Georgia Wine Country

April 20 – May 5, 2023

Leaving Savannah a day early, we moved inland and north into the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our destination was Ellijay, Georgia. Known as the Apple Capital of Georgia, this charming small town is surrounded by hiking trails, water falls, apple orchards, and wineries. Are you intrigued yet?

The only problem with going from Savannah to Ellijay is Atlanta. All roads seem to lead through that city. We were hoping that we might make it through Atlanta with minimal delays. Silly us! As we were debating about whether to go through Atlanta on I-75 or take the by-pass (I-285) our GPS announced “I-75 is closed.” OK – decision made. Consequently our planned 5 1/2 hour trip ended up being closer to 6 1/2 hours. We were glad we decided to make this trip a day early and that the RV resort could accommodate an earlier arrival.

The reason for our schedule deviation was so that we could have the night to settle in at the RV resort in Ellijay. The next morning, a friend from Florida (Nancy) who has a summer house in Toccoa, Georgia (about 2 hours away) met us at the resort, where she left her car, and the three of us (plus Dawn of course) drove the truck to Illinois. That weekend we paid our final respects to a dear, dear friend who had passed. (Larry – we love you and will miss you). We returned to the resort Sunday afternoon.

Talona Ridge RV Resort

When researching this area, we happened across Talona Ridge RV Resort, a new resort with large sites and nice amenities, and decided to give it a try. The resort sits on a plateau overlooking the Ellijay Valley and offers views of the Cohutta and Rich Mountain Wilderness as well as the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. The resort has three levels – Hawk Valley at 1490 feet above sea level where our site was, Falcon Ridge 30 feet higher with the Pickleball courts, and Eagle Crest another 30 feet higher with the pool, fitness center, and the community center – Grandview Hall.

We found this resort immaculate and very quiet with nice long, level pull-thru sites. Each site had 3 decorative color-changing ground lights – one on either side at the end and one near the living area. Those lights were coordinated across the resort so that the colors changed in unison and at night gave the impression of a runway. We had a couple of days where we were able to make use of the 4 dedicated Pickleball courts. The remaining days were either too wet or windy to play or we had other plans. We did decide that if we stayed here for a longer period of time in the future, we would need to rent a golf cart especially for special events in the community center.

Ellijay

This area was long settled by cultures of indigenous peoples. It was known as part of the homeland of the historic Cherokee people. They had a village here, at the confluence of the Ellijay and Cartecay rivers, which together form the Coosawattee River.

Ellijay (sometimes formerly spelled “Elejoy”) is the anglicized form or transliteration of the Cherokee name Elatseyi, meaning “new ground”. Other sources say it means “green place”.

Gilmer County was organized by territory cut from Cherokee County in 1832, and Ellijay was designated as its county seat in 1834. It was a fairly isolated and remote mountain community until the late nineteenth century. After the Marietta and Northern Georgia Railroad (later the Louisville and Nashville Railroad) was constructed through here in 1884, the railroad stimulated a boom in the timber industry by providing a profitable way to get lumber to markets. Many timber companies came into the area with their workers.

More than a century later, another major transportation improvement was construction of the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway (Georgia 515, named for Georgia governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller), which was completed in 1991.

wikipedia

Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn owned a small two bedroom log cabin in Ellijay. The cabin was built by John Pope whose wife was a cousin of the former President. The 10 acre plot and cabin were jointly owned by Carter and Pope. This was where Mr. Carter would come to enjoy solitude and fly-fishing.

Downtown Ellijay

The square in downtown Ellijay is surrounded by shops and restaurants. We discovered some really good pizza at Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza and (on another night) great burgers at River Street Tavern.

One rainy day we opted to see a movie. Just down the hill from the campground was a movie theatre called Mountain Cinemas. We really liked this theatre as the picture and sound quality were top notch and the almost fully reclining seats were very comfortable. Oh, and we enjoyed the movie (Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant) too.

Of course going to a movie entails going out for dinner afterward. In the mood for some Mexican food, we selected El Rey Azteca Mexican Restaurant which did not disappoint. We were impressed with the decor, food, drink, and service (so much so that we made a return visit later during our stay here. We did learn that their medium size Texas Margaritas were huge and ordered smalls during our second visit.)

Wineries

There are lots of wineries in the area – many more than we could possibly visit. Here’s a link that will give you an idea North Georgia Wineries. We visited three during our stay in the area. The first two were close to the RV resort while the third (described later in this post) was further afield.

Engelheim Vineyard

Like all of the area wineries, Engelheim Vineyard (about 15 minutes from the RV resort) is a family owned winery.

The owners, Gary and Jan Engel and their family, decided to purchase the land that is now known as Engelheim (German for “Angel Home”) in 2007. After Colonel Engel retired from the Army in 2004 and upon his return from Iraq and Kuwait, they decided to live their dream of living in the North Georgia Mountains to grow the finest quality grapes. The Engel family planted their first vines in 2009 and harvested their first vintage in 2011; Engelheim Vineyards has been going strong ever since.

Engelheim

For our 4 wine tasting, we elected to sit inside and ordered a cheese and meat tray. For dessert, we had to try their hummingbird bites – cake soaked in wine covered with milk chocolate – with a glass of their Trillium red wine and moved to their outside seating area to enjoy the view.

Chateau Meichtry

On another day we decided to visit Chateau Meichtry about a 20 minute drive from the RV resort.

In 1921, at the age of 25, Stephan Meichtry traveled to America from the canton of Valais, Switzerland with only a suitcase and an adventure for life.  He settled in Maspeth, New York, where he would later raise his two children and further develop his passion for wine. It is believed that when he came to America, he brought his own root stock from Switzerland and grew the vines he used for his lifelong wine-making. A stock from these same vines is now planted at Chateau Meichtry Vineyard. Although Stephan has passed, his love for life lives on through his daughter Doris and his appreciation for viticulture and wine in his Granddaughter Karin. Please share in our dream with us, while enjoying a Chateau Meichtry wine, in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains.

Chateau Meichtry

We each selected the 6 wine tasting which included a double pour in an edible chocolate cup. Our favorites here were the Riesling and Georges Cuvee.

Dahlonega

On Saturday we drove into Dahlonega. That name may sound familiar if you like country music.

“A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Ashley McBryde. McBryde co-wrote the song with Nicolette Hayford and Jesse Rice, the latter of which drew inspiration for the song based on a real life experience in which he met the woman that would become his wife by chance at a dive bar known as The Crimson Moon in the town of Dahlonega, Georgia after his car broke down leaving Atlanta. The song was written on a day McBryde calls “the worst day ever,” a sentiment shared by the other two songwriters when they met up for a writing session, which led to Rice sharing the story that would lead to the creation of the song.

wikipedia

Unfortunately the Crimson Moon has closed and the building sits vacant.

Dahlonega has a very interesting history some of which we learned as we did a guided (non-ghost) history walk with Dahlonega Walking Tours.

The discovery of gold in 1828 in present-day Lumpkin County caused one of the first major gold rushes in the nation. Miners poured into the Cherokee Territory, beginning a period known as the intrusion when the U.S. Army tried unsuccessfully to eject the intruders. Rough mining communities sprang up. The earliest of these was Auraria, located southwest of present-day Dahlonega.

In 1832, the Cherokee lands, which had been seized by the State of Georgia, were distributed to the people of Georgia by a land lottery. Lumpkin County was created and Auraria temporarily served as the county seat until a permanent site could be selected.

In 1833, an unnamed site, which would become the City of Dahlonega was established as the official county seat of Lumpkin County on Land Lot 950, 12th District, 1st Section. The new town was surveyed and the present day gridiron pattern with a public square was laid out. A permanent courthouse was built on the square in 1836 and residential and commercial uses developed around it.

In 1837 the Cherokees were forcibly removed from the territory to be resettled west of the Mississippi River. A location known as “the station,” from which the State Historical Marker is missing, was the local site for collecting the Cherokees for their removal via “The Trail of Tears.”

The U.S. Government recognized the importance of gold mining in Lumpkin County and in 1838 established the U.S. Branch Mint at Dahlonega, for the minting of gold coins only. The branch mint operated until the start of the Civil War, ceasing operation in June 1861. In 1871 the U.S. Government passed ownership of the mint to the State of Georgia for the establishment of North Georgia Agricultural College, later North Georgia College and State University, now known as University of North Georgia.

The branch mint building burned in 1878 and in its former location, the construction of Price Memorial Hall began in 1879. It was completed in 1880. Toward the late 1840’s the easy gold began to “pan out” and many miners moved to the gold fields in California and Colorado. however, the lure of gold was not forgotten in Dahlonega. New efforts at gold mining started again in the mid-1850’s and the early 1900’s as mining technologies developed.

In the mid-1960’s, Lumpkin County moved it’s county Government operations from the 1936 courthouse to a new site away from the public square. The old courthouse became a state-operated gold museum, and revitalization projects kept the historic square alive by attracting tourists to the colorful historical landmarks of this old gold mining town.

City of Dahlonega

Following our walking tour we decided to grab a quick bite (yummy loaded taters and Irish Stew) at Shenanigans. This Irish pub is in the basement of the historic Strickland house, with walls covered in customer-autographed dollar bills, making you will feel as though you’re in Dublin. 

Consolidated Gold Mine

After lunch we headed to the Consolidated Gold Mine for a tour.

Gold was first discovered in the Dahlonega area in 1828, twenty years before the Gold Rush to California. When it was discovered it was completely by accident – when a deer hunter, Benjamin Parks, tripped over a rock 2 ½ miles south of what is now Dahlonega. He got to looking at it and it was full of gold. Within one year’s time some 15,000 miners heard about that and rushed to find some gold for themselves. At that time there was so much gold in and around Dahlonega that it laid on top of the ground, washing off the mountainsides for centuries.

In about 1880, hard rock was reached on what is now called the Consolidated Gold Mine Property. After several years of testing by Capt. Ingersoll, Antonio and others it was then determined what was providing the gold to the outside world. Not veins of gold but veins of quartz containing gold. Theory has it that even the solid rock is layered by weight when still in a molten state. The heavier metals like gold and iron stayed with the heaviest rock of the area – quartz. Most quartz veins containing gold run an average of 2-3 inches thick, if that big. The largest at around 8″ thick. On the Dahlonega side of the mountain a man named Knight found an area where several extremely large veins were running together forming one giant vein. One so huge that it wasn’t measured in inches but in feet – 22ft. thick – still today one of the largest veins of quartz discovered in the world containing gold. Soon the huge vein system was found to be going down-hill at a 45 degree angle heading deeper underground and below the water table. After a brief hiatus, mining of the Knight or “Glory Hole” vein continued when a group of northern investors bought up 7,000 acres of land around the discovery sight, and all the smaller mines with it, forming the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold Mining Co. in 1895. Out of business in 1906, the Consolidated has been reported to be the very first attempt at systematic, deep underground mining in the east and quickly become a legend even in its own time.

Whatever the reason: price of gold too low; being below the water-table the gold stuck inside the iron making it too expensive to mine; material not produced fast enough for the 120-stamp mill; or scamming among the investors, the tunnel system was totally abandoned for 75 years until new life was instilled by a coal mining family from Kentucky wishing to change occupations after several generations.

Today visitors to Dahlonega are invited to see the original tunnels by way of guided tours year-round where the tour guides are open to questions about the gold mining history of the Dahlonega area and the largest gold mining operation ever established east of the Mississippi River.

Consolidated Gold Mine

Our guide lead us 200 feet underground to the lowest (flooded) level of the mine via three flights of stairs and two ramps. Along the way he described the mining methods (from pick axes, to drills, to dynamite) and work conditions of the miners.

Following our mine tour we had the opportunity to try our hand at panning for gold. After about 30 minutes of back-breaking work, our combined discovery was estimated to be worth – are you ready? – about $6.

Montaluce Winery and Restaurant

To conclude our day in the Dahlonega area, we headed to the Montaluce Winery. Or, we attempted to anyway. Our GPS kept routing us to back entrances that were either closed or intended for deliveries only. That’s strike one. After several false starts we finally found a workable GPS address.

Montaluce has been serving North Georgia quality estate wine and a high-end dining experience for the last 15 years. It was back in 2007 that construction began on 400 acres of property that were planned to be a neighborhood built around a winery. The goal was to highlight the magnificent mountain views with plenty of open space for everyone to enjoy the beautiful landscape. By 2008 when the doors opened, things switched gears due to the housing market crash. Montaluce became the winery and restaurant you know and love today.

Montaluce

Based on that description from their website, we had high expectations. Upon arrival we discovered that the place was very big and very busy. We walked up to the tasting room from the parking lot. The hostess there directed us to sit either at the bar or in the area facing the bar where we were ignored for quite some time. Finally, Bill managed to get the server’s attention and requested a tasting to share. We found the tasting and their wines were much more expensive than elsewhere and not to our liking. Ok – strike two.

We had dinner reservations at the Trattoria so we walked down toward the parking area and stopped at the entrance.

Trattoria di Montaluce is a quaint Italian eatery nestled in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains in Dahlonega, Georgia. It is inspired by the feel of an Italian neighborhood trattoria. Featuring Italian comfort dishes, hand-crafted Montaluce wine, a full cocktail bar, and breath-taking views, for those who are looking to escape the business of reality. The Trattoria di Montaluce evokes inspiration from authentic Italian cuisine. Our house-made pastas, cheeses, brick-oven pizzas, and other hand-crafted ingredients exemplify our farm-to-table culinary approach. The open-concept dining room is designed around the kitchen’s brick ovens, giving guests a cozy and relaxing dining experience. 

Montaluce

Their description of open-concept is certainly correct but we didn’t find it cozy and relaxing. Instead it was extremely noisy and, with the TVs around the bar, felt more like a sports bar than anything else. Again we waited for some time before a server appear at which time we ordered two glasses of one of their red wines (they only serve their wines) and the bread service. The wine was slow in coming as they were behind in clean glasses. We munched on the bread (which was excellent BTW) while we waited for our server to reappear. We then ordered a caesar salad to split (which was also good but the parmesan basket it came in was inedible). For our main course Bill ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara and I requested the Rigatoni Rose. After quite some time, my dish was delivered but I quickly discovered that the pasta was very undercooked. When Bill finally received his dish I told the server about my pasta and she volunteered to have the kitchen make a new one. “It will only take 5 minutes” she said. I said OK and we requested another glass of wine to share. Meanwhile, Bill took some bites of his spaghetti and declared it overly salty. And so we waited… Approximately 20 minutes later, the server appeared with my new dish (and no wine) which I refused since I was no longer hungry. We asked for the check and verified that we were not charged for my pasta or the third glass of wine, paid the bill, and left. Definitely not the experience we were hoping for. Strike 3. We won’t go back.

What we did find interesting was that this winery is apparently a destination and receives good reviews from locals and online. We saw lots of folks in formalwear wandering around the grounds, tasting room, and restaurants. Unfortunately, it just didn’t live up to our expectations.

Amicalola State Park

For our final outing in the area we went to Amicalola Falls State Park about a 25 minute drive from the RV resort.

Amicalola Falls State Park is nestled in North Georgia’s mossy, waterfall-filled Chattahoochee National Forest, set in the rolling, vibrant-green southern Appalachian Mountains. It’s one of the most popular, and most visited, of Georgia’s State Parks – and for a good reason. At the heart of the park, the Georgia’s tallest waterfall spills down a towering bluff, falling 720 feet into a mossy, boulder-filled forest. It’s the highest cascading falls east of the Mississippi River.

Amicalola Falls

We stopped at the temporary Visitor Center (they are building a new one nearby) to get the lay of the land. From there we drove to the Reflecting Pool and did the short (albeit uphill) hike to the bottom of the falls. Bill elected to continue up the stairs to the middle section for better views.

We had hoped to stop at the parking lot for the Upper Falls but there was no space. Instead we continued on to check out the Lodge.

We decided that if ever we visit this area without an RV, we would stay at this lodge.

Our Time is Up

We had hoped to return to Dahlonega and meet our friend Nancy there but we ran out of time (and suitable weather). Perhaps we’ll be able to return to this beautiful area some fall when the leaves are changing and the apples are ripe. For now, it’s time to leave Georgia behind and head further north.