketing options available, including discounted packages with deluxe hotel accommodations at Hilton Garden Inn.

Visit AthensWineWeekend.com for more information.