It's been a while since I've updated the blog, there has been TOO MUCH going on!
This tour of Southeastern wineries would not be complete without mentioning Château Élan. This winery is located about 15 miles from my parents home near Oakwood, Georgia. North Georgia does have higher elevations that could be conducive to growing decent grapes, but this is not the case. There is, however, one grape that can stand the Georgia heat, humidity and pests. Native only in the Southeast, the muscadine grape is characterized by heady rose and lemon aromas and was traditionally made into a sweet, low-alcohol wine. Château Élan has done some pretty impressive things to make their muscadine wine delightful. They have developed methods to harness and control its components, with the result being a light, fruity and uniquely Southern white wine. I have enjoyed many a glass of their Autumn Blush chilled on a hot summer evening.
I've found that this absence from writing has given me some time to get my thoughts together for the New Year blog. With the parties that have come and gone from Christmas all the way to Super Bowl Weekend, I've done some looking around for local spirits and festive drinks.
When most people think about the South, they think about Jack Daniels from Tennessee, Kentucky Bourbon, and of course hot toddy (NOT HOTTY TODDY!!!!) and mint juleps. The hard stuff has the most vibrant history as well, from rum-running along the barrier islands by famous pirates like Blackbeard, to the birth of the modern sport of NASCAR in the foothills of the Appalachians.
Beer has unfortunately been slow to take hold, probably due to a couple of centuries without refrigeration and hot, humid conditions. Wine is made in the mountains but are not known for the best of vintage. The best "vintages" from those locations is of the moonshine variety. :)
I'm going to touch on a couple of items that I've found in local liquor and wine stores that are truly unique and worth your time!
Some of you may have heard of this stuff called "Firefly", which is a sweet-tea infused vodka produced in South Carolina. I do not care what the New York Times has to say about it....(what do they know about sweet tea anyways)...but this stuff is NASTY. I don't care if it's local, don't do it!
What IS worth your while is another liquor product from the Firefly people: Sea Island Rums. The Sea Island Carolina Gold Rum is made from sugarcane grown in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. It is delicious to mix into a South Carolina peach daquiri or just by itself on the rocks.
Living on Hilton Head Island and being exposed to the "wine scene" here has been an excellent education. The wine store and restaurant owners and staff are well versed in where to go for "local" wine....which comes from North Carolina or Georgia. There are a couple of Lowcountry "wineries" in the area that make wine, but the grapes come from as far away as Oregon. I'd prefer something a little fresher, and representative of the upland Southern climate and soil.
The best wine I've had that is "local" is from Shelton Winery in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. That's about 200 miles north of here, around the Winston-Salem area.
They grow 22 varities of grapes and broke ground on their 33,000 square foot facility in 1999.
Their 2007 Bin 17 Chardonnay is medium bodied and is a bit dry. It's not overly oaked, which is important to me. I have also enjoyed their 2007 Yadkin Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Doug has had a glass or two of these wines since his return from Japan, and he was quite surprised that it is so good. He definitely has been spoiled by good Washington State wine, so his thumbs-up on any East Coast varietal is awesome.
Another "older" winery is from Biltmore, also in North Carolina. Most of the vines were established in 1971. Biltmore has a bit of a reputation for being a producer of very sweet wines, varieties include Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. It has been hit or miss with us--a bottle of Pinot noir recently went down the drain after one taste, but I did very much enjoy the 2008 Limited Release Malbec.
This tour of Southeastern wineries would not be complete without mentioning Château Élan. This winery is located about 15 miles from my parents home near Oakwood, Georgia. North Georgia does have higher elevations that could be conducive to growing decent grapes, but this is not the case. There is, however, one grape that can stand the Georgia heat, humidity and pests. Native only in the Southeast, the muscadine grape is characterized by heady rose and lemon aromas and was traditionally made into a sweet, low-alcohol wine. Château Élan has done some pretty impressive things to make their muscadine wine delightful. They have developed methods to harness and control its components, with the result being a light, fruity and uniquely Southern white wine. I have enjoyed many a glass of their Autumn Blush chilled on a hot summer evening.
Lately I have encouraged my friends and family to buy local, and if that is impossible, at least buy American. There are so many good wines out there from Washington State, Oregon, and California that it is hard and even scary to branch out into "local" Southern wines. From what I have been exposed to so far, there is something from Virginia all the way to Georgia that can satisfy any wine-o.
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