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WineEast (Continued from page 96) filtered until bottling, at approximately five to six months of age, and we allow the wine to bottle age for about three months prior to release. The alcohol levels are consistent at 13.8% for the 2010 vintage, 13% in 2009 and 13.5% in 2008. Silver medals in San Francisco Tiger Mountain Vineyards won silver medals for its Petit Manseng (2008 and 2010) in the San Francisco International Wine Competition and a gold medal for the 2009 vintage in the Jefferson Cup Invitational. While I prefer the dry Petit Manseng, John left 1.4% residual sugar in the 2010 vintage after it was picked at 27° Brix, and it is a big hit with most of our wine buyers, perhaps because it is so textured and has a mid-body roundness that is hard to attain in southern wines. In the future we hope to pick it no higher than 25.5° Brix. The wine, which is 100% Petit Manseng, retails for $35 per bottle. One of the good qualities of Petit Manseng is that its second bud is quite productive. During the record 2007 mid- April freeze in North Georgia, it was the only one of our eight vinifera varieties to produce a second bud with even ripening and good fruit. The annual production has varied depending on weather conditions and berry set, but generally from our acre and a half of Petit Manseng we produce between 160 and 230 cases. In 2010 we produced only 95 cases because we decided to let some of it hang (clusters under the canopy) into late October in order to make Sweet Petit, our first late- harvest Petit Manseng. We picked those remaining clusters at slightly more than 30° Brix, and the resulting wine contains 4.7% residual sugar. We produced 40 cases (375ml bottles) of this first vintage, which sells only at the winery for $40 per bottle. In less than two months, more than half of the sauterne-like dessert wine has been sold. A review of Tiger Mountain Vineyards' Petit Manseng, written by Master of Wine Doug Frost in Tom Stevenson's 2009 Wine Report, said it best: "Is Petit Manseng the right grape for northeast Georgia's elevated vineyards? Who the heck knows, but this is very, very interesting, balanced with honey, lemon, apples and some ripe melon. And it's not the first Petit Manseng the region has produced—just the best one this year." Shortly after John planted what I termed "that weird Jurançon grape," I learned that Petit Manseng is the only wine ever used to baptize a royal child—Henry IV of France, during the 16th century. Though it is served today in some of Atlanta's top restaurants, we haven't run into Petit Manseng at any southern baptisms! WE Martha Ezzard, a lawyer-turned-journalist, is a former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist and editorial writer. She and her husband John own Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Tiger, Ga., with partners Marilyn and John McMullan. The first vineyards at Tiger Mountain were planted in 1995, and the winery opened in 1999. Ezzard recently finished writing a book, "The Second Bud: Starting a Wine Grape Vineyard in the Bible Belt," based on the Ezzards' vineyard venture. An opportunity for Tasting Room Suppliers A new eNewsletter from Wines & Vines: Tasting Room Focus Sell to your target audience Contact us for more details (866) 453-9701 • winesandvines.com Wines & Vines nOVeMBeR 2011 99