Georgia is home to several thriving industries, but one unexpected craft might be on the rise.
Over the last decade, the wine industry in the state has seen relatively significant growth, especially in the North Georgia region. With over 92 wine producers and 1,379 acres of vineyards in the state, the industry as a whole generates roughly $7.74 billion in economic activity for Georgia, according to the National Association of American Wineries.
As the industry continues to evolve in the Peach State, local winery and vineyard owners share how they have seen the trade grow and where the industry may be headed.
Eric Miller is the Owner and General Manager for Yonah Mountain Vineyards, located in Cleveland. Miller’s parents, Bob and Jane, purchased the 200 acres of property that the vineyard sits on in 2005. They planted grapes in 2007 and started selling wine in 2009. Miller said when his family originally opened the location, Yonah Mountain Vineyards was only the 12th winery in the state.
“It’s very exciting to see that our industry is actually growing,” Miller said. “We didn’t know much about it at all, and it was a very, very, very small community. Now that we’ve been around for 18 years, we actually enjoy and want to help promote the industry, because we know that Georgia could be one of the secret new regions of world-class wines. I know Virginia and other states, Arkansas, California, Oregon, and Washington, they’ve all had their own industries, and they’re probably 20-30 years ahead of us. But I think the biggest change is to continue to let more and more guests know that Georgia is a viable place to grow and create great wines.”
While Georgia has never necessarily been widely considered a “Wine Country,” the state’s roots in the industry actually go back further than the established cultivators in the area. Miller explained that in the pre-prohibition era, Georgia was one of the top states for growing grapes. The state was one of the first to enact prohibition and one of the last to repeal the law. Miller said this left a gap in the knowledge of viticulture in Georgia.
“All the history that we used to have, we kind of lost that,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of people that were here, passing the knowledge down…a lot of that knowledge about how to grow and where to grow the fruit was lost, and when finally they repealed Prohibition, it took a long time for anyone to even start getting back into the grape industry…to say that, when we started in 2007 and we were only the 12th winery, I mean, we’re looking at almost 100 years of just lost time.”
Northeast Georgia has been one of the biggest hubs for the budding wine industry in the state. The largest wine producer in Georgia is Braselton’s Chateau Elan, which started crafting wines from Georgia’s native muscadine grapes.
However, the wine industry in Georgia goes beyond classic grape-based wines.
Matt Vrahiotes and his wife, Lindsey, founded Sweet Acre Farms Winery in 2014. Formerly located in Alto, SAF specialized in wine made from fruits such as blackberries, strawberries and peaches. The winery was tragically destroyed in a fire in January of this year. SAF’s tasting room in Helen remains open, and the couple recently announced plans to build a location in Downtown Cornelia.
Vrahiotes said that the winery’s products sourced the majority of its fruit from within the state.
“The great thing is, Georgia is so geologically diverse, there’s so much that can be grown here in the state,” Vrahiotes said. “We were very spoiled with the different options that we had. We wanted to make good wine from fruit… everybody would tell me stories about their grandfather or their grandmother or their uncle or a neighbor who used to make fruit wines. So we just wanted to elevate what people’s perception of ‘fruit’ wine – ‘country’ wine was.”
Vrahiotes said that, despite retaining loyal customers, one of the larger challenges of the industry is letting the general public know that it even exists in the State.
“I challenge you to go to a restaurant and open up the wine menu, and look for a Georgia wine. They’re not there,” he said. “… I challenge everybody, go to a restaurant, look at the menu and ask for Georgia wine, and just so to start spurring people’s minds along, because there’s so much good wine that’s growing [here].”
Vrahiotes highlighted that compared to soils of other areas that are more well-known for wine, such as Napa or Sonoma, Georgia’s soil is actually quite similar.
“The challenges that we have in Georgia are actually diseases, diseases that Napa doesn’t have, diseases that we have that we have to combat,” Vrahiotes said. “It limits the amount of the different varieties of grapes that we can grow in the State of Georgia. So what is the answer to that? Well, we do our best to grow what we can here, and to do it really well. We also grow hybrids and other grapes that people haven’t heard of. Just because they haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it’s not good.”
Vrahiotes also noted that some wineries in Georgia do outsource their grapes from other places, but still make the product locally.
“We’re highlighting the talent of the winemakers and the wineries where our capabilities are exposed,” he said.
Owner and Wine Farmer for Cloudland Vineyards and Winery, Sean Wilborn, has a unique approach to growing, with an emphasis on sustainable practices and region-specific wines.
“We wanted to really set out to define what Georgia wines are in the world,” Wilborn said. I always say, you know, Chianti or Tuscany has Sangiovese, Napa has Cabernet Sauvignon, Oregon– Pinot Noir, Champagne, sparkling wine. –What does Georgia have? So if I’m going to a region, I want to taste that wine and taste that wine, well. If you come to Georgia, what are you looking for? What do you want to taste?”
Located in Buford, Cloudland was one of the first large growers of the Lamonto grape in Georgia. The winery also focuses on sparkling wines.
Wilborn originally began experimenting with wine as a hobby in 2005 and started working professionally in the industry with Château Élan in 2012. He began working to open Cloudland in 2020.
Reflecting on how the enthusiasm to bring the industry to the State has developed over time, Wilborn said, newcomers to the industry are working to expand what Georgia wine could be.
“The growth and variety of wines is really exciting to see,” Wilborn said… “The benefit now of people who are coming into the industry with industry knowledge is that it’s raising the bar, both from a guest experience standpoint, but also from a wine quality standpoint. The wines are far better 10 years down the road, especially 20 years down the road, they’re far better than they’ve ever been, which is really exciting”.
Miller emphasized that as the industry progresses, he hopes to see it embraced by locals.
“People are proud of Georgia peanuts and cotton and peaches and blueberries and chicken,” Miller said. “I would love to see, within 10 years, that same enthusiasm come to the Georgia wine industry…when you invest in your own state, that money, those dollars, keep being reinvested in other businesses and individuals. So, I think it’s a whole industry that is ripe to be invested in.”
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