Thirty Champagnes and sparkling wines will flow for three straight hours at Regency Wine Bar on Wednesday, Dec. 2, as the shop's 12th annual Champagne tasting returns to Merchants Square. The event runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., with admission set at $128.10, for a tasting that's become something of a local holiday-season tradition.
According to cleveland.com, the tasting is cash or check only, and reservations must be made by phone at 330-836-3447. The outlet's report places Regency at 115 Ghent Road in Fairlawn, inside Merchants Square across from Summit Mall — though the publication's own 2023 coverage of the same annual event listed the address as Akron rather than Fairlawn, leaving the city designation unresolved between the two reports.
A Decade-Plus of Bubbly Traditions
This isn't Regency's first rodeo with rows of Champagne flutes. Back in December 2023, the bar's tasting ran the same 6:30-to-9:30 p.m. window, but on a Wednesday the following week — Dec. 6 — and poured more than two dozen Champagnes and sparkling wines rather than this year's 30. That earlier edition cost $100, cash or check, with the same phone number taking reservations, and the report describing it noted the tasting traditionally sells out.
Sparkling wine's appeal goes beyond the pop-the-cork theatrics, too. It's a food-friendly pour that pairs well with creamy dishes, sushi and other foods — a detail that may explain why a tasting built entirely around bubbly keeps finding an audience year after year.
Another Bubbly Option Down the Road
The Galaxy in Wadsworth is holding its own annual tasting this month, ahead of Regency's Dec. 2 event. The Galaxy is holding more than 100 wines on Saturday, Nov. 28, according to the same cleveland.com report. A listing on the restaurant's own site fills in more detail: the Galaxy Restaurant event runs 7 to 10 p.m. and promises more than 100 wines priced anywhere from $10 to over $100 a bottle.
That same listing advertises live jazz from Paul Wolf Christensen throughout the three-hour window, plus a silent auction featuring large-format bottles, with proceeds benefiting Marian's Closet Mission. It's a bigger, broader pour than Regency's focus on Champagnes and sparkling wines, but it lands on the calendar just days before Fairlawn's event, giving wine-minded Northeast Ohioans two distinct ways to toast the season within a single week.
Planning Ahead
For those eyeing Regency's Dec. 2 tasting, the key details are straightforward: 30 Champagnes and sparkling wines poured over three hours, cash or check only, and a phone reservation required in advance. Given the sellout history attached to the bar's past tastings, anyone hoping to snag a spot may not want to wait too long to dial that reservation line.
