Napa Valley an Hour away from Atlanta: Our time at Montaluce Winery

 We started our blog in December 2009, but between the Secret Suppers, tending to meat on the smoker and trying to find inventive ways to keep our product relevant while we define who we are as a company we’ve lost our way as bloggers and our Blog has well, died in the process.  Our goal is to take more time to blog in an effort to share our thoughts and help us reflect on the rich and rewarding experiences we’ve been blessed with.

            Back in January we had the pleasure of being the guests of Rob Beecham (@MontaluceWine) and Brent Beecham (@MVineyards) for their Food and Wine Conclave.  Prior to visiting Montaluce (www.montaluce.com) my Georgia wine experience was limited to an establishment off I-85.  I had no clue that Georgia had a wine country. (Yes, our meal was free, but our opinions are our own.)

Montaluce offers the charm and romantic scenery of Napa or a Tuscan get-away without the expensive plane tickets, time zone changes, etc.  Our time at Montaluce started with a tour of the winery sprinkled with details of the art and science wine making according to Oliver Asberger, Montaluce’s vineyard manager. Oliver told of his resourceful ability to keep birds away from the grapes and of course his farmer’s intuition, which enabled him to predict last fall’s monsoon season and thus pick the grapes before this year’s crop was ruined by rain. 

Above is a picture of me inside one of Oliver's fancy wine things used in the fermentation process

Since a picture is worth a 1000 words, I’ll let photos from the day speak for the wonderful 5 course meal paired with Montaluce Wines prepared by Chef Steven Hartman of Le Vigne Restaurant.

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My favorite thing on the menu was the chicken liver mousse. I have never had anything like it. The key to getting your kids to eat  liver is to have Chef Hartman prepare it for them.  Chef Hartman's cooking demonstration on the chicken liver mouse also inspired me to learn how to sous vide our favorite cuts of meat (more to come on that in future blog posts.)

Don't take our word for it. Pay Rob and Brent a visit and experience Montaluce for yourself. The drive is scenic, the wine is top quality and the food is worth the trip by itself. If you're willing to wait an hour outdoors for brunch in Atlanta, you can certainly take the hour drive for this special experience.
by Spencer Humphrey