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Feature Article

Unusual Georgia grape varieties grow here.

The Malbec harvest offered a bounty of grapes in Georgia, with some varieties you might not expect to find in the South.

Georgia (State Appellation)

Who Knew? Georgia's unusual grape varieties

by Harry Haff
November 19, 2007

Pop Quiz: Can you name at least three grape varieties that are generally unknown to most of the wine drinking public, but nevertheless produce some wonderful wines?

If you answered from the following list, you go to the top of the barrel: Touriga Nacional, Sangiovese, Mataro, Tannat, Tinta Cao, Nebbiolo, Petit Manseng.

Now for the hard part! In what part of the US, are all these grapes grown within a stone’s throw of each other? If you answered Georgia, you hit the bung on the head. Yes, Georgia.


DropCap or those of you not familiar with Georgia as a wine growing area, I do need to tell you that “moonshine” and “white lightnin’” are not Southern grape varieties, and not all adult beverages here come in mayonnaise jars and cans. A look at a couple of the wineries in the State reveals that the above grapes not only grow here, but thrive in an unexpected confluence of weather and soil and topography, i.e.terroir, that often mirrors the Piedmont region and some parts of southern France.

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