Friday, October 2, 2009

Celebrating Pink Saturday at Crane Creek Vineyards & Winery in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia


On Saturday a group of bloggers from around the world get together to celebrate everything pink. Pink Saturday is sponsored by Beverly of How Sweet The Sound. In fact, it’s one of the reasons we came to the winery today – to enjoy a glass of pink wine. If you love pink salmon, be sure to visit Mary at One Perfect Bite. She prepared a yummy pink salmon chowder last Saturday and treated us to breathtaking (pink) photos of the San Juan Islands. If you would like to join in the fun, visit Bev and sign up for next week’s Pink Saturday.



We’re visiting Crane Creek Vineyards & Winery, which sits high in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, just a few miles from Young Harris, a quaint college town and in the shadow of Brasstown Bald, Georgia’s highest peak. Less than two hours north of Atlanta, it feels like it’s a world away. Sun kissed days, cool summer nights and rich mineral soils allow the winery to cultivate grapes with fresh, assertive aromas and concentrated flavors. In addition to blush and rose wine, they also produce a nice selection of reds and whites.



We stopped by their tasting room, housed in a charming old, yellow clapboard Georgia farmhouse that overlooks the vineyards and were greeted by a darling little metal pink pig at the gate. Inside we sampled a bottle of their Villard Noir, Blanc de Noir, 2008. Crisp and dry, it reminded us very much of the fabulous French rose wines we enjoyed during our trip to Provence a couple of years ago. While visiting with Chef David, he said he likes to serve this wine with figs and goat cheese drizzled with a little balsamic glaze. Sounds like a winner to me.


Crane Creek Vineyards is a great place for lunch. If you call ahead, they’ll prepare a cheese tray for you and customize it with various vegetable medleys or assorted antipasto meats. They also offer soup (today’s selection was Fresh Tomato) and a glass of wine.



On the grounds there’s a beautiful pavilion that’s perfect for parties or even a wedding, which sounds like a fantasy experience for a new bride to exchange vows in the vineyards and start a new lifelong journey with the one she loves.




Crane Creek is a member of the Wine Growers Association of Georgia. In December the association sponsors a Georgia Wine Highway Weekend. The participating wineries are all within driving distance of Atlanta, Asheville or Chattanooga. So if in mid December you’re feeling stressed-out and want to escape for a couple of days from the holiday hustle and bustle, the winery tour might just be the perfect weekend trip.


In addition to the winery tours in North Georgia, there’s hiking on the Appalachian Trail and plenty of trout fishing in the area. Crane Creek offers two lovely guest houses, one of which is located a few feet from Frogtown Creek, a branch of the Chestatee River, which is a certified Georgia trout stream. Regularly stocked with rainbow trout, it’s a trout fisherman's paradise.


We’re looking forward to Crane Creek’s upcoming Annual Harvest Day on Saturday, October 24, where they celebrate the completion of the year’s harvest with hayrides, grape stomping, winery tours and tastings. I’ll give Catawba a scratch on her ear and tell her I’ll see her on the twenty-fourth.


My husband Meakin raises a glass of this wonderful rose wine and we both wish you a very happy (and rosy) Pink Saturday from Crane Creek Vineyards & Winery located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia.



38 comments:

  1. What a fun trip you had. I enjoyed your post and descriptions. The photo of the yellow 'house' is lovely. Cheers to Meakin!

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  2. what a beautiful place you and your hubby are so sweet

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  3. What a beautiful place! Thanks for letting us know about it!

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  4. Pink Saturdays sounds like a fun idea. Enjoyed taking the trip with you.

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  5. What an absolutely charming place!

    I love it.

    Happy Pink Saturday.

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  6. Delightful tour and wonderful pictures!! The grounds are gorgeous and I would love to visit!! Thank you. Thanks also for stopping by my blog for P.S., I appreciate it.

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  7. That was so entertaining. I felt like I was wine tasting too. Enjoy your weekend.

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  8. What a delightful tour and wonderful post! When we first moved to Atlanta 7+ years ago, this was one of the first mountain areas we visited as we set out exploring. It is beautiful up in those parts.

    I'll be back to snatch up some of your recipes! The "tricks" on making good soup was right up my alley. We love soups during the winter months.

    Thanks for sharing,
    xo
    Sue

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  9. Oh wow! I love going to vineyards and wine tasting. The tomato soup with a glass of wine looks like a great idea to me...and lunch is about to happen here! :0)

    Great post. Thanks for stopping by...and Happy PS.

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  10. That looks like a great place to visit and just hang out. I grew up around Napa so the wine thing is something I am familiar with. I also spent three great years in Georgia and it is one of my favorite states. I would love to go there and see it all, Happy Pink Saturday, Char

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  11. That sounds like a delightful place Sam. We will have to go sometime. Thanks for the info.

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  12. That sounds like a lovely place. I'll put it on my list of places to visit in the Carolinas. I love wine and wineries, particularly smaller ones. I like your pink pants, too. :) Happy Pink Saturday!

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  13. What a lovely idyllic spot of the world! Enjoy your pink wine on this Pink Saturday! Suzie

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  14. What a wonderful pink post! I enjoy visiting wineries and this one looked idyllic.

    I posted a fig onion ad stilton cheese tart of my blog on Friday that would go perfectly with a glass of rose wine!

    Cheers to Meakin!

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  15. It looks like so much fun! I am in Northern Georgia right outside of Chattanooga! I never knew of this place. It is beautiful. I will have to check it out! THank you for sharing your Pink and your trip!
    Happy Pink Saturday!
    Jennifer

    Livin' With Peaches

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  16. What a beautiful place for a fun trip. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. What a fabulous post. (Off subject, I'm always doing this: I want to revisit ris de veau with you. . .)

    Hope you have a lovely wine-filled weekend.

    Are you a dog person?

    Like your hot-pink trousers.

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  18. What a great way to spend an afternoon! Every year with friends we head to head to the North Georgia Mountains for a long cabin weekend. The cool Fall nights are just stunning.
    Thanks for sharing your great afternoon with us.

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  19. Ooo, what a beautiful,fun trip. Thank you for taking us along. Happy Pinks and have a great weekend.
    p.s. Your site is wonderful..

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  20. OH how I love to visit vineries! They always smell so darn good!

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  21. Super post, Sam! I will keep this place in mind when my cousin comes for his next visit. He will love this.
    You know, they should pay you to be their PR person.

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  22. And a happy rosy Pink Saturday to both of you! Great post. ~ Sarah

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  23. Thank you to you and your husband for the wonderful toast. Happy Pink Saturday to you, too.

    This winery looks like such a charming place. The countryside looks beautiful. And, a nice wine tasting is always a pleasure.

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  24. Oh, and thank you for introducing everyone to Mary. She has a wonderful blog, too.

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  25. What a wonderful post, Sam. Your photographs are beautiful and it was so nice to get to see you and Meakin. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

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  26. So interesting! I would love to visit a vineyards and winery.

    I love your picture with the dog, so cute :)

    Happy Sunday, Sam!

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  27. I had no idea there was a winery in Georgia. I thought they were all up in California. Well it is good to know. Looks like you and hubby had a wonderful time and sometimes it is fun to see things through rose-colored glasses.
    Happy Pink Saturday

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  28. Cannot wait for your book to come out. I don't know why I wasn't following here before. We are recent empty nest parents isolated in Vermont with little more to do than cook. Not such a bad thing. Happy Pink Saturday just a little late.

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  29. What fun! I love the saying at the top!

    Cheers and Happy belated PS!
    Leann

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  30. This is great "secret" info you could only get from a knowledgeable local. My dad had cabin near the Georgia border I am going to forward this to him. GREG

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  31. I do love visiting wineries (just got back from a tour myself) - I'd love to live on a vineyard someday, and I can't imagine a better way to celebrate all things pink than with a glass of rose!

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  32. Hi Sam, NOW, I know what you meant by Happy Pink Saturday. What a great idea. Northeast GA is a lovely spot and the place that you went to looks so charming! This time of year is probably very nice too. Thanks for posting yesterday, and if it is OK, I put it on today's post with all the other comments. I also have an award for you for being so kind to give us all your input yesterday! Lastly, I wonder where we can find some of that pink wine you took a photo of? :-) Roz in SC

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  33. I would love to visit here! Thanks for the tip on the vegetables in your soup post. I often do the same thing, but I don't always. I am posting an award for you on my Crock Pot Wednesday post this week. Please come collect it. Go Hogs!

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  34. Beautiful winery, and the wine tasting sounds like fun! I haven't done a wine tasting in some time now, but my husband was in oregon last week and did a wine tasting there and ordered some great pinot for us.

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  35. Oh! Such a charming place to go...happy that you had lots of fun :-)

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  36. Beautiful trip and place, so romantic and peaceful! We love rosé wines, too.

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