Dahlonega, GA - Montaluce Winery

Montaluce Wine

For the last few years I've heard quite a buzz about the new wineries sprouting up in the mountains of North Georgia.  Last month I decided it was time that I go check one or two out.  On a gorgeous fall Sunday, my husband Bruce and I rolled down the top of my Mustang and took the one and half hour drive to Dahlonega, a quaint historic gold-rush town that has become the heart of Georgia wine country.  After doing some online research I decided our first visit will be to Montaluce Winery. 

The beautiful entrance to the Montaluce Winery. 

The experience was delightful.  The tasting room and restaurant were esthetically beautiful, the views were lovely, and the wine tasting was very enjoyable. On that Sunday afternoon, Montaluce was comfortably filled with wine lovers mingling in the tasting room, on the back veranda, and in La Vigne, their popular restaurant.  Since we’d been sitting for several hours on the drive up and decided to stand at the tasting bar and enjoy our wine there.  You can select five wines to sample for $16. There are 10 choices total (not including their reserve selections) and between the two of us, we had it covered.

Some very tasty wines at Montaluce

After sampling them all we definitely had our favorites.  One of the whites that we enjoyed most was the Primaluce, a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and the Pinot Gris, made from grapes grown on the estate. The other, my favorite white, was the Viognier, produced from Oregon grown grapes.  Our favorite overall wine was a glorious red, aptly named Super Georgian, a remarkable blend of Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, created from estate grown grapes.  We were not the only fans, as we noticed numerous people ordering bottles to take home with them.

The aesthetic Montaluce tasting room. 

After tasting our wine we wandered around to take a few photos and found the back veranda an especially pleasant place to hang out.  They had a couple of guitar players strumming some easily accessible music, perfect to complement the wine tasting experience.

Enjoying wine and music on the back veranda.

Montaluce has only been producing wine for five years and can already be proud of their product.  The buzz is correct.  North Georgia wine is pretty darn good.  I’ll be back to taste more soon.

The view from the back patio.