Industry Sprouts in North Georgia
New White County association will promote wine trails and agri-tourism
The new winery at Yonah Mountain Vineyards features a man-made cave, and will specialize Chardonnay and Bordeaux-style red blends.
Cleveland, Ga. -- White County in North Georgia has in the past year taken giant strides, with the planting of significant new vineyard acres and the opening of a new winery facility near Yonah Mountain, north of Cleveland. To support this progress, growers, wineries and allied businesses formed the Winegrowers of White County (WWC). Together with the existing Winegrowers Association of Georgia, WWC hopes to contribute to the marketing and development of North Georgia's wine trail and agri-tourism plans.
"We have seen four new vineyards planted in just the last year or two," said Tom O'Bryant, director for economic development for White County. "This is a major expansion of grapegrowing for our area, and we just cut the ribbon at Yonah Mountain Vineyards, which will be an underground winemaking facility, albeit a man-made cave." Yonah has 2,200 Chardonnay vines in the ground, and in spring of 2009 it expects to plant 8,500 more vines of the Bordeaux varieties. This year, it will make wine from purchased fruit.
|
|
Fall foliage season is another popular draw in the region, when hordes of "leafpeepers" pass by Habersham Winery. One of Georgia's oldest wineries, Habersham's first vintage was in 1983, and it has several remote tasting rooms in other Georgia cities. It's now adding an amphitheater.
"We have a tremendous amount of seasonal traffic already," said Steve Gibson, general manager. "But until recently, Habersham has been about the only winery these folks could visit in White County." The Harris family's' Blackstock Vineyards and Winery is open for visitors but is not on the same high-traffic route as Habersham.
With the recent developments, that's expected to change. Just down Georgia Highway 255 from Helen, Yonah Mountain's winery is now open. Owners Bob and Jane Miller of Snellville have 181 acres to work with. So far, just 2.1 acres are planted to Chardonnay. But in 2009 the Millers will be planting seven acres to Bordeaux reds; another 28 acres are slated for planting in the near future.
The Millers plan to make only Chardonnay and a Meritage-style red blend from the traditional Bordeaux varieties. Winemaker Joe Smith has purchased fruit from Georgia growers in other areas and is now making his first vintage in the new winery.
Smith also has his own vineyard. Serenity Cellars is three miles from Yonah, with 400 Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted last spring. Smith plans to build his winery on an adjacent plot in 2009.
A fourth new White County vineyard--as yet unnamed--is expected to be planted next spring by Hue Rainey, who has 1,000 Cabernet Sauvignon vines on order. His property is on Georgia Highway 17, near the Sautee Junction, and not far from Habersham. The ground has been prepped for planting, but no plans are yet in place for a winery facility.
David Harris's Blackstock Vineyards, one of the first of the new-phase of North Georgia vineyards, was planted nearly 12 years ago. It's also in White County, although the mailing address is in Dahlonega. Harris is growing Chardonnay, Viognier, Merlot, Cabernet, Sangiovese, Touriga and Mourvèdre on 40 acres, North Georgia's largest vineyard. Harris sells 50-70% of his crop to other wineries.
He made his first vintage, a red, in 2004 and has been an adviser to many of the new arrivals on the Georgia wine scene. Harris feels that the new White County group should strive to duplicate the success of the Dahlonega (Lumpkin County) area in promoting wine tourism. According to Harris, Lumpkin capitalizes on visitors with upgraded accommodations, and better restaurants, spas and attractions. Currently, Harris reports that 50% of visitors to the area are interested in touring wine country. He would like to see Lumpkin/White identified as a single viticultural region.
John Boyes is planning a website dedicated exclusively to White County's wines, wineries and related attractions--food, lodging and outdoor recreation. He would like to make Georgia Highway 384 the "White County Wine Corridor."