Chateau Elan Winery & Resort

Chateau Élan Winery & Resort, located in the picture perfect small town of Braselton, Georgia, seems delightfully secluded. However, private transfers whisk guests to the Chateau from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in only one hour.

Zagat says the four-diamond property “has something for everyone.” Meeting planners usually agree. Chic guest rooms and suites feature French country decor and marble baths with oversized soaking tubs. The resort also boasts a culinary center, winery, eight restaurants, four golf courses, an equestrian center, tennis, and European-style spa. A 25,000 square foot Conference Center houses two sparkling ballrooms; each accommodating up to 750 guests. Nineteen meeting rooms and boardrooms round out the meeting space. And, on-site staff customizes an array of team-building events such as championship golf scrambles, group spa escapes, wine making and interactive cooking classes. There are no packages available at this time. There are no hot dates at this time. Posted Feb 19, 2008 by Mbrooks
View RSS Feed BRASELTON, GA OCTOBER 1, 2007 -Peter J. Kasprzak was named Winemaker and Winery Director at Chateau lan Winery & Resort, announced Henk Evers, President & CEO of Chateau lan Resorts. Peter replaces former Winemaker Dan Baldwin, who returned to California to pursue other opportunities.

At age 30, Peter is already an accomplished winemaker whose skills and passion for winemaking and viticulture were developed in his native Australia. (He is actually from Hobart, Tasmania, but moved to Australia very early in life.) Peter's apprenticeship in viticulture and Oenology began as a teenager in South Australia's Barossa wine growing region and continued with formal studies at the prestigious University of Adelade where he was awarded a degree with distinction in Oenology. This was followed with a two year graduate program encompassing all facets of the winemaker's art at Orlando Wyndham, one of Australia's largest wine companies and producer of Jacob's Creek, Wyndham Estate, Poet's Corner, and Gramps wines. He subsequently became winemaker for Tumbarumba Grape Processors in New South Wales in 2003.

Kasprzak moved to the U.S. in 2005 where his talent for establishing productive, well-managed vineyards and making wine in challenging climates were honed in the vineyards of the Midwest.

Chateau lan, a 3,500 acre resort and conference destination, is Georgia's largest winery producing 20,000-25,000 cases and 22 varietals annually. Its 75 acres of Vineyards surrounding a 16th century style French Chateau are planted mostly in vinifera grapes (Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Saval Blanc, Chambourcin, Sangiovese, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, and Cabernet Franc) plus a small section of Muscadines.

Inside the Chateau is a full-production winery with winery tours, tastings, bottling plant, vat room, temperature controlled warehouse, plus two restaurants and a wine market.

In addition to his control over the creative winemaking process, Kasprzak's key responsibilities include all winemaking activities from harvest through bottling, quality assurance, contract negotiations, hiring and supervising, budget preparation, and long range planning in order to build the Chateau lan brand.

Peter says he is committed to making the absolute best wines possible in the classic red and white's varietals as well as several popular Muscadine wines and Chateau lan Port. Whether Chateau lan will continue to produce more or less than 22 varietals annually will be based on Peter's evaluation of the vineyards and his skills and disciplines that impact grape growing and winemaking.

Toward that end, Peter's basic winemaking philosophy is that 80%-90% of the quality of the wine is created in the vineyard. "My job as winemaker is to create the conditions to allow the wine to fully express itself. Flavor and aroma does not come in a jar, and can not be put into the grape if it is not there originally. We can manipulate some of the edges off certain characters in the wine but we can not engineer the soul of the wine, we can only help to balance out what is there."

Contact: Larry Mayran
Dir. Corporate Communications
Tel: 770-586-5703
Fax: 770-307-0836
email: lmayran@chateauelan.com