Georgia Wineries: Visited, Revisited, and Reviewed

Mountains Pair Well with Wine

In anticipation of this year's Wine Bloggers Conference, Hubby and I drove through Georgia wine country last weekend to pick up a few bottles to share and more to drink ourselves.  We had been to several of the wineries before and decided to try out a few new ones. 

I wrote in my last post about expectations, and a lot of people have doubts about the ability of Georgia winemakers and growers.  It's time to put those aside.  Of course, the opinions expressed here are mine and Hubby's, and everyone's tastes are different.  Still, Georgia wines are worth a try, or another try depending on if you've had them in the past, for the following two reasons:

1)  Georgia wineries have been doing better with eliminating or minimizing the sweet leathery overtones that creep into the reds.  I suspect this has been a big factor feeding the skepticism about the wines here, and I bet a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised.

Note the red clay in the pond.  That's terroir, baby!

2)  Each tasting room has its own character and charm.  More about that below.

We started at Wolf Mountain Vineyards, where we're in the wine club.  The exposed wood and high ceilings give the lower tasting room, which was filled with boxes due to them just having bottled, a mountain resort feel.  We tasted in the cozy upstairs tasting room.  The highlights here are the bubblies and the rosé, but they have good reds, too.  Try the Howling Wolf Red and Coupage, both blends.  Our current favorite sparkling of theirs is the Blanc de Syrah Brut, and a friend of ours cannot get enough of the Plenitude white blend.

Grapes at Blackstock

Another place where you could easily kick back with a glass of wine in a rocking chair is Blackstock Vineyards and Winery, where we're also in the wine club.  These guys supplied grapes to a lot of the other wineries as they got started, so they've done well with figuring out how to make the finicky vinifera play nicely in Georgia's climate, and they were one of the first to figure out that Sangiovese does well here.  They have a fun vibe, both because of the wines and the tasting room staff, often local college kids.  If you're looking for a fantastic Georgia Viognier, often touted as the Southern white wine grape, try this one.  We also really liked their Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In the past, Frogtown Cellars seemed to have the most West Coast attitude, but it's mellowed, and I was really impressed with the wines this time.  They seem to have reduced the number of wines they make with a corresponding increase in quality.  Highlights of this trip included the Steel Chardonnay, Touché (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Tannat), Sangiovese, Shotgun Second Reload (NV blend of Tannat, Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Franc and Merlot), and Cabernet Franc.

Go just up and over the hill from Frogtown to Three Sisters for a winery experience that's about as opposite from snobby as you can get.  There are overalls, Cheetos, and other things you just have to see for yourself, but that you're definitely not going to find in California.  What you will discover are great authentic Georgia wines.  The UnOaked Chardonnay is a fruit bomb of a white.  It's been a favorite of mine year after year, and I'm not usually impressed by Chards.  The dry reds are a little on the sweet side, but don't let that deter you; they're still well-balanced and won't kill your palate.  I liked the Merlot, and Hubby and I both liked the Cynthiana, which is really well done.  It's worth trying just to see how a native grape varietal holds its own with the imports.  We didn't so much like it with the optional chocolate pairing, but as I mentioned above, your tastes may differ.

It pains me to say so, but the best parts remaining of Montaluce under their new ownership are the restaurant Le Vigne and the gorgeous view.  We tried the wines and weren't bowled over this time around.  The rosé and chardonnay weren't bad, but not good enough to warrant buying a bottle this trip.  We'll wait and check out their next vintage.

Wine with a View at Montaluce

The wineries above are all featured as part of the Dahlonega Wine Trail Weekend.  We didn't visit Cavender Creek this time but have enjoyed them in the past.

On Saturday, we got adventurous…  Helen, Georgia's faux-German town that hovers between parody and peculiar, seems to be a natural hub for wineries, but Habersham, which we didn't visit, has been getting all the attention.  Frogtown has also opened a tasting room, so if you're not going to visit the Dahlonega one, you can still sample their wines with your bratwurst.  My suggestion is that you venture out a little further and try these two:

Sautee Nacoochee Vineyards feels like you're tasting wine in someone's house, and you can pull up a chair and have a glass or even a wine slushie on the back porch.  It felt the most relaxed of all of them.  Hubby is typically very picky about the pink stuff, but we both liked the White Merlot.  Also, their website has some entertaining tasting notes.  About the White Merlot:  "How do we make White Merlot? By making red grapes blush of course. That's just what happens when proper southern grapes are undressed."  Oh, my.

Go further down the road to Sautee-Nacoochee Village, where you'll find the Yonah Mountain Vineyards tasting room.  It's in a little strip, and the best way to find it is to look for the purple Wine Tasting sign:

The inside of the tasting room is elegant, and they had live music, which was nice and not intrusive .  They're still getting their vineyards going and are sourcing some grapes from elsewhere, but still doing fairly well with what they've managed to grow or get locally.  The Serenity Cellars Bianco Bello is a lovely white blend with a nice fruit/dry balance.  The Sangiovese and Harmony (blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, and Syrah) were also quite nice.  

We headed north to Tiger Mountain, which we'd enjoyed in the past, but the current vintage didn't do much for us.  The best ones were the Mourvedre and Tannat, but the price point was too high for how we felt about them. So, we'll check back with them after their next vintage is released, which will give us a chance to try out the brand new Stonewall Creek Vineyards, which wasn't open yet.

Kudos to Le Caveau  in Atlanta for carrying the Yonah Mountain Traminette.  Yes, I had to get a plug in there to show my excitement for Georgia wines becoming more widely available.  It would be nice to get even more of them down here in the city.  Until then, they're definitely worth the drive.

Tasting Notes: Crane Creek & Blackstock

Yeah, Hubby and I have been hitting the sauce again. Shocking, right? We went up to my parents' cabin in Blairsville in September and October and decided to check out a new (to us) winery and one that we'd visited before. With the Winter Wine Highway 2010 weekend coming up in a few weeks (Dec 3-5), it seemed like a good time to write about them.

Crane Creek Vineyards, located in Young Harris (e.g., one of those places near Blairsville that sells alcohol) has great views, like all the Georgia wineries:



Their 2000 vintage was their first, from vines planted 15 years ago. The tasting room has been open for eight years. Apparently my in-laws had trouble catching them open, but we walked right in and tasted the lineup. There is a small tasting fee, but the pours are big enough for two to share.

Whites:

Seyval Blanc:
The first wine planted and made, this one has a tangerine/mandarin orange nose with citrus notes carrying through the palate to orange and grapefruit.
Rating: Good to Very Good

Traminette:
Cross of Gewurtzraminer and Seyval Blanc, has a mint/stone fruit nose and is floral and tart through the palate and finish.
Rating: Okay to Good (not a big fan of mint on my wines)

Enotah White:
Another hybrid, Chardonel (Chardonnay & Seyval) is the basis of this wine. Smoky oaky nose, but overall nice with good balance of citrus and vanilla.
Rating: Good

Vidal Blanc:
Described as "uncomplicated," and I would agree. Fruity with a tart finish. Another quote: "You can sit on the porch and pound this one back." Very likely.
Rating: Good

Reds:

Brasstown Mountain Claret:
Medium-bodied with a spicy nose and spicy cherry on the palate.
Rating: Good to Very Good






Mountain Harvest Red:
Super-smooth red made from the Chambourcin grape. Berry characteristics.
Rating: Very Good to Excellent

Sweet Sally:
Blend of Catawba and Niagara, has a scuppernog/muscadine nose and honeysuckle notes.
Rating: Good to Very Good

We came home with a bottle of the Mountain Harvest Red, which will be a great porch sipper next summer.

We revisited Blackstock Vineyards & Winery on the way up to the cabin in October since it had been a while. The way their tasting works is that you select eight wines for $10, so with two people sharing, you can cover most of the list, which is what Hubby and I did. We also got a cheese plate, which complimented the wines.

2007 Viognier:
Stone fruit/orange/floral nose, but very tart and a little bitter.
Rating: Good

2009 Chardonnay:
Pear nose, musky melon flavors.
Rating: Okay

2008 Viognier:
Still good citrus, but a lot smoother.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2008 Reserve Viognier:
Toasty nose with a little vanilla oak, but well-balanced and good with cheese.
Rating: Very Good

2006 Sangiovese Rosé:
Smoky on the nose, but nice and fruity and balanced between dry and off-dry.
Rating: Very Good

2008 Sangiovese Rosé:
Muscadine nose, and a little rough on the finish.
Rating: Good

2008 White Merlot:
Hubby smelled this one and said, "Apple juice!" It has a somewhat effervescent texture, kind of like an apple wine cooler.
Rating: Good

2007 Rocking Chair Rosé:
Subtle nose and flavor, but kickass finish.
Rating: Starts Okay, goes to Good, finishes Very Good. Would be a good one for a beginning wine drinker to experience the different stages of the palate.

2007 Rocking Chair Red:
Big Merlot nose, but light-bodied.
Rating: Good

2008 Sangiovese:
Still Very Good

2006 Merlot: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet
A little acidic.
Rating: Good

2005 ACE Family Reserve:
Better than when we tried it last year with more depth to the fruit in the middle, but still not as good as the previous award-winning vintage. Apparently that one's going for something ridiculous, over $100/bottle.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2007 Cabernet: What I'm drinking as I write this
Savory fruit, medium-bodied, would be great with Italian food (yeah, I think I have the wine munchies).
Rating: Very Good

2006 Reserve Merlot:
It was recommended that this one be aged, and I agree.
Rating: Good

We came home with a mixed case of the 2007 Viognier, 2008 Reserve Viognier, 2006 Sangiovese Rosé, 2008 Sangiovese, 2005 ACE Family Reserve, and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.



So, please get out the first weekend in December and support your Georgia wineries! You may not realize it, but there's legislation in front of the national House that may limit their ability to sell and ship to consumers, so the more support they have, the bigger the message we send to our Congresspeople (especially those who think that Guam is going to tip over) that this industry is important to us and to Georgia.

If you're a winery and would like to send us samples for review, please check out our Sample & Disclosure Policy, which also includes a link to contact us.

Random Events: Montaluce 2009 Vintage Release

As I've mentioned, I'm a bit behind on my blog posts. Yes, I feel like a slacker, but check out this post at my Random Writings blog to see what's been going on. Ohyeah, I think I might be in danger of becoming a lamp junkie. I'll let you know if I find one with a genie in it.



July was a busy month for me and Hubby, even beyond the business drama. On July 18, we attended the "Taste & Tweet" 2009 Vintage Release at Montaluce Vineyards in Dahlonega.



The visit began with a Georgia summer downpour. If you've never been through one of those, picture your favorite deity hurling tablespoon-sized waterballs at you. The clever valets and allowed us to pull into the barrel room so we wouldn't get wet:



No, we didn't get to park there.

The weather cleared while Hubby and I ate lunch at the winery's Le Vigne restaurant. He got the Italian Sausage flatbread, and I had the Berkshire Pork Meatballs, served over rich, creamy polenta. Was it good? Were you paying attention? Let me list out the main ingredients again:

Meatballs
Polenta

'nuff said. Here's a pic:



After lunch, we met up with a couple of friends (her blog post on the day is here) and got so comfy on the wide porch with the lovely breeze that we convinced everyone to join us outside.



One of the highlights of the day was getting to meet the new vineyard manager and wine maker Maria Peterson, who has a lovely South African accent and an obvious passion for wine. She explained the new releases to us, which, according to the winery blog post had been in the bottle for about six weeks. The wines (all 2009 unless indicated otherwise):

"Risata"
Nose of strawberry-cherry-lime. The tasting notes say "Cherry limeade" with watermelon, and I'd agree that's pretty accurate. Other attendees agreed with Maria that it's a French style rosé.
Rating: Good to Very Good

"Primoro" blend of Seyval and Vidal
Pineapple, mango, and some honey. Very smooth and balanced.
Rating: Very Good


Chardonnay
Leechee and melon nose with soft tangerine-melon characteristics.
Rating: Very Good

Viognier:
A little smoky on the nose, some floral and honey. Balanced vanilla, citrus, and smoke on the palate.
Rating: Very Good

"Dolce"
Very mild nose and apple pie in a glass. Should satisfy the sweet wine drinkers but didn't overpower those of us who don't usually drink the sweet stuff.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2008 "Centurio" 90% Georgia Merlot and 10% French Merlot
Yum! This wine should help to dispel the myth that Georgia makes wimpy reds. Nice plum/currant nose and good ripe fruit with some herbal notes.
Rating: Very Good

Keep in mind that these wines had only been in the bottle for about a month and should only get better. Hubby and I are looking forward to going back and trying them again, and perhaps purchasing a few for the holidays.


The rest of the day included wandering out to the vineyard, seeing the grapes, and learning about the pruning process that keeps Montaluce's wine high-quality. We even got to taste some homemade strawberry and lavender mead.

Part of the fun of "tweetups" like this is seeing people you normally only interact with online. Yes, we tweet as we go, but there's plenty of conversation otherwise. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we stayed for dinner, which, that night, was a three-course Prix Fixe for $40/person.

I started off with the Diver Scallop, served with cream corn and smoked blueberry. This was my favorite course of the evening with its mix of sweet and salty flavors and fun textures:



I chose the Butter Poached Poussin with summer squash, maitake mushroom, and cipollini onion for my main course. The chicken itself had been cooked to tenderness and not beyond, but I found the sauce to be a bit salty.



Finally, I’m a sucker for Chocolate Silk Pie, this fudgy one with mint and raspberry sauces:



Oh, and pictures of our hosts the Beecham brothers in their natural habitats. Rob's the one in the vineyard, and Brent's the one with the martini. When I first met them, I thought that Brent was the quiet one. I have since been proven wrong.

















Disclosure: We paid for our own food, but the alcohol, including with dinner, was courtesy of Montaluce. This has not influenced my review in any way.

Winery Review: Frogtown Cellars

I've been trying to figure out how to review Frogtown Cellars, one of the North Georgia wineries located around Dahlonega. I admit to having had the tasting notes on my desk for a week, all three sheets. Yes, Frogtown has an almost overwhelming array of wines to sample. The question is whether quantity means quality.

Whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself. The basic info is that you can choose one of three tastings. There are seven reds, seven whites, some sweet wines, and a list of "Additional Dry and Dessert," which I'll refer to as the ADD, wines. The options are to choose reds or whites for $12 each, a combined one with a small discount, the sweet wine tasting for $6, and/or additional pours from the ADD wines for $2 each. Confused yet? Basically, they've got whatever you're in the mood to taste.

Hubby and I did the combined red/white tasting with a few extra pours from the ADD list. That ended up being seventeen wines. I'm not going to list my notes on all seventeen, so I'll summarize and hit the high points. All of the wines we tasted were under the Frogtown label. They have a couple of others as well, the Thirteenth Colony and Talking Rock.

Overall, we were disappointed with the whites, which tended to be too light-bodied for our tastes. Yes, I realize that white wines are supposed to be light-bodied, at least the more popular ones, but these were really light. Beginning wine drinkers may disagree. The reds showed much better than the whites with good fruit and overall nice balance. The highlights (for us) are as follows:

From the Whites List:

2006 Vineaux Rosé: dry blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Sangiovese
It's always nice to find a pink wine that Hubby likes. This one had a "hot" alcohol nose, but nice fruit overall with strawberry and lime. It would be a great back porch wine.
Rating: Very Good

From the Red List:

2008 Audacity: "Super Tuscan Blend" of 55% Sangiovese and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon
Hot cherry nose, but smooth with black cherry and a hint of butter on the finish.
Rating: Very Good

Shotgun, First Reload: 40% Tannat, 40% Touriga Nacional, and 20% Cabernet Franc
Off dry nose. Fruity and chewy with good acidity. Wants salmon.
Rating: Good (but Hubby really liked)

2006 Tannat: 90% Tannat, 10% Cabernet Franc
Nice acidity with good dark fruit and pepper. Would be great with lamb chops.
Rating: Very Good

Convergence: blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec; 66% of the fruit comes from the Russian River Valley (Sonoma County, California) and 34% from Frogtown
Big and savory with rich fruit on the nose and palate. Some berry.
Rating: Very Good to Excellent

From the ADD List:

2006 Cabernet Franc:
Nice and smooth with blackberries and a spicy finish. Hubby decided it wanted food.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2006 Frogtown Family Reserve Merlot:
Berry and cassis with nice fruit/tannin balance.
Rating: Very Good, but not $48.99 good

2006 Frogtown Cabernet Sauvignon:
Berry nose and smooth, round tannins.
Rating: Very Good to Excellent

2008 Frogtown Grandeur: 100% Tannat
This is a dessert wine. The best way to describe it is that it's kind of like a Port, but not as heavy.
Rating: Very Good

The tasting room itself is lovely, and the winery has a restaurant as well as spectacular views:



If you're doing a winery tour, this is an easy one to hit along with Three Sisters, which is just over the hill, and Blackstock, which is very close as well. We did come home with a few bottles, the Rosé, Audacity, Shotgun – First Reload (which Hubby liked better than I did), and Grandeur. They kept company with the Wolf Mountain wine club shipment we'd picked up on the way.

As always, check the web site for tasting room hours. If they have a wedding, they offer tastings outside.

I liked this guy, mindfully keeping watch over the tasting room:



The bottom line: Not impressed enough to become a Frogtown Citizen (i.e., join their wine club), but had good ones on their lists. Would like to see them concentrate on making fewer wines and doing them better. Still worth a visit if you're in the area.

Winery Reviews: Wolf Mountain and Montaluce

My parents' cabin just south of Blairsville is giving us great opportunities to check out the wineries around Dahlonega, which are on the way. We just have to be careful because stopping on the way up means we have to go over Blood Mountain, and on the way back we have to be mindful of Georgia 400 and Atlanta traffic. In other words, we have to sip judiciously, which is hard because we visited a couple of good ones this last trip.

Wolf Mountain Vineyards is just off the road between Dahlonega and Blairsville. I had high expectations because I had visited their Roswell tasting room many years ago and loved the reds, and I wasn't disappointed. I don't think that the Roswell tasting room is still open.

They offer two tasting flights, the "Estate Tasting Flight," or tastes of eight of the estate wines for $10, or the "Reserve Tasting Flight," eight reserve wines for $20. Some of the wines overlap lists, but we saw Claret on the Reserve tasting list, so that pretty much made our decision. Here's what we tasted:

2008 Blanc de Blancs Brut
Yes, a North Georgia sparkling wine! Oaky chardonnay nose, which is not surprising since that's the grape used. Citrus on the palate with very mild yeast and some creaminess.
Rating: Good

2008 Vintners Reserve Brut Rosé
Has some Reserve Claret in it for the color. Nice balance of yeast and red berry flavors. A pink wine that Hubby liked!
Rating: Very Good

2009 Plenitude
75% Chardonnay and 25% Viognier
Stone fruit Viognier nose, but with the acidity of Chardonnay. The best comparison we could come up with was that it's like a Sauv Blanc with the smoothness of an unoaked chard and the silkiness of Viognier.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2008 Chanteloup
70% French-Oak aged Chard and 30% Steel-Fermented Viognier
A little oak on this one, but mostly citrus and melon with some minerality, and again the silky texture of a Viognier.
Rating: Good

2007 Instinct
"Field Blend" of Syrah, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Touriga Nacional
Musky, smoky nose. A medium-bodied red with currant-cherry flavors. It would probably be better with food. Like meat. Red meat. Yes, it's aptly named.
Rating: Good to Very Good

2007 Claret
70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Mourvedre
Well-balanced with nice, dark fruit on the nose and all the way through. Oh, yes, we liked it.
Rating: Very Good

2007 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice dark fruit nose with blackberry and cassis on the palate. Yum.
Rating: Very Good

Delicieux:
Like Port, but not syrupy.
Rating: Very Good

We ended up joining the wine club and bringing home bottles of the Brut Rosé, Claret, and Reserve Cabernet. Yes, we liked them that much. We'll do the regular tasting next time. Oh, and we also ended up having a glass of the Reserve Cabernet with a cheese plate while enjoying the view:





On the way back to Atlanta, we stopped by Montaluce Winery & Estates. Well, not the estates, just the winery. If you recall, we were there back in January for the "Wine Conclave." I am pleased to report that they thawed out nicely, and the view from the porch is even prettier in the spring:



The winery offers different flights of three wines for $10 each. We tasted the rose, two whites and two reds, all made at Montaluce.* It was interesting to taste the wines outside the context of a meal. Click here for my first review of the wines as well as what they were served with.

The Risata, or rosé, seemed to have simultaneously smoothed out and become a little more tart than previously. The Chardonnay still had its vanilla and lime flavors but had also developed some melon notes. The Viognier is honeysuckle and honey, a good sipping wine for a hot afternoon. The Merlot, again medium-bodied with blackberry and raspberry, had some tobacco overtones. Finally, the Cabernet Sauvignon was still very good. We got glasses of the Cabernet and Viognier to sip on the porch and wait for snack time:



Both Wolf Mountain and Montaluce have restaurants as part of the wineries. I'm looking forward to trying Wolf Mountain's Vineyard Cafe sometime. At Montaluce, we shared an arugula salad with blue cheese, pork belly croutons, and cashews tossed in sherry vinaigrette. We also split a ramp flatbread, which had ramps (a garlicky spring onion-type vegetable), Manchego, and chilis. They paired a wine with it, and unfortunately I didn't get the name, but it was one of their wide selection of Italian whites. Apparently our efforts to eat light posed a challenge to the sommelier, but he rose to the occasion and picked the perfect wine.

One thing to remember is that several of the North Georgia wineries host weddings, so if you're looking for a less expensive "destination," it's something to consider. For the rest of us who are already married, it's a good idea to call ahead and make sure they'll be open regular tasting hours on weekends.

We came back from Montaluce with bottles of the Risata, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

It looks like my parents' investment in a mountain home is going to benefit us in many ways. I'm happy to be able to support our state's "agritourism" efforts. If you've turned your nose up at Georgia wine in the past, consider visiting one of these wineries. You may change your mind.

*Yes, FCC, they comped the tasting and all but two glasses afterward because they know us.

Montaluce Wine Conclave, Part One -- Oh yes, there was lunch!

Okay, first the disclosure stuff: we didn't pay for anything except for dinner last night and a contribution to the tip jar for the two servers who were helping out with the Wine Conclave. Okay, FTC, happy now? Why don't you get doctors to do the same things with their patients? "Hey, Ambien CR took me out to a great dinner at a fancy restaurant last night!" Or is this because bloggers don't have a big lobby yet?

So there. Hmph. On to business now…

Yesterday's "Wine Conclave," held at Dahlonega's Montaluce Vineyards and Winery, brought together some of the wine bloggers in the Atlanta area who had met and chatted with co-hosts Rob and Brent Beecham, two of the Montaluce owners, on Twitter. Montaluce is an Italian-style winery and restaurant designed with the Atlanta day-tripper in mind. They source some of their grapes from Blackstock and are also growing their own. The restaurant downstairs and banquet hall upstairs overlook the vineyards:



Hubby and I left Decatur early and arrived a little after ten, the designated starting time. However, Georgia weather had decided to complicate things. Once we left the main road and hit back roads, we noticed that each branch on every tree had been coated with a thin layer of ice. It was beautiful and a little unsettling, like we had driven into a different world. I was happy to get to Montaluce and be shown into the warm banquet room upstairs, where I got my nametag and proceeded with trying to put faces and real names with Twitter handles. I really hope there's not a test later because I remember faces and handles, but I didn't retain many real names. You'll see why in a moment.

The original agenda of discussion in the morning followed by lunch, tours, and tastings got turned upside-down by several of the food bloggers coming late due to weather. We started with a tour of the winery itself, where vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Oliver Asberger showed us the process and allowed us to taste some of the wines in progress, a Seyval and a Viognier from the 2009 vintage that are still fermenting in their large metal tanks.

Then there was lunch. Oh, wow, was there lunch! A five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, to be exact. We met chef Steven Hartman of the winery's restaurant Le Vigne, and he and Oliver acted as culinary tour guides for the next couple of hours.

The first course, chicken liver mousse with housemade pickles and lavosh, had a nice balance of savory and sour, and the texture of the "pickles," which were essentially pickled vegetables, played off well against the chicken liver mousse, which wasn't liver-ish at all but tasted like a certain sandwich spread my mom used when I was a kid. It went away when my dad was diagnosed with high cholesterol, and after seeing Chef's demo on how to make it, I can see why. Yeah, liver and butter – not so good for the bloodwork. Thankfully I don't have to get mine done again til June. The lavosh, a cracker-type thing made of cake flour and water, was good, too.

The course was paired with the 2008 Montaluce Chardonnay, thankfully unoaked. It does have some vanilla notes from the type of fermentation used (some malolactic if you're a wine geek), but the overall flavor is very clear with notes of lime and pineapple. It went very well with the course, balancing the richness of the mousse but not fighting with the pickled veggies.
Wine Rating: Very Good to Excellent (yes, this is high praise for a Chard from me. No, it's not because it was free).

The second course, smoked steelhead trout with boiled peanuts, fennel, meyor lemon, and sweet tea froth, made Hubby happy. The fennel, lemon, and tea froth combination made me think of spring, and the smoked trout made lots of other people think of salmon. I'm not a big trout fan, but I liked it, especially with everything else and the wine pairing.



The 2008 Montaluce Risata was made from Sangiovese that had to be picked early due to the weather. Raspberry nose with good acidity and a nice finish with a little butter and a hint of tart sweetness. It's dry, but well-balanced. At this point, Hubby tweeted, "A Chardonnay @RandomOenophile likes followed by a rose I like? Can this be?"
Wine Rating: Very Good And it was pretty!



Continuing on with the theme of things I normally wouldn't eat but will try if someone else makes them, the third course was a coppa di testa, or Berkshire hog head and feet terrine. Once a week, they bring a whole (dead) pig into the kitchen and break it down. I guess they use everything. It was served with apple mostarda (spicy apple mustard), cider braised cabbage, and apple. It satisfied my Belgian side with its combination of pork, which tasted like bacon, and apple.



Now came the red wines. I like North Georgia wines, but I do have one complaint: the reds tend to be a little light-bodied for my taste. Not so with the 2008 Montaluce Cabernet (blended with a little Merlot and Sangoivese), which was comfortably medium-bodied. It smelled like a Cab without reaching out of the glass and whacking me up-side the head (yes, I did just say that), but it had good body and a lingering finish. The food brought out the fruitiness.
Wine Rating: Very Good to Excellent

I'll get to the last two courses in a moment, but it's time for some random thoughts. Through the first part of the day and couple of courses, we did formal introductions, and there wasn't much spontaneous conversation. Admittedly, I got slightly annoyed just before lunch, when Rob wanted Oliver to keep talking until the food was ready. Oliver had been a good sport and had been talking all morning, and my thought was, "When are we going to get to talk to each other?" After the second course, the magic happened. People opened up like good bottles of red wine, mostly with "oh, so that's who you are!" I felt a little intimidated at first – there were some serious wine people in attendance – but then I remembered that my blog is deliberately non-expert, and I felt better, opened my ears, and learned a lot.

Back to the food! And then God, or maybe Chef, decreed, "There shall be comfort food!" Yep, it was fancy chicken and gravy, or a chicken thigh terrine with cipollini onion, baby carrot, and celery leaf. It was paired with the 2008 Montaluce Merlot, also medium-bodied with some interesting fizziness on the palate. Overall, it was nicely balanced with a little cedar and butter to go with the fruit. It had been made with oak chips for one month, which added spicy notes that balanced the richness of the food.
Wine Rating: Very Good

Yes, there was a dessert course – stuff in jars!



Seriously, it was butternut cup custard with maple gel, oat crumble, and buttermilk espuma (essentially buttermilk whipped cream). The flavor of the butternut squash came through, and the oat crumble added fun crunchiness. I'm going to have to try that maple-butternut combo at home. This course would've been better with a dessert wine, but Montaluce doesn't do those yet, so they paired it with the 2008 Montaluce Viognier, which has 1.5% residual sugar. The dessert overwhelmed the wine, which would've been nice on its own with its floral nose and tropical fruit (but not citrus – someone said papaya and banana).
Wine Rating: Very Good

One of my fellow attendees actually brought a real camera, so for really good pictures, check out Brad Kaplan's photos.

Finally, thanks so much to Rob and Brent for allowing us the opportunity to come up and play with y'all yesterday! We had so much fun!

Next up on Tuesday: But wait, there's more! Wine from distributors Avant Partir and Quality Wine and Spirits