Georgia
Atlanta Is Finally Selling Local Georgia Wine
There is now a place to find locally made Georgia wine in the city.
Vine Fine Wine in Decatur is the first wine shop to stock the state’s wine. Earlier this February, Eater Atlanta sparked a discussion in the wine community about why Atlanta restaurants don’t serve Georgia wine. Since then, Cloudland Vineyards and Winery in Buford, Georgia, has landed three of its wines at the Decatur shop, including a Marsanne skin-contact white wine, a pet-nat bubbly made from chardonnay, and a red wine made with a local hybrid called lomanto. All are priced at around $30.
“It seemed like a no-brainer for us,” says Madeline Long, co-owner of Vine Fine Wine. “We have local sourdough crackers, local honey, local ceramics … it only seemed natural to extend that to wine.”
Long and her husband Sam Pilch opened the Decatur shop in April. Since then, Long says many people have inquired about local wine. The shop only takes on organic and sustainable farming wines, which is hard to find in Georgia. Cloudland Vineyards is one of the only wineries in the state making unfined and unfiltered, natural wines with some organic farming, bringing Georgia winemaking up to speed with modern times.
Quality and consumer demand are the biggest reasons why local wines don’t make an appearance in the city. The next reason is an information gap on distribution. According to the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, winemakers with a Georgia Farm Winery License may sell their wines directly to restaurants. A wholesaler license allows them to self-distribute in Georgia, eliminating the need for a distributor. This is a major missing piece of the puzzle for restaurant sommeliers and wine shop owners who believe they need a distributor to buy Georgia wine for their inventory.
North Georgia is an agritourism destination, from pumpkin patches and orchards to vineyards. Most of the sales from these farms happen by direct-to-consumer business, meaning visitors buy directly from the farms. Wineries with a wholesaler license can sell to Atlanta shops and restaurants, albeit taking a profit hit on wholesale price. But there are other benefits.
“Wholesale is a really good way of getting people interested in our product,” says Blessy Devasia, general manager and assistant winemaker at Cloudland Vineyards and Winery, which opened in 2020. “There aren’t enough Georgia wines on wine lists because there weren’t a lot of good Georgia wines out there that were worth being on the list.”
Devasia says that is changing. Sean Wilburn, owner and winemaker at Cloudland (formerly Chateau Elan and Biltmore), and Devasia have a minimal intervention and organic approach to winemaking in Georgia. The plots for the lomanto and villard blanc grapes are organically managed — which means they are sprayed minimally during the growing season with an organic spray to control disease pressure. The duo hopes the vineyard will become regenerative organic certified next year.
“People see Georgia wine and they run away,” says Devasia. “People say, ‘I tried a Georgia cab in the ’80s and it was terrible.’ And they never try a local wine again. We’ve come a long way from that. I want to create enough confidence where people can say, ‘Wow, they’re making some great wine.’”
As for the taste, Cloudland’s skin-contact Marsanne is the most unique of the lineup with a gold color and notes of orange peel, cantaloupe, nutmeg, honey, grilled apricots, and herbs. The pet-nat is the most easy-going and refreshing with notes of green apples, pears, and lemons.
“People are interested in trying new things and I think people want Georgia wine to succeed,” says Long. “If they’re up for it, I say give it a try, at the very least.”
Georgia
Ga. lawmakers propose changes to state’s early voting process
ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – State legislators are considering more changes to Georgia’s voting law, proposing a new bill that would alter the way early voters cast ballots.
State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a Republican from Cumming, introduced SB 568 this week. The proposal would assign early voters to one precinct in their county. Currently, voters can cast early votes at any precinct in their county.
It would also move early voting to a hand-marked paper ballot system, where voters use a pen to mark their selections, instead of the currently used touchscreen system.
“So that we would not have to print so many permutations at the paper ballots, we would assign voters to an early voting location,” said Dolezal. “Most people are going to vote to the at the early voting location closest to their home anyway.”
The bill was immediately met with backlash from democrats as a barrier to the vote.
“I have no idea how voting on a piece of paper, marking it down with your pencil in any way suppresses the vote,” said Dolezal. “For most counties out of, you know, 140 call it out of 159, they just have one location.”
Dolezal’s proposal would also require local clerks to publicly post their entire voting rolls ahead of elections.
“Making public every single voter who is qualified to vote is to some extent, a little bit of an invasion of privacy for each individual voter,” said state Sen. Sonya Halpern (D-Atlanta). “We need to have trust in our election officials to run those elections.”
It’s the latest change the legislature has proposed to Georgia’s voting system.
“You have dirty, dirty voting rolls, you’re going to have dirty elections,” Dolezal said.
The bill would also shift responsibility for voter challenges from the counties to the State Elections Board. In addition, it would also move the threshold for an automatic recount in the state from a 1.5% margin to 2%.
Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Georgia
No. 3 Georgia to Host Top-Ranked Auburn for Regular Season Finale – University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia fell at Auburn 14-6 to wrap up the fall slate of their season. The overall record against the Tigers currently stands at 31-31, including a 13-7 record in Bishop.
During their National Championship run in the 2024-25 season, the Mane Dawgs faced off against Auburn on three separate occasions. Georgia was victorious at home, 11-9, before falling on the road, 11-8. In the quarterfinals of the NCEA National Championships in Ocala, the Bulldogs stunned the second-ranked Tigers, 13-4, en route to their eighth National Championship title.
Georgia returns to action following a trip to Blythewood, South Carolina, to take on the third-ranked Gamecocks.
Top-ranked Auburn travels to Bishop after hosting No. 4 SMU at home the prior weekend. The Tigers defeated the Mustangs 13-7 and swept all four MOP honors.
Following the conclusion of the meet, Georgia will honor their seven seniors for their dedication and contributions to the program.
The meet will be streamed on SECN+ at https://gado.gs/e7v, and live scoring will be available at https://gado.gs/e7w.
HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA EQUESTRIAN: For complete information on Georgia equestrian, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGAEquestrian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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Georgia
Georgia OC Mike Bobo gets giant pay raise, salary matches DC Glenn Schumann
Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann will be paid equally in 2026 after receiving raises, according to an Athens Banner-Herald report.
Coach Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs are coming off a second consecutive SEC championship season and College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal appearance.
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