Last night all the wine was from Spain and we tasted 8 wines, 2 white and the rest red. These are blind tastings and we score them and find out later what they are and price points. This helps Neel, the owner, choose wines to put on the menu. The tasting is $20.00 per person and you have to reserve a spot early because it’s limited to 20 people. This includes some light appetizers. The bartender is Katie and she is so much fun, you will have a blast! The next one is Feb. 3rd, 2010 and it’s sparking wines. Make a reservation by calling Neel at 770-485-7440 or go to the website www.creperevolution.com

Of course, I have to mention one of my favorite restaurants that has Wine Down Wednesdays  (half price bottles) and that is Crepe Revolution in Smyrna.  If you haven’t been there you must try it, the food is excellent and they have a great wine list and wonderful service!

Okay, I’ve got Tuesday and Wednesday taken care of.  Where are the deals on Monday and Thursday?

They have a wine tasting every Wednesday night starting at 7pm with a charge of $15.00.  This is well worth the price because the portions are generous and they provide some delicious appetizers.  Also, the experience is very interactive and a learning environment.  I went with a group of friends and we had a great time!

Another thing, on Wednesday they also sell all of their wines for 1/2 the bottle price!  We set up camp and didn’t want to leave!

Keoni and I love to go there and sit at the bar.  We each get a spicy chicken soup (it has to be made with love!!), then we share Chicken Bryan.  It is a grilled then topped with a good hunk of goat cheese and a sun-dried tomato sauce.  Oh, I digress, I’m supposed to be talking about wine!

We usually order Coppolo’s Claret which is really good but we decided to order something different.  We tried a delicious Malbec, Pascual Toso Reserve.  It’s a 2007 from Mendoza-Argentina.  It was so jammy!  I went to two wine stores looking for it.  I haven’t found it yet but will keep looking!

There were over 150 wines to taste plus food, music and art. The charge in advance was $45.00 per person and $55.00 at the door. They also limit it to less than 200 people so it’s not too crowded.

One of the most unique things there is a round table topped with wine glasses that has every taste and smell that you can imagine that is in wine. They really want you to experience the full sensory evaluation of the wine.

Keoni and I prefer reds to whites so we only tried reds and ones we haven’t had before. There’s no way you can try them all! I also wanted to especially try some of the more expensive ones. Overall, they had affordable wines available and a lot of them are from small produtions.

The Marietta Wine Market has wine tastings on Wed. from 5-7 and Sat. from 2-4. There is no charge but they recommend a donation to the charity of the week. The owners, Randal and Karen, are very knowledgeable and helpful with any questions you have about wine. They also now have specialty foods available to take out and lots of unique gifts for the wine lover.

We took a drive up to Dahlonega and our first stop was a family owned winery, Blackstock. It’s a beautiful property overlooking the vineyard. The charge for a tasting was $10 for 8 tastes (we shared). Our favorite was ACE family Reserve which is a red blend. All the grapes are grown on the premises. They have all kinds of events there, so check out the website. www.bsvm.com

Next stop was Frogtown, also a beautiful place that was gearing up for a wedding reception. They charged $12 for 7 tastings and their wines were good but kind of pricey. www.frogtownwine.com

My favorite was 3 Sisters, Lumpkin County’s 1st vineyard. You had to go down a graveled road to get to it…we had to go slow because Keoni has low profiles! (Wheel’s if you didn’t know) I thought it was the fun and relaxing with all the colorful artwork by the Georgia artist “Cornbread”. They had a complimentary tasting so we got that. I bought 2 bottles of Fat Boy Red ( a blend of cynthiana, cab franc, and merlot). It has a big bold taste! www.3sistersvineyards.com

The next winery was Wolf Mountain which was $10 for tastings, to be honest I don’t how many wines! They have a restaurant that we would like to try sometime. www.wolfmountainvineyard.com

From there we went to the Dahlonega Square and it’s so cute! They had musicians jamming to bluegrass music and people were sitting around in chairs just enjoying the music and nice weather. Of course, they have lots of touristy little shops and restaurants. The employee at Blackstock recommended Corkscrew Cafe for lunch. They served some of the wines from the local places we had visited. The food, service and atmosphere were excellent! I had a portabello sandwich with goat cheese and a glass of Fat Boy Red and Keoni had a roasted chicken sandwich, both of these were on ciabbatta bread.

We had a really fun day with nice weather and would certainly go back and maybe stay at a bed and breakfast.

This is a place to try about 30+ different kinds of wines (Taste, Half-glass, Whole glass).

You start off by getting a wine card and then pick your wine to try… (Prices vary from 1.70 to 10.00 per taste).

You ask what is the “Wine Card” for…. Answer: It’s like a credit for wine… you load the card with a value and drink till you run out or have to refill the card…..

We did not try the Food (this time) but it all looked good…. They also have a few beers and liquor to choose from.

RATE: $ – $$

AMBIENCE: =)