Frogtown Cellers |
Frogtown is a 57 acre wine estate located at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains equal distance between Dahlonega and Cleveland Georgia. Frogtown encompasses 40 acres of vineyards and a tri-level gravity flow winery specifically designed to produce the unique wines made from Frogtown grapes.
The Frogtown winery is specifically designed to produce high quality wine from Frogtown grapes and, at the same time, to make the most of thier rolling terrain. Constructed on a hillside overlooking the vineyards, the Frogtown winery is an underground, tri-level, gravity-flow winemaking facility. Using gravity in place of pumps allows for gentle vinification and treatment of their grape must, juice and wine from start to finish. In addition, the special design of the winery give them tremendous flexibility in making their wines. They are able to treat every wine grape in an individual manner and develop a style of wines that is uniquely Frogtown.
The Three Levels of Frogtown Winery:
The first and highest level of the Frogtown Winery is the wine grape processing area or the "crush pad," as they call it. During the fall, as soon as the grapes are harvested, they are brought to this level of the winery and processed in one of two ways. Red grapes are destemmed and the "must," the resulting grapes, berries and juice, is transferred to stainless steel tanks in the second level of the winery by gravity flow. White grapes are whole cluster pressed and the resulting grape juice is similarly gravity fed into tanks residing below on the second level.
The second level of the winery, the tank room, is where fermentation in steel occurs. After fermentation, red wines are racked out of tank, again using gravity flow, into barrels in the third and lowest level of the winery. Depending on the style of white wine being made, some white wines are fermented and briefly aged in barrel, others are kept solely in stainless steel.
The third and lowest level of the winery is the barrel room. Being the furthest underground, this level is the coolest, quietest place in which to age their wines.
The vineyard extends from 1675 to 1825 feet above sea level. They believe the contours of the hills represent some of the steepest slopes of all viticultural areas in the eastern part of the United States. The sandy clay loam soil, steep slopes, and directional aspect of their vineyards, create a most unique viticultural environment for their grape vines. On the 41 acres of North Georgia vineyards, they have planted 19 different varieties. The red varieties include: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Tannat, Touriga, and Norton. The white varieties include: Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne, Souvignon Blanc, Muscat, Vidal, and Seyval. Much care has gone into deciding exactly where to plant each variety in their vineyards. In total 18,000 grape vines capable of producing up to 180 tons of premium wine grapes are planted.
Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday ~ 12:00PM - 5:00PM
Friday ~ Panini Bar: 12:00PM - 3:30PM & Tastings: 12:00PM - 5:00PM
Saturday ~ Panini Bar: 12:00PM - 3:30PM & Tastings: 12:00PM - 6:00PM
Sunday ~ Panini Bar: 12:30PM - 3:30PM & Tastings: 12:30PM - 5:00PM
