Near the end of my 10-year stint in Chicago, working as an editor and writer for a century-old sports publishing company, I had the opportunity to attend a concert at a venue called City Winery.
It was a fun evening.
Rows of tables were set up perpendicular to the stage, so even if you had a party of four, you really were a party of eight or 12 because of the lack of elbow room.
The food was decent, and the wine selection was impressive, including a number of wines that were made right there on the premises. It’s a venue that lives up to its name — a winery that’s located in the city.
We were there to see a band called Calexico that I’d come to know through my fandom of singer/songwriter Tom Russell. The band had played on Russell’s “Blood and Candle Smoke” CD, lending their unique sound that Russell described as “world/mariachi.”
That night, City Winery offered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc produced at the winery with a special-edition Calexico label. Wine and music geek that I am, I had to have one. The wine is long gone, but the bottle is on display in the “wine corner” of my house.
City Winery’s first location was in New York City, and was so successful that the Chicago venue was added. There’s now also one in Nashville, one of the great music cities. Ironically, the only City Winery location that failed was in Napa, California — a city too small to adequately support the venue’s ambitious concert schedule. You can read more about what went wrong in Napa here.
There should be no such problem in Atlanta, which will be the home of the next City Winery, scheduled to open later this year. After all, metro Atlanta is home to 5.5 million people, making it the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States.
You can read about the construction progress here.
When you combine three of life’s great experiences — good music, good food and good wine — in a single venue, you have the formula for making happy memories. Lots of happy memories will be coming to Atlanta soon, courtesy of City Winery.
Super excited about City Winery Atlanta! I regret never visiting in my hometown Chicago. Music, food, and wine are a must in my book! Cheers!