This weekend we drove up to North Georgia to check out some of the wines up there. Formerly known for overly sweet varieties such as muscadine wine, the Georgia wines have been getting more sophisticated and refined over the past decade.
Tiger Mountain Vineyards (2592 Old 441 S, Tiger, GA)
After successful careers as a doctor and lawyer, respectively, in Colorado, John and Math Ezzard moved back to his family farm in Georgia and started working on building a winery. John first planted vines in the mountains of Rabun County in 1995, and they opened the winery in 2000. Since then, their wines have won almost 200 awards in regional and national competitions.
Located in Tiger, just a couple of miles south of Clayton, Tiger Mountain Vineyards is a great place to stop for a wine tasting, especially while enjoying the fall colors in North Georgia. You may taste all their varieties for $10, or just buy a glass to enjoy on their patio. Their specialties include a Petit Manseng (grown from a grape introduced to Georgia by John, their winemaker) and the Mountain Cyn, a blend of Cabernet Franc and Norton grapes.
My recommendation would be to go to Tiger during one of their many special events. We joined them for their 2011 Mountain Cyn Release Party. For only $15 per person, we were able to enjoy a wine tasting, along with grilled sausages and artisan cheeses, accompanied by the music of a local (and very good) jazz musician. Other popular events include their Valentine's Wine and Chocolate Celebration, wine release parties, and a Christmas Open House.
A few years ago, they opened the Red Barn Cafe, which is open for weekend lunch, as well as dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. Along with indoor seating, they have a wonderful stone patio with a fire pit where you can enjoy your meal. We haven't actually eaten here during normal hours, but did enjoy one of their first wine dinners, and we really enjoyed that.
I'd also recommend checking out the following places nearby:
Fromage (Clayton, GA) - If you're not going to eat lunch at the Red Barn, go to Fromage. They have excellent sandwiches, soups, quiches and salads. Their menu changes often, based on getting the freshest ingredients. Make sure to save room one of their homemade desserts...or take it with you. This is also a great place to get a box lunch (or some specialty cheeses) to take with you on a hike or a picnic.
Universal Joint (Clayton, GA) - Of course, I couldn't post an entry without talking about beer at all. The Universal Joint probably has the best beer selection in the area. They don't have a ton of taps (around 15), but almost all are quality beers. They also have your standard pub menu of sandwiches, salads and burgers.
Serenity Cellars (265 Laurel Ridge Rd, Cleveland, GA)
Serenity Cellars is one of the newer wineries in North Georgia, opening in 2012. Joe and Tina Smith opened this winery after Joe had been the winemaker at nearby Yonah Mountain for a number of years.
They have a very nice, but moderately-sized tasting room, and a gorgeous stone patio where you can have a glass of wine and listen to one of the musicians that they often have playing outside. The owners are often in the tasting room, and will happily tell you about the wines, their history, and everything that is going on with the winery.
Wine tastings are $7.50 (for 6-7 wines). I think that the quality of the wines is quite a bit better than you might find at some of the other wineries, but they're a little more "stingy" about the pours than you might find elsewhere. I'd recommend the Traminette, Sangiovese or Tranquility.
They're in the process of building a barrel grotto, which will be used for aging their wines, and where they will host tastings.
More and more wineries are opening in the area, but if you have limited time up there and are anywhere in the area, I'd recommend that you try out Serenity Cellars.
No comments:
Post a Comment