“Wine … offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than possibly any other purely sensory thing which may be purchased.” — Ernest Hemingway

The wine dinner began in the South at Monticello. For over two centuries, the ceremony of serving appropriate wines with particular dishes continues interrupted only by the mindless and counterproductive Prohibition. Long ago, regal Southern hotels popularized these events. To this day, legendary wine dinners fill the pages of epicurean folklore: The Breakers in Palm Beach, The Homestead in the Alleghenies, the Willard in Washington, the majestic Peabody in Memphis, Austin’s Driskell and Nashville’s elegantly restored Hermitage Hotel where presidents have enjoyed wine dinners. No longer pioneers, others like Louisville’s Seelbach have gained national fame for these feasts.

Down South, the wine dinner is de rigueur.

Atlanta’s wine dinner roots run deep. Recently, elegant Inman Park with its remarkable number of Victorian homes was the setting for a historic wine dinner. Shaun’s, the namesake restaurant of acclaimed chef Shaun Doty, hosted a wine dinner showcasing the spectacular wines from Kluge Estate. What made this particularly memorable was that everything was quintessentially Southern: Virginia’s finest wines from Charlottesville’s Kluge Estate paired with dishes prepared by Doty, a wizard with local grown products.

In the rest of the country, local products served with local wines hopefully are finding a rightful place in restaurants. Here, it’s established. Dining traditions are in the Southern DNA.

A SYNTHESIS OF CULTURES
According to Patricia Kluge, when the best wine styles of Napa and France combine you get a blending of Old and New World wines, “which is our mission,” she says. I listened to her delightful observations while enjoying Chef Doty’s food and her wines and heard nothing I dispute. Just seven miles from Monticello, Jefferson’s home and the birthplace of American wine, Kluge Estate Winery has gained an exalted position of prominence, producing an amazing variety of quality wines that she believes “honor all that Thomas Jefferson envisioned.”

I joined Kluge and her husband, the winery’s CEO Bill Moses, for this historic gourmet event. Here was a Virginia winery serving its magnificent wines to an urban gathering far more accustomed to the wines of Napa than those from vineyards much nearer to their Atlanta homes, paired with dishes prepared by Chef Shaun Doty, a culinary artisan completely committed to eating better while eating healthier.

Jefferson believed that the area around Monticello and environs was well-suited for vineyards. Kluge determined that the soil there is similar to that of the Médoc in Bordeaux. A connoisseur of wine, food, design and décor, she represents a blend of European and Southern lifestyles. The vineyard and winery, she says, provide a platform to spread her message. “When it comes to good wine and fine food, I like to merge my British upbringing and tastes with an American sensibility and a sophisticated Virginia.”

THE WINE DINNER EXPERIENCE

Choosing Shaun’s for the wine dinner was, to use a wine term, perfect pairing. Like Kluge’s wine philosophy, Doty has a national reputation for elevated cuisine and a commitment to cooking with products found in the soil and of farms close to home. Growing up in Atlanta, my family and friends ate no other way. The beverage at dinnertime, however, was sweet tea.

The evening started like all elegant Deep South feasts with passed appetizers accompanied by Kluge Estate SP Blanc De Blancs, a delightful sparkling wine and a worthy substitute for Champagne. The first course was Chef Doty’s organic eggplant soup, accompanied by a Kluge specialty, Albemarle Rosé, chilled of course, setting the stage for more magic from the kitchen. The times are a little tough now with strained wine budgets. Albemarle Simply Red is priced pocketbook-friendly and it fit superbly with wild white salmon which Doty served with a red wine cabbage sauce and star anise. The evening was just beginning.

The pièce de résistance was porchetta served with mashed turnip greens, Logan Turnpike grits and a Southern staple, pot likker. Kluge Estate New World Red was generously poured, a match made in heaven.

From a great wine feast there will often emerge a showstopper, one wine that stands out. This evening it was CRU, Kluge Estate’s one-of-a-kind Chardonnay fortified with a little brandy. A hint of honey balanced out the increased alcohol, allowing the evening to wind down gently.

Thomas Jefferson said that we could “ . . . make as great a variety of wines as are made in Europe, not exactly of the same kinds, but doubtless as good.” Winemakers at Kluge must have this in mind. My evening began as an adventure into unchartered waters. The Kluge wine operation is way beyond a regional business. According to Kluge, their wines will soon be available in 20 states. With the wine Goliath’s in California still dominant, this is an impressive achievement. Determined to win the palettes and loyalty of legions of new fans well beyond the beautiful Virginia countryside, Kluge is marching upward, earning a reputation for excellence, broadcasting the best the South offers and nearer to the ultimate goal of becoming a top national winery.

Kluge Estate honors Jefferson’s vision.