Who’s that guy up above? He’s Rob Beecham aka @MontaluceWine on twitter and last week invited perhaps the largest group of food & wine bloggers in Atlanta up to the vineyard for a day in Dahlonega. Rob and his brother Brent (@MVineyards) are quite active and organized & recruited folks almost entirely through twitter.
Atlanta Wine Guy - Kevin Glowacki
Ed Thralls of WineTonite.com
Mr. EatBufordHighway.com
David Aferiat of Maison Marcel & Montaluce's Brent Beecham
Georgia wines get a bad wrap — a Time magazine piece celebrating wines grown in all fifty states certainly didn’t help matters. Winemaker Oliver Asberger has done an amazing job with the wine, the first release containing fruit from Blackstock Vineyards – future wines will come grapes grown on the estate.
Chef Steven Hartman hails from Nashville and formerly was chef de cuisine at the five-diamond luxury Hermitage Hotel in Nashville. Hartman is executive chef of Le Vigne Ristorante on the property and oversees food operations at Montaluce.
I think it’s safe to say that Hartman and his team completely blew us away with the spread, provided complimentary by the Montaluce folks. You can find him on twitter as @hogballs and at his blog Hogballs & Mountain Dew.
chicken liver mousse: house made pickles, lavosh
Smoked Sunburst Farms trout served over meyer lemon, topped with boiled peanuts, fennel and a sweet tea foam.
caramelized chicken thighs: baby carrot, cipollini, celery leaf, jus
butternut squash cup custard: maple gel, oat crumble, whipped buttermilk
Chef Steven Hartman
After the meal Chef Hartman gave a demo on his chicken liver mousse preparation and gave a tour of the kitchen.
Le Vigne sous chef
It was a fun day and I look forward to heading back up soon. Montaluce’s wines are limited production and are only available at the winery currently but are working on restaurant distribution.
Oh, and that dessert in a jar? I’m still having dreams about it.
by Broderick
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