La Fête du Champagne in Chicago is a smaller, more intimate edition of the festival. With fewer guests in the room, we had more time with each producer and more chances to talk with the people pouring.
The October 24, 2026 Grand Tasting and Gala Dinner both took place at avec River North, closing the city's three-day festival. The restaurant worked well for the event: an approachable afternoon of producer tables, then a generous dinner, bottles passed around the room and a late stop at Pops for Champagne.
The Grand Tasting at avec River North
The Chicago Grand Tasting ran from noon to 2 p.m. at 141 West Erie Street. Cheese, charcuterie, bread and fruit lined the bar, while guests moved among the wines. Daylight, greenery and the restaurant's large windows kept the room relaxed.
Compared with New York's Pier Sixty event, Chicago's tasting was smaller and set inside a working restaurant. With fewer people in the room, it was easy to approach a producer, ask a question and stay with a wine for a while. At Salon's table, that meant unhurried time with the 2015.
The bottle was Salon 2015 Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil. It was ripe and open for a young Salon, with yellow fruit and honeyed pastry held in check by a firm, chalky line. Salon is built around Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, released as a single vintage only in selected years. The relaxed room also made it easy to meet other guests.
The gala: serious bottles at restaurant scale
The evening kept the same intimate feel. The Gala Dinner began at 6:30 p.m., with Paul Kahan and Dylan Patel hosting a collaboration with other Chicago chefs. Producers supplied special bottles, and guests brought wines from their own cellars to share. Winemakers joined the tables, with large formats moving around the room.
We liked that guests could get up, meet people and see what others had opened. Some courses were served family style, which gave the dinner the feel of a gathering at a restaurant. The food was polished and strong, while the bottle sharing kept the night moving. It was smaller than New York, with the same generosity at its center.
Rare Millésime 2006 appeared in a large format, while Pierre Péters Les Chétillons 2018 stood beside the 2008. Those two Les Chétillons bottles were especially useful to taste side by side: the same named wine from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, separated by a decade, with the younger vintage in the larger bottle. The 2018 was bright, tense and still years from its peak, while the 2008 showed what age adds: tangerine oil and nougat over the same chalky core. The Rare 2006, from a sunny year, was honeyed and exotic, with mango, cocoa and a mocha finish.
There was also Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition in magnum. The edition number identifies the Grande Cuvée release, a multi-vintage blend rather than a single-year wine. Built on the 2014 harvest, it showed dried pear, spice and crushed flowers, rich but more open than the 169th was at the same age.
The Chicago gala menu
The reception brought tuna tartare, lamb lollipops, and hummus with Haute Caviar from Paul Kahan and Dylan Patel. Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 2019 was served from jeroboam.
Kahan and Patel followed with Brussels sprout fattoush and falafel accompanied by roasted beet tahina and grilled apple ezme. The menu then moved through dishes from several kitchens.
Oliver Poilevey of Obélix served roasted sablefish with Champagne sorrel beurre blanc, chestnut mushrooms and green apple.
Tayler Ploshehanski of Creepies contributed ravioles du Dauphiné with Comté, fennel and Haute Caviar. It was served for sharing.
John Manion of Brasero and Carlos Cruz served smoked beef cheek with bone marrow potato salad, allium demi, black pepper oil and horseradish leaf.
Kahan and Patel returned with caramelized honey toast, whipped Brie, apple and black truffle. To finish, One Off Hospitality executive pastry chef Natalie Saben sent out hazelnut truffles, caramelized sesame fudge, and fig-and-burnt-honey cream puffs.
On to Pops for Champagne
The night continued at Pops for Champagne, the River North bar at 601 North State Street. Winemakers and guests gathered for an after-party, with jeroboams and other large bottles being opened.
The formal dinner ended, but the bottle sharing kept going.
Chicago felt like a close-knit wine gathering across the whole day, from the first tasting tables to the last stop of the evening.
Pearl and the Chicago weekend
The 2026 Pearl partner offer used code PEARL for the Grand Tasting and Gala Dinner package at $795 plus tax. This was the offer for the completed October event; future editions will have their own pricing and terms. The program page also records the producer dinners and other events across the weekend.
Our verdict: Chicago is the smaller, more intimate edition of La Fête du Champagne. It suits anyone who wants long conversations with producers and a serious dinner in one restaurant, while New York brings a bigger room and a wider lineup.
