Three Sisters Vineyards

Three Sisters was the first winery to be established in this area since prohibition. It is a real family affair, owned and operated by the Paul family, and you will meet two generations behind the bar counter in the tasting room. This is simply a fun place to visit. The walls are decorated with funky art, newpaper clippings and local crafts. The wines are also fun. I have been here several times before, and I have always enjoyed it. Since I already have some of Three Sisters' more serious wines at home in the cellar, I focused on the fun and slightly off-dry reds this time. We started with Chestatee Red, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon that has seen some French oak. It is a very fruity and easy-drinking wine, with some residual sugar. Definitely not for the fancy dinner, but something to sip on the porch.

Next in line was Fat Boy Red. This is a mix of the uniquely American grape Cynthiana or Norton, with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It has been maturing in toasted American oak. In the tasting room they serve it with some dark chocolate, and it is not a bad combination actually. I bought a few bottles and it worked very well to sip while cooking dinner, and it could even match a spicy thai curry. At Three Sisters, they say that it is a good "swine wine", meaning that it goes well with the traditional southern smoked pork BBQ.

We finished the tasting with Blood Mountain Red. This is a rather sweet red wine, that is served chilled along with salty cheetos snacks. A lot of fun for sure, but not really for my palate. This is a very warm and friendly place to visit, and the wines are fun (just look at the label above), if not always seriously good, but I will definitely come back here again.

From Three Sisters, we continued our trail up the hill, only half a mile on a small gravel road, to end up in Frogtown, so more to follow.....

www.threesistersvineyards.com