Wines of Georgia

Georgia on My Mind

This may be the Peach State, but grapes are gown here to produce wine! Georgia is producing some award winning wines, which are gaining national recognition. Our mountains combine the perfect terrain, soil, drainage, and elevation necessary for our vineyards to produce wines that reveal this "sense of place," or terroir (soil). Georgia's Wine Country stretches from Savannah to Young Harris, and everywhere in between.

Georgia wine making has had a long tradition of producing sweet to semi-sweet wines from the native Muscadine grape, a hybrid, also known as the "less noble" variety, vs. traditional grapes for wine making. The Muscadine is one of the first indigenous grapes to be cultivated in the US. Muscadines are truly a southern treasure, and Georgia leads the nation in the production of Muscadine grapes, developed primarily by the University of Georgia. Our state is the largest producer of this grape as it grows naturally here and thrives in the hot, humid climate of the south. Be sure to try it with Goat Cheese! Muscadine wine also will pair well with spicy foods, chicken and is a nice sipping wine in the hot months.

In the mid 1990's, grape pioneers started plowing pastures to create a new rush of vineyards and wineries in the North Georgia Mountains. As these pioneers began to select locations for their wineries, consideration of elevation, soil and slope had to be considered. Elevation was an important factor, if they planted the grapes too high, severe cold would hamper ripening and too low with a warmer climate would foster disease problems. North Georgia has its lowest rainfall in the harvest months of August-October, which reduces the risk of rot and mildew. This provides for good harvest conditions to ripen and mature quality fruit. The soils are usually a blend of sandy red clay. Clay doesn't absorb water very easily, allowing most to run off a slope in heavy rain. The ability of the soil to shed the rain, the proper elevation and slope, and the cooling drying breezes allow for optimal conditions for grapes to be grown here in Georgia for wine.

The state is also producing traditional premium wine grapes as well. French-American hybrid grapes of Sevval Blanc, which produces a white wine, are best found at Crane Creek and Tiger Mountain vineyards. The Habersham, Three Sisters, Wolf Mountain and Frogtown Cellars wineries produce wines from Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.
Take a trip down the Georgia Wine Trail (http://americaswinetrails.com/wine-trails/georgia-wineries/) and taste what the North Georgia wineries have to offer!

Until next time, cheers!