Inauguration at Green Street: Building a Champagne Tower

Last night at Green Street Grill in Cambridge, MA, The Second Glass came together with DrinkBoston and BeerAdvocate for an inauguration bash. When asked to choose the appropriate sparkling for the inauguration we decided on the NV Gruet Brut from New Mexico. We figured since Obama’s message and campaign slogan involved ‘change’ that we should pick a wine that stood for the same ideals. New Mexico is uncharted territory for sparkling wine, that most famously hails from Champagne, France. The NV Gruet Brut, however, is a fantastic bubbly at an even more fantastic price – around $15.

Next came the problem of figuring out how to build a ‘Champagne tower.’ Traditionally used for weddings and other large receptions, the concept seemed simple enough, but the execution kept us nervous. Close to 100 glass, glasses stacked on a small table in a busy bar? Luckily, we found solid information by the way of Martha Stewart Wedding website.

In the end, it took about 14 bottles of bubbly to fill up the tower and while the wine didn’t flow evenly into all the glasses, the concept worked quite well. It also helped that Channel 5 news showed up just in time for the pouring!