I've wanted to go on one of these wineries tours for a couple years now and we finally did this fall! We had such a wonderful experience with Atl Vineyard Express - highly recommend them! Most other tours I looked into pick you up in the mountains. Atl Vineyard Express has several convenient pickup locations in metro Atlanta. Tom, the owner, was right on time with his beautiful, new, very clean, comfortable shuttle bus. As we were the last pickup before heading to the wineries, he did a fun toast (sabered a bottle of champagne!) and we were off.
I loved all three of the varied wineries we visited: Wolf Mountain, Three Sisters, and The Cottage. I'd heard of two of the three, but hadn't visited any or even tasted their wines before. Having lived in Napa Valley and experienced some bad Georgia wines in the past, I'll admit that I had a slightly snobby attitude toward GA wines. But I'd been hearing that GA was really stepping up their wines and I've been interested in trying some. Tom was extremely knowledgable about wines and he's vetted all the wineries and wines ahead of time. We chose the Standard Package, so he pre-selected the 3 wineries we visited. (There are also Custom Packages, if you want to choose how your day goes.)
It was nice not to have to make any arrangements once we arrived at each winery. We could just head to the tasting room or belly up to the bar, depending on the venue. We spent the longest at our first stop: Wolf Mountain - the winery was gorgeous inside and out - the view! (Think we'll visit again one day for Sunday brunch.) Tom has established relationships with the winery owners, which at Wolf Mountain got us two extra tastings that weren't on the tasting menu for everyone else. Tom also treated us to lunch there. We found a couple delicious wines; one even my Old World Wine husband and my New World Wine self could agree on! Afterwards we walked in the vineyard and took photos in the vineyard and overlooking the valley.
Then we headed to Three Sisters, where a musician was playing on the patio when we arrived. We might have ended up there after our tasting, if the weather hadn't been so cold. Fun and unique experience: since it was near Halloween, Three Sisters had arranged a candy pairing with the wines. Creative, hilarious and surprisingly good. We had the good fortune of running into a young man whose family used to own the property bought by Three Sisters. He told us stories of growing up there as a boy; he loves coming to Three Sisters now. Again, my husband and I found a wine we both liked.
Our final stop of the day was The Cottage, which I'd never heard of before. The venue was a little like a small, one-room bar (the game was on...only in GA!) But the view - absolutely gorgeous - more photo opps. The guy serving us was great and, again, we found a wine we could agree on. (Not that we always have to, but it's nice when it happens.)
Visiting three wineries was perfect for a day and all were just a few minutes of each other on scenic mountain roads. It was great to sit back and relax on the return drive to Atlanta. The shuttle was stocked with all sorts of snacks (including gluten free) and plenty of bottled waters (On that note, all three wineries had water jugs available so you didn't have to ask for water.)
It was such a wonderful day. I'd highly recommend Atl Vineyard Express. Perfect for an adventurous date, bachelorette party, girls' day out, anniversary celebration, group outing - so many reasons to take a day in the mountains drinking wine! As if you need a reason. Maybe we'll see you on another tour one day. Salud! read more