Thinkin’ and Drinkin’ Local

If you read last week’s wine missive in these columns, then you know that this week is Drink Local Wine Week (www.DrinkLocalWine.com). This is the second year that wine writers from all over this country and Canada talk, write, blog, tweet and just plain get excited about wines from “non-traditional” winemaking regions.

Why do un-Californian, un-Oregon and un-Washington State wines need their own week? Well, pick up any wine publication or newspaper food and drink section (including this one) on any given week and I guarantee you will see fascinating stories about Napa, Willamette Valley, Bordeaux, Tuscany and Champagne, etc. Any mention of the hardworking winemakers from the other 47 winemaking states? Not as much.

Speaking of hardworking, overlooked winemakers, let me focus my lens on Persimmon Creek Vineyards and Mary Ann and Sonny Hardman. The Hardmans have been making wines at their 110-acre estate near Lake Burton for the past nine years. Their website will tell you it is a labor of love to grow the grapes, contend with the weather, make the wine and sell the wine, but to me it just looks like a lot of plain ol’ labor.

Of course, many of us forget that at its essence, winemaking is farming and farming means a lot of work. The Hardmans, however, are undeterred. “Agriculture is the most beautiful part that is in the bottle,” Mary Ann said during a sales call to Sherlock’s Wine Merchant in Decatur. “I’ve been in the vineyards with wine collectors and they make me laugh. They see [wine] as a widget. Wine is not a widget,” she said with a waggle of her finger.

“Our wine is from a farm; it is from a family. Sometimes our understanding of a winery is not what it should be. It’s about the gift shop, the [souvenir] hats or the tasting room. It is a farm. I’m trying to create a farm. Yes, it is a commercial venture, but when you come to our winery to taste our wine, you are coming to my home and my farm.”

You can discover many interesting stories about your wine when you drink locally (www.DrinkLocalWine.com).

2007 Persimmon Creek Vineyards Cabernet Franc, Georgia

• $22

• Two Thumbs Way Up

• Appealing aromas of cherry, cranberry, leather and smoke. Pleasant tastes of tart red cherry, black licorice, a briary flavor, hints of spicy black pepper and a dusty earth quality.