"georgia" news and stories

To pop open something different this New Year's Eve, turn to the country that's been making wine the longest: the Republic of Georgia. It's estimated that wine-making began here around 5,000 B.C., which is much earlier than the advent of France, Spain and Italy's storied wine history. Even today, about 75 percent of Georgians earn part of their income from wine in some way, and the republic produces about 500 grape varietals.

Bagrationi 1882, Georgia's leading sparkling-wine house, founded in 1937, recently began exporting its Brut to the United States -- although the first bottles date back 130 years. Whereas many bubblies are marked by dryness or sweetness, Bagrationi produces a very balanced bottle that's excellent for matching up with hors d'oeuvres.

Located on the Black Sea coast and surrounded by the Caucasian mountains, the viticulture climate in this area of Georgia consists of warm sunny days and cool nights. Winters are frost-free and mild, so there is no death to the grapes when the temperature dips.

Here are two Bagrationi bruts available throughout the United States.

Bagrationi 1882 Classic Brut ($14): This is one of the best values I've seen over the past few years when shopping for bubbly. Oregano and mint are on the nose, sailing into notes of honeydew melon and ending with a buttery, lingering finish. Expect a snappy, crisp wine with good structure but delicate too.

Bagrationi 1882 Reserve ($25): Blends of Chinebuli, Mtsvane and Tsitska varietals are used to make this Brut. A peach and apricot nose is followed by concise, refreshing bubbles and lots of fruit. Yet it's as balanced as its budget counterpart above.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

Ben Volen, general manager of the Distillery, agrees: Savannah, Ga., is a very traditional city. "For a long time there was nothing on at any of the bars besides Bud draft, Miller draft, Yuengling had just come into town ... Corona in a bottle," Volen reflects. So when the Distillery opened around this time last year, the idea of a craft beer-centric bar was certainly a change of pace.

Volen had attended school in New York when the craft beer trend was gaining momentum. Upon returning south, he brought his love of New York brewers like Brooklyn and Captain Lawrence back to Georgia, looked at the burgeoning beer scene in nearby Atlanta and constructed a plan for his bar.

Savannah reacted appreciatively. "We've been welcomed with open arms," Volen says. "We've completely changed this town and how they look at beer." Since their opening, according to Volen, most restaurants now carry at least a couple of craft brews.

Read more about the Distillery and see yesterday's entire draft list after the jump.

Tommy Lanigan pulls potatoes from a cast-iron kettle of liquefied rosin. Photo: Carol W. Waters.

There was a hotly contested cakewalk, a patriotic parade and a beauty pageant featuring girls of nine different age divisions at last weekend's annual celebration of turpentine in Portal, Ga. -- all the festival was missing was the substance celebrated.

"We weren't able to find any tar," explains Jerry Lanigan, vice president of the Portal Heritage Society.

Without pine tar, festival organizers can't make turpentine in the town's still, which until this year was the nation's only continuously operating turpentine cooker. And without turpentine, there's no rosin, which is the fancy name for the vapors that rise from heated tar. And without rosin, there aren't any rosin potatoes, a staunchly vernacular folk dish that was developed in the 1930s by workers at Portal's turpentine plant.

"Everybody loves them," Lanigan says of the potatoes, which bake in a pool of melted rosin. "We have people who try them and say 'I don't know why I haven't tried them before.' It's one of the old arts."

Trappeze Pub in Athens, Ga. Image: Trappeze Pub.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

It's summer. School is out of session. Probably seems like the wrong time to be hitting up bars in a college town like Athens, Ga. , home to the University of Georgia. But Trappeze Pub sees slightly smaller crowds during the summer months, making July and August the perfect time to stop by this sophisticated suds spot.

"Some bars close down for a month and a half in the summer," explains owner Eric Johnson about the fate of other neighborhood watering holes in need of student bodies to fill their spaces. "The lion's share are all about who has the best keg deal on. Even the local beer geeks said [Trappeze] would never work!"

But work it did. With 39 taps and a beer engine containing only "the best of the best" in the brew world, this pub quickly made a name for itself. After being open for only three months, in early 2008, the pub bought the coffee house next door to accommodate crowds. "Turns out there was a sizable group of folks in Athens that were just waiting for a place to do craft beer well," Johnson told us.

Gena's peachy bread pudding. Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

Part of a continuing summer series by grilling expert Gena Knox.

Growing up in Georgia, my summer jobs always revolved around produce. From the time I was eight years old, I worked selling boiled peanuts, silver queen corn and peaches on the side of the road.

Once I turned 16 and could drive, I began working at a local packing shed, Lane Packing, selling peaches and peach ice cream in their retail department. At the time, it was not air-conditioned, and you can only imagine how sweltering it was in July. I gave tours to Northerners, who were fascinated by the process of packing peaches, and was always entertained when I had to explain exactly what boiled peanuts were.

Needless to say, peaches were ample in our household and we never ran out of ways to cook with them. Fresh peaches not only pair well with grilled meats and seafood, they are also delicious simply grilled on their own.

Three of the state's top-producing peach farms are within a 15-mile radius of my hometown. Lane Packing Company, Taylor Orchards and Pearson Farm all produce top quality peaches, and you are missing out on the taste of summer if you don't order a box to enjoy yourself.

Get my Bourbon Peach Bread Pudding Recipe after the jump.