North Georgia winemakers uncork 'agri-tourism'

When Karl Boegner became executive vice president of Château Élan in 1985, he had a vision: that one day he would found his own family-run vineyard and winery.

Eighteen years later, Boegner's vision has become a reality with the official opening this spring of Wolf Mountain Vineyards, the latest in a growing number of Georgia wineries.

With Château Élan's wines attracting the attention of the White House and Dahlonega-based Three Sisters Vineyards' 2000 Merlot designated Best Merlot in Georgia by Wine Spectator magazine in November, Georgia wines are generating increasing national attention.

Additionally, the wineries themselves are having a positive impact on tourism in the northern part of the state, according to the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade & Tourism (GDITT).

"We're not just making wine, this is an agri-tourism industry," said Steve Gibson, general manager of Habersham Winery & Vineyard and president of the Winegrowers' Association of Georgia (WAG).

Winery visitors are injecting money into all areas of the local economy, he added.

Rooted in tradition

Attempts at wine production in Georgia date back to the state's beginnings, when founder James Edward Oglethorpe tried to grow European wine grapes (Vitis vinifera) in the new colony. Cultivation failed due to climate, insects and regional diseases.

Native muscadines have long been cultivated throughout Georgia for sweet wine production, and the state is the leading grower in the world with an estimated 1,100 acres in production, according to the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Today the majority of the state's wine grapes are grown in North Georgia where, thanks to technological advances, vintners now work with European vinifera, French-American hybrids, as well as native American muscadines and bunch grapes.

Branding a region

Over the last five years, Georgia vineyard acreage has more than tripled with the addition of seven new vineyards and four new wineries, which are attracting more and more visitors each year, Gibson said.

In addition to Wolf Mountain, another vineyard, Frogtown Cellars, will open its doors as a winery this year, said Frogtown vintner Craig Kritzer, who has been cultivating French and Italian varietals since 1999.

In 2002, WAG estimated 750 tons of vinifera and French-American grapes were grown over 200 acres in North Georgia, valued at $750,000 to $1 million.

"That translates into around 100,000 gallons of wine with a retail value of $6 million," Gibson said.

"I have always believed in the promise of North Georgia as a top wine grape-growing and wine-producing region in the South," said Doug Paul, owner of the Three Sisters Vineyards & Winery.

The winery, founded in 1996, is located on 184 acres in rural Lumpkin County near Dahlonega, approximately 80 minutes north of Atlanta.

In conjunction with GDITT and the Department of Transportation, the Winegrowers' Association pushed for the establishment of the Georgia Wine Highway in 2001, a travel marketing initiative which utilizes special highway signs and is promoted by a brochure mapping roadways that connect producers and growers.

Cultivating events

Most Georgia wineries organize special events. Wolf Mountain offers monthly luncheon buffets as well as special seminars, and is planning its first Father's Day Classic Car Show and Cookout.

Three Sisters Vineyards & Winery hosted the first Georgia Wine Country Festival last year, which attracted more than 1,300 visitors, Paul said.

This year's event, which takes place June 7 and 8, includes gourmet food from local restaurants, wine and music.

In 1980, Tom Slick founded Habersham Winery's vineyards, now the state's second-largest winery with case production approaching 15,000 from 40 acres of grapes.

While Habersham was in development, pharmaceutical entrepreneur Donald Panoz and his wife, Nancy, established Château Élan Winery & Resort at Braselton in 1981. It opened its doors in 1984 and produced its first bottles in 1985.

Château Élan, the state's biggest winery, produces 25,000 to 30,000 cases per year.

Three Sisters' first vintage appeared in 2000. "We initially produced just under 2,000 cases," Paul said. "The 2002 harvest will produce 4,500-5,000 cases, but our goal is to remain small."

The Three Sisters' acreage features more than 8,100 premium wine grape vines, including vitis vinifera, French-American and native American varietals producing Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Blanc, Touriga and Chardonnay as well as the French-American hybrid, Vidal Blanc.

Château Élan's wines have won more than 300 medals, but current winemaker Dan Baldwin said he respects the quality of the wine grapes several local vintners are cultivating and purchases certain types to expand the range of Élan's wines.

"There's no doubt we're making better wines than we've ever done before, but there's always room for improvement," he said.

Still, compared with Californian, Australian or French wines, Georgia wines have a long way to go in terms of quality, said Gary Seigler, president and owner of Buckhead Fine Wines.

"But some of the smaller vineyards, like Three Sisters, are striving to produce really great wines," he added.

Georgia wines will get better because the technology is improving, and because attitudes are changing, Seigler said.