This wine is not only new to you, but new to us as well. This seasonal makes its mark of distinction by tastefully combining 5 different grape varietals –by far the largest blend of grapes in Georgia Winery’s history.

Southern Blooms

Hence, the beautifully labeled, and deliciously concocted, Southern Blooms. Set forth as a seasonal wine, this fruity blend of Peach, Vignoles, Gewurztraminer, Chardonel, and Niagara is here to represent new growth during spring and a prosperous and successful harvesting season.

As many of you may remember, earlier this year we signed for a license and agreed to a partnership with Rock City Gardens. Southern Blooms is the second edition to the line of Rock City’s wines, following Shamrock City which was our seasonal green wine released for St. Patrick’s Day at Rock City’s Shamrock City Festival.

Don’t fret, there are several more wines coming your way this year. To keep the anticipation high, I will leave the number anonymous. However, you can expect another brand  new wine by July!

Southern Blooms will make its grand appearance during Spring Wine Fest – a.k.a. our LARGEST sale of the year.  Stop by Mother’s Day Weekend and receive 25% off case purchases, gift shop items, and winery tours. Wine Club members, enjoy 25% off bottle purchases in addition to the case purchase, gift shop and tour sale.

Pick up this brand new wine available for sale and sampling on May 1^st!

Muscadine Gold is a sweet white wine made exclusively from organically-grown Muscadines. With a light apricot and honey nose and a fruity, fresh flavour, this wine pairs with a number of dishes exceptionally well, especially recipes featuring salty meats and tropical fruits. 

DISH
Name: Apricot-Glazed Smoked Ham
Region: America
Prominent Flavours: Ham, apricot, cloves, mustard

APRICOT-GLAZED SMOKED HAM
From Woman’s Day

1 ready-to-cook bone-in smoked ham half (8- to 10-lb), preferably shank end
Whole cloves
3 cup(s) water
1 jar(s) (12-oz) apricot preserves (1 cup)
1/4 cup(s) light brown sugar
2 tablespoon(s) grainy Dijon mustard (we used Maille)
1 tablespoon(s) cider vinegar

• Position oven rack in bottom third of oven; heat to 325°F. You’ll need a shallow roasting pan.
• Cut off thick rind on ham to expose the fat layer underneath, leaving about 5 inches of the rind intact covering the narrow shank end. Using sharp knife, score fat in diamond pattern. Press 1 clove into center of each diamond. Place ham in roasting pan; pour water in pan. Cover loosely with heavy-duty foil. Roast ham 1 1/2 hours.
• Meanwhile, mix Glaze ingredients. Remove ham from oven; brush with one-third of the glaze. Continue to bake, uncovered, 1 hour, brushing with remaining glaze every 20 minutes, or until internal temperature registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer.
• Let ham rest 20 minutes. Transfer to platter. Serve ham hot, warm, or at room temperature.

PAIRING
Muscadine Gold is a sweet white wine with a fruit-forward flavour reminiscent of fresh grapes, which is an ideal choice for salty pork dishes as the salinity of the meat enhances the fruitiness of wines, bringing a validity to the prominent sweetness of Muscadine gold. Though tradition in wine and food pairing dictates a full bodied, tannin-heavy red is typically served with red meats to break down the marbling, with salty dishes, however, tannins can quickly turn astringent. To prevent an inappropriately unpalatable chemical reaction during your meal, serve salty or brined meats with either a semi-sweet or sweet white wine with low acidity.

Muscadine Gold’s honeyed apricot nose compliments this particular dish’s sweet apricot glaze. It also enhances the natural sweetness of the ham, which can, at times, be hidden under a salt-heavy curing (found in “country ham” or traditional cuts like bacon or prosciutto). The smokiness of the ham also does exceptionally well with fruity and floral wines like Muscadine Gold, because smoke flavour is savoury without aligning overly with sour or bitter, appealing to the sweet and salty tastes in the dish.

Tara Bella is a dry, white Muscadine wine with a leafy nose and crisp, acidic flavour. Natural and earthy with just a hint of sweetness, this wine pairs well with dishes in need of crisp, vegetal flavours and an unimposing nose, like salty or heavily spiced meats and briny, pickled foods.

DISH
Name: Corned Beef and Cabbage
Region: Irish, Irish-American
Prominent Flavours: Spiced, beef, salty, cabbage, caramelized, vinegar

CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE
From The Food Network

One 3-pound corned beef brisket (uncooked), in brine
16 cups cold water
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 whole allspice berries
2 whole cloves
1/2 large head green cabbage (about 2 pounds), cut into 8 thick wedges
8 small new potatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Last year, Rock City sold Georgia Wines at the Summer Music Weekends event in order to support a local winery. Sales went extremely well, which led to the two teams affiliating a partnership. Georgia Winery received its official Rock City licensing on January 7^th, 2012 which will enable selling and tasting of Georgia Wines on Rock City premises.

Plans are in the works to launch three new wines for Rock City special events this year as well as a Rock City Red in honor of Chattanooga’s elite tourist destination. Shamrock City is the first of these specialty wines which will be released at Rock City’s Shamrock City Festival. This green wine is available for sale and tasting at Georgia Winery’s main location and will be available at Rock City’s special event on March 17^th and 18th.

Other wines are in the works for Rock City special events including Rocktoberfest and Southern Blooms Festival. All new wines will be distributed at Rock City as well as the winery’s main location with a specialty label.

“We are thrilled to be working with such a wonderful and well established team. Rock City has been a staple tourist destination for the past 80 years,” said the winery’s general manager Jesse Taymore. “We are honored to be able to work alongside Rock City and serve tourists from all over the world.”

Rock City Gardens strives to serve as a leading cultural entertainment innovator. By partnering with local artisans, along with the growing festival and event calendar at the attraction, Rock City provides high level quality and variety to the hundreds of thousands of guests annually. Rock City is one of the South’s most popular natural attractions. Known for its unique geological and botanical wonders, the enchanted, 4,100-foot walking trail is a true marvel of nature featuring massive ancient rock formations, a 140-foot waterfall that cascades down Lookout Mountain and the Swing-A-Long Bridge that spans nearly 200 feet. Visit www.seerockcity.com for more info.

Kathy Mattea

The unit comprises a raised pressing-platform made of packed clay, which is slanting toward a large jar. The researchers also found other large storage and fermentation jars. Preserved remains of grapes, grape seeds, and some vines with the fruit skin intact were found near the press.

“This is, so far, the oldest relatively complete wine production facility, with its press, fermentation vats, and storage jars in situ,” lead author Hans Barnard said in a press release. Barnard is an archeologist from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Cotsen Institute.

The artifacts unearthed from the site have been dated to approximately 4100 B.C.E, which puts them at around 6,100 years old! Through this discovery, we’re able to learn even more incredible information about the ancient winemaking process and how winemaking has changed (evidence suggests the ancient vintners really did stomp the grapes with their feet!) in our modern times.

“For the first time, we have a complete archaeological picture of wine production dating back 6,100 years,” Gregory Areshian, co-director of the excavation and assistant director of UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, said in the press release.

Charles Baudelaire

This year, Georgia Winery awarded twelve 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd place medals as well as a “Best of Show” to the winners of the 7^th Annual Amateur Winemaking Competition.

Each year the winery hosts a small competition to feature local winemakers in the community. This is an exciting event in which winemakers in our community get to show off their winemaking skills. Participants enter the competition each year by stopping by the winery or calling in their entry forms by phone. Each participant enters two bottles of their very own handcrafted wines for judging. One bottle is opened for the judging process and the second bottle is opened at the awards ceremony for tasting by all participants present.

This year, we received 54 entries ranging across four states including Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida. Wines varied from sweet to dry and tomato to elderberry.

A panel of judges at the local winery blind tastes each wine so that the label and name of participant are not seen. The only information given to the judging panel is the class of wine. Every wine is then recognized by an assigned number so that each entrant stays anonymous. The panel evaluates each wine according to appearance, aroma/bouquet, taste/texture, aftertaste, and overall impression.

Thank you to all who participated. Keep up the wonderful winemaking!

Grapes/Meads
1st Place: Doug Seibern, McDonough GA”Cabernet Sauvgnin”
2nd Place: William Gist, Ringgold GA “Port”
3rd Place: John & Kathy Houser, Sugar Valley GA “Calville Blanc D’Hiver”

Blackberry/Blueberry
1st Place: Tommy Cross, Chickamauga GA “Blueberry”
2nd Place: Jimmy Arnold, Chickamauga GA “Blueberry”
3rd Place: Tommy Cross, Chickamauga GA “Blackberry”

Muscadine/Concord/Peach
1st Place: Jimmy Arnold, Chickamauga GA “Scuppernong”
2nd Place: John & Kathy Houser, Sugar Valley GA “Sterling Magnolia”
3rd Place: Joe Lockhardt, Signal Mountain TN “Gold Muscadine”

Miscellaneous Fruit
1st Place: Ric & Linda Engle, Whitwell TN “Apple Betty”
2nd Place: Ric & Linda Engle, Whitwell TN “Plum Cherry”
3rd Place: Brenda Eller, Lookout Mountain GA “Old Mom’s Apple Pie”

Best of Show
Tommy Cross, Chickamauga GA “Blueberry”