DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709250064

SECTION: FLAVOR                  PAGE: F9   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: WINES & SPIRITS

SOURCE: BY RUTH FANTASIA, FLAVOR EDITOR 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

TICKETS QUICKLY EVAPORATING FOR WINE FESTIVAL AUCTION

IT'S NOT quite the sell-out that the Elton John concert is. But it's close. There are a few tickets remaining for the auction of The Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic, but not many. You'll have better luck attending one of several other events planned for this annual festival designed to raise funds for WHRO, Hampton Road's public broadcasting channel.

The Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic kicks off Monday, Oct. 13, with a cigar and wine dinner at the Town Point Club in Norfolk. This new event will feature Mondavi wines and the new Mondavi ``Napa'' Cigars. Tickets are $100 per person. For ticket information call 624-6606.

A black-tie gala dinner will be held Friday, Oct. 17, at the Chrysler Museum. This meal features wine paired with cuisine from notable local chefs, including Amy Brandt of the Lucky Star in Virginia Beach, Sam McGann of Blue Point Bar & Grill and Ocean Boulevard on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Todd Jurich of Bistro! Proceeds for this event benefit the Chrysler Museum of Art. Tickets are $200 per person; call 664-6217 or 889-9440.

Tickets for the aforementioned auction at Bayville Gold Club on Saturday, Oct. 18, are $80 each. Call 889-9440.

As it was last year, the tasting events will be held in February. The Tasting Brunch ($60 per person) will again be held at the Town Point Club on Feb. 8 and the Grand Tasting ($40 per person) will be held the same day at The Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Call 889-9440. WINE TO GO

If you want to buy a bottle of wine to drink at home, you go to the wine shop or grocery store. Right?

Not necessarily. More and more restaurants are selling wines to go, or ``off premises'' as the state ABC Board calls it, at prices lower than on the restaurant's wine list.

The latest venture into off-premises wines is Le Chambord's Insider's Wine Club. The concept is simple. You fill out a membership information form, and in return you get to purchase selected wines at 10 percent over wholesale price.

On the last Monday of each month, club members may attend a tasting and information night. The nine wines to be featured the following month will be served along with appetizers.

The first of the tastings is to be held at 7 p.m. Monday in the Bistro at Le Chambord, 324 N. Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach. Featured wines include Bollinger Special Cuvee ($32), Nederburg Stein ($7.50), Estancia Reserve Chardonnay ($16.25) and Latour Pouilly Fuisse ($16.81).

To participate in the club, you may stop in at Le Chambord and sign up, or mail your name, address and telephone number to: Wine Club Le Chambord, 324 N. Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach, 23454. For more information, call 486-3636 or 498-1234. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

The Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic begins Oct. 13 with a cigar and wine

dinner at the Town Point Club in Norfolk.

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