Whenever I visit new cities, I always check out the food/beverages first. We decided to do a brewery tour at Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta…sorta. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 5:30 – 7:30, they open up their brewery to the general public. For $10, you get a souvenir glass and 6 pours of beer. Each pour was about 1/2 a glass, so you can easily share this one $10 glass with a friend (Richard and I shared and there was plenty of beer to go around!) We sampled the Blue (with a light blueberry flavor), IPA, 420 Extra Pale Ale, Exodus Porter, Lowryder IPA, and a Chocolate Raisin Porter. I enjoyed all of the beers! Unfortunately, Sweetwater is only available locally, so we are unable to get it in South Florida. Definitely something to look forward to if we visit Atlanta again in the future!
A few days later, we visited Three Sisters Vineyards in North Georgia Wine Country. They offer a wine tasting experience Thurday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For $15, we got the Vintner’s Tasting – 6 pours and a souvenir glass. I think our favorite was the Cynthiana, which neither of us had ever tasted before. I’m not a white wine drinker, but they did have a white wine with pineapple notes that was actually quite nice.
After visiting Three Sisters, you can tour the town of Dahlonega, visit a tasting room, get a delicious meal and some handmade chocolates. It’s a great day trip north of Atlanta.
Our favorite B&B is in Dahlonega, so we are very familiar w/many of the North GA wineries. Three Sisters is great, but I think our favorites are Wolf Mountain and Yonah Mountain. It is worth it to go up there for the Wine Highway weekend–lots of fun!
Don’t miss the first Dahlonga Wine Trail Weekend August 11-12, 2012. Start Downtown Dahlonega at the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center to purchase $25 passport and glass- then venture out to taste wines at all of the Dahlonega-Lumpkin County wineries! 706-864-3711 for more info.