Georgia Wine and notes from Florida

I will be conducting a tasting of the best Georgia grown wines I could find in the Northern Atlanta area and will add those tasting notes, evaluations and scores at a future date. But for now, before I forget all the details, here is a travelogue of our recent trip to Bradenton and back.

We started our trip south on March 4th and spent the night in Chattanooga TN which is exactly the halfway point between Bradenton FL and Ann Arbor MI. However, we stopped for a few days in Atlanta to visit friends, enjoy the culinary scene, play a little golf and visit some wineries.

Before we left Ann Arbor, I tired many times to contact various wineries located near Northern Atlanta but struck out with almost all of them. I was interested in three things. Did any of the wineries make wine from Georgia grapes, did any winery grow hybrids, PIWI’s or native varieties and did any winery make dry red table wines from Georgia grapes? So, armed with nothing other than what I could glean from various websites, we stopped at several wineries. We did find some Georgia grown wines at all of the wineries we visited. Other than Qualusi who grow all of their own grapes, most of the other wineries we visited in Georgia only sell California wines with a few Georgia grown almost as an afterthought. Unlike Missouri where locally grown and locally made is the gospel, most of the Georgia wineries seem to believe that it is easier to slap their label on a $10 bottle of California wine and sell it for $40 than it is to produce an excellent bottle of Georgia wine and sell it for $20-$30. I think that they believe that “local” is a bad word implying bad quality.

CHATEAU MEICHTRY was our first stop well off the beaten path. It is quite a large impressively modern winery much like those on Old Mission in Northern Michigan. They offer at least a dozen wines but we focused on those grown on site or from local grapes grown nearby. Quill (dry white Cayuga) is brilliantly clean and bright with a big aromatic nose with substantial fruit and mouth feel to the finish. Vidal (estate grown) also shows remarkable fruit purity fresh citrus scents and massive green apple / green herb nuances. It is very expressive with a long fat finish. George’s Cuvee (90% Norton / 10% Noiret) has good color and a bit of marmalade in the nose. The palate is big and oaky with a clean tannic finish. It is quite substantial and offers up what I’d hoped to find in my quest of Georgia wine. Sussen Roots (Chambourcin) was a dismal wine that has all kinds of problems including VA. The hostess opened a second bottle, same. We did not taste it. Shooter Ray Red (estate Norton) like the George’s Cuvee, the experience here is fine pure Norton bouquet. Good mid palate and a fine bitter finish. Though a tad sweet, it is well balanced and enjoyable.

We ran into the owner/winemaker Justin McNeill who explained that the Sussen Roots was not a wine he made and they were offering it for sale as a favor to a nearby winery. So, overall, we liked the wines and look forward to a comparative tasting of the other wines we purchased.

BUCKLEY VINEYARDS is just up the road from Ch. Meichtry. The wine quality was good enough but mostly sweet and white. So I did not buy any to include in our tasting. Below is what we tasted along with a pleasant meat and cheese assortment that we put together from what was offered in the tasting room. Amber (Vidal Blanc) is an “orange wine” fermented and aged on the skins in oak barrels. Interesting concept to increase character and depth, unfortunately, at the expense of fresh fruit essence. Quattro (Black Spanish Semi Sweet red) is made from locally grown Lenoir which is a grape variety native to Texas and seems to do well in both Georgia and North Carolina. It has a pleasant native fresh nose, ample body and enough acidity to keep the suss (residual sugar) in check Sweet Mickey (Carlos Muscadine) has a huge muscat nose with lots of native wildness. It beautifully tastes like grapes! By the way, this is a grape variety that grows as far south as mid-Florida. Cabernet Franc Reserve (estate grown) is a clean well made, balanced version that does identify as Cabernet Franc. I felt is was a pretty small wine for $66, so declined to buy any for our tasting.

QUALUSI VINEYARDS is located in the middle of a modern housing development. The owner, Emilee Gilbert, who also works the tasting bar explained that she and her husband love wine and that the location is ideal for growing grapes yet close enough to Atlanta to be viable as a residential community. She is remarkably knowledgeable reminding of of the old days when tasting rooms were often hosted by an owner, winemaker or horticulturist. 2022 Blanc du Bois (estate grown dry white) is a University of Florida hybrid. It is pure, fresh, complex, with nice accentuating terpenes lifting the nose while enhancing great depth and rich rich finish. Toccoa (estate grown Blanc du Bois semi dry white) exemplifies the best elements of the Bland du Bois while tempering its very fresh acidity. Ella (estate grown Blanc du Bois sweet white) is also expressive, fresh, fine and clean. Judicious use of suss does not detract. Just sweet enough to balance it out with a juicy mouth feel. 2019 Crimson Cabernet (estate grown) is a hybrid variety that shows a gorgeous Cabernet nose. However, it is pretty lean, light and acidic. I think it would be much better if blended with a fatter riper varietal such as Norton. 2022 Norton (estate grown) has a very clean Vinifera-like nose. Big texture and tannin with a grand rich finish. Yes, it wouldn’t take a lot of this Norton to fatten up that Crimson Cab. Norton Port-like wine 18% abv shows the same pure nose, rich middle and a clean finish. It is a good example of the Ruby Port style.

BIG DOOR VINEYARDS is quite a facility. First of all, the lay of the land is quintessential vineyard. It is a large bowl shaped ravine in which they’ve planted vines parallel to the ridge. Once you’ve gotten your wine, you are free to take it anywhere on the property to taste. Chardonnel is a hybrid cross between Seyval and Chardonnay. It has many resistant capabilities which allow it to adapt to the Georgia terroir yet generally tastes like Chardonnay. This one if fresh, clean with a hint of green herb and a generous full palate nicely brightened up with crisp citrus-like acidity and minerality not unlike French Chablis. Lenoir as mentioned above is a Texas grape variety. Here it is fine, floral, Pimm’s cup-like marmalade and a pale transparent color. Tasting much better than it looks, the flavor is not washed out but rather quite vital. Lomato is a hybrid unique to this winery. It has Bing cherry in the nose with a dusty, spicy, earthy complex demeanor that really grows on you. The more of it I drink the better I like it. Best Friends is a blend of the two above wines. Absolutely, it is better than the sum of its parts!

CLOUDLAND VINEYARDS + WINERY is a tiny winery well east of the others we visited. Our host, Blesty, had a remarkable knowledge of the horticulture and winemaking behind the wines. Natty Sparkling was a great way to start our tasting. It is a Pet Nat Chardonnay with bright, real fresh lemon aromas and a very crisp cider-like flavor keeping it inviting and invigorating. Chardonnay has yellow fruit, earth and high acidity. Probably better suited to Pet Nat than table wine. Rosé (Cab Franc) is huge! It is full of rich red wine smells and flavors with strawberry and yellow pear nuances. Wildflower is a Petit Manseng “orange wine” which is pretty chunky without much class or style. Villard Blanc (not to be confused with Vidal Blanc) with a very aromatic citrus nose and a fat round cherry-like finish. Blesty said they get something like 8 tons per acre! How is that possible? 2021 Tannat is Georgia grown on the Dalhonega Plateau AVA. It is a really nice wine with richer than rich texture. It is remarkably more California-like than any of the other reds we tasted with tons of tannin among the abundant black fruit. Unfortunately, they had none for sale so it will not be included in our tasting.

FLORIDA

After some golf and very good cuisine at Carbona Trattoria in Dunwooody, we headed south arriving in Bradenton on March 8th. Our first night we ate at Anna Maria’s Oyster Bar. We liked it so well that it turned out to become our hangout. As a guy who loves oysters but very wary (I’ve gotten sick several times) it was so wonderful to be able to dive in without a worry. They serve them literally by the boat load so, always fresh and uncontaminated. We found several “crab shack” like restaurants some in town some out by the water. The Cortez Clam Factory serves fresh and cooked clams, of course, but on Wednesday’s after 5:00 pm you can order a pretty decent sized live Maine Lobster for $38. The lobsters were super succulent and as tasty as they get. Pier 22 was good, more or less like Charlie’s Crab. We loved the Beach House out on the island where we had huge stone crab claws and grouper. It is pretty pricy but not a bad value. They have valet parking which is good because there is almost no public parking on Anna Maria Island. Clancy’s Bar was a great lunch stop. Cheap drinks, tasty sandwiches and a fun atmosphere worked well. Swordfish Grill located in among the fish docks was an interesting place to be. The food was decent and the smell of the ocean was quite potent.

On March 27th we drove up to St. Pete’s beach for our grand nephew’s wedding. We had a delicious meal at Crabby Bill’s. Service was top notch, oysters as fresh as they get and the soft shell crab was good sized and the plumpest freshest tasting crab in memory. The Rum Runners located on the beach next to the Sirata Beach Resort where we stayed had excellent peel-’n-eat shrimp and very good sandwiches.

Coming back we stayed overnight in Chattanooga again. We had a pizza from Johnathan’s Grill which was the best pizza we’d had since leaving West Michigan.

Thankfully, gas prices weren’t too bad. I think $3.81 at Walmart in Bradenton was the most we paid during the entire trip. By the way, in Florida and Atlanta, use your GPS at all times. Traffic is horrible down south and the GPS will give you alternate routes to avoid the worst of it.

Look forward to tasting notes on the wines we brought back soon.

Enjoy in Good Health,

A Brian Cain, the Michigan VIntner