There’s a rooftop wine garden in town, but blink and you’ll miss it.
On Fridays from 4-7pm and on Saturdays from 1-6pm, now through October 22, Feast! is hosting a pop-up wine garden with Blenheim Vineyards in the Main Street Market tower, a cozy, open space with bistro tables, padded benches and some excellent views of the city.
Tracey Love of Blenheim says the vineyard approached Feast! about doing the pop-up. It “was based on wanting our wines to be easily accessible and approachable to folks visiting from out of town and for those living in Charlottesville,” she says. “Even though our actual tasting room is only 15 minutes south of town, that is sometimes too far for people that don’t have means of transportation or time to make the trek.”
Feast! owner Kate Collier was eager to utilize the space, which Feast! has had for about a year and a half and uses for gift box production during the holiday season. “We felt bad hiding it from the public for so long,” she says.
Rooftop wine sippers have their choice of Blenheim’s chardonnay, Painted White (a blend of chardonnay, viognier and sauvignon blanc), merlot or cabernet franc. The wines cost $6 per glass, and between $17 and $25 for a bottle. A tasting flight of all four wines costs $6, and you can bring your glass to Blenheim’s tasting room at a later date for a free glass of wine, Collier says.
Customers can purchase food at Feast!—salads, sandwiches, cheese and charcuterie—to take up to the garden, or you can buy small snack packs, such as Virginia cheese straws, dark chocolate with cranberries, roasted Marcona almonds and tart cherries, or wasabi crisps with Virginia peanuts for between $4 and $8 at the bar.
The setup is temporary, but Collier says that other vineyards and cideries have expressed interest in doing something similar at Feast!’s rooftop garden. Stay tuned for future pairings.
Special delivery
Keevil & Keevil Grocery owner and chef Harrison Keevil loves Champion Brewing Company beer so much he’s made four sandwiches—available exclusively for delivery from his store to Champion beginning Thursday, October 6—to pair with it. “I wanted to highlight the amazing things the Champion brew team is doing,” Keevil says, and make food that would “bring out the essence of the beer.”
He’s made a chicken tikka masala burrito with Carolina gold rice to pair (if you choose) with the Missile IPA; a beer-braised sausage sandwich with housemade beer mustard and sautéed onion to go with the Shower Beer; a braised beef sandwich with carrot salad and beer cheese for the Black Me Out Stout; and a roasted chicken wrap with Carolina gold rice, romaine and ranch to pair with any of the lighter beers on tap. Keevil is currently developing a vegetarian sandwich option as well.
At Champion you can call in or text your order along with your name, and you’ll have your $10 sammy within an hour—Keevil & Keevil will deliver on the half hour, from 30 minutes after Champion opens until 7pm Mondays through Saturdays.
These sandwiches are exclusive to Champion, but Keevil & Keevil will soon offer hot in-house sandwiches—such as bahn mis and burgers.
Send your food and drink tips to Erin O’Hare at eatdrink@c-ville.com.