September 27, 2018

Georgia Winery: Dread Head Red

Most of you know that I enjoy a good Georgia wine.  I have a special place in my heart for Georgia Winery.  This is thanks to a little-known grape called Catawba that is found in their Southern Blush. 

Catawba Island is a peninsula on Lake Erie in Ohio, not far from where I grew up.  Catawba grapes are among the first wines I ever drank (now much too sweet for me), from two Ohio wineries – Mon Ami in Port Clinton, Ohio, and Heineman’s Winery on Put-In-Bay Island.  The flavor is like tasting home, a comfort food.

Lake Erie is a shallow lake that forms a border between Canada and the US.  It’s home to dozens of tiny islands that grow cold weather grapes.  Some are Canadian, some are American.  All produced ultra-sweet wines for a century.  Today, some wineries (like Mon Ami) are bringing in “legitimate” wine makers to delve into the world of dry red and white wines.  If you’re ever in the area, try Mon Ami’s Humeros.  It is truly stellar.

If you’re curious what wine I cut my teeth on (at an age I’m not willing to admit), try Mon Ami’s Pink Catawba.  I might still have a bottle on my wine shelf – strictly for sentimental reasons.

Now, I make a yearly trip to Ringold, Georgia, the home of Georgia Winery.  One sip of the sweet Southern Blush is all I need to fill my homesickness.  From there I move on to some of the nicer dry Georgia wines that far north.  An unoaked Chardonnay I love.  The Cabernet Sauvignon.  And, of course, the Dread Head Red.

If you can imagine eating chocolate covered raspberries, you can understand what Dread Head Red tastes like.  It isn’t the super sweet kind of chocolate that makes your gums bleed.  This is the Norton grape – earthy, dark chocolate, full bodied, and fruit filled.  It’s fabulous.