Time Well Spent: The Artistry Behind Chateau Elan
- Explore Braselton
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Experience the energy of the harvest amid a vineyard cloaked in its flamboyant fall colors. Meet the South’s native grape, the muscadine. Join the fun of the 8,000-year-old tradition of grape stomping, then delve into the chemistry of fermentation where the crushed grapes and yeast convert the sugars into alcohol. Next creativity takes over as the Chief Winemaker works—and sips—to achieve just the right taste and look for the next vintage.
Featuring picturesque fields of growing grape vines, Chateau Elan stands as a premier winery and culinary destination. It's known for its French-style charm, incredible wine selection, top-notch restaurants and luxe amenities. You'll find no shortage of locals and visitors alike flocking to this stunning property to get a taste of their exceptional wines. We went behind the scenes to discover the secrets behind the success of this winery, from speaking with winemaker Simone Bergese to seeing the production process itself, so you can discover the artistry behind Chateau Elan.
“You start with science but end with creativity.”
—Simone Bergese, Chief Winemaker
Meet Simone Bergese
At the head of the wine operation is Simone Bergese, who has over 25 years of global experience. He was born in Alba, a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, known for its wine and white truffles. It's the embodiment of what you imagine a wine country to look like. His grandfather operated a vineyard but passed away when Simone was just two years old, so while he has generational ties to the world of viticulture, Simone found a passion for it on his own. As a young man, he enrolled in a hospitality school for food science and ended up taking a class on wine, leading to his discovery of love for this sector of the industry. The only challenge for Simone was that his fellow classmates already had experience with vineyards, whether they grew up with a family property or operated their own. This meant that Simone had to work twice as hard to catch up with everyone else's level of expertise. While his classmates could instantly understand what was being taught, Simone had to "find the connection between what he was learning and put it into practice." In the end, it made Simone a better student.
Simone decided to seek practical experience by working two harvests during the peak season at vineyards in Northern Italy and Australia, allowing him to catch up to his classmates. By gaining this dual-hemisphere experience, Simone was able not only to put his studies into practice, but also learn two different styles of technique for cultivating grapevines. Talk about being an overachiever! In Northern Italy, specifically the Piedmont region, they prefer a boutique style of making wine to produce in small batches. This often allows the winemaker to have a personal connection to the batches they craft because they have more artistic freedom. As for Australia, the process is completely different as the winemakers operate on a larger scale, producing millions of bottles.
Simone prefers a style of craftsmanship somewhere in the middle where he is involved with each step of the process and is able to maintain high production. He soon graduated Cum Laude in Viticulture and Enology from the University of Turin and continued to refine. his expertise in Sicily as Chief Winemaker at Patri Winery.
The trajectory of his career soon changed course after meeting his now-wife, who was a sailing instructor in Australia. She moved to Sicily while Simone continued his work and soon after, both decided it was time to move on. He looked a various international destinations, including South Africa but instead ended up choosing an unlikely spot in the United States - Virginia. While many don't immediately think of Virginia when thinking of the wine industry, at that time in 2008, they were looking for European winemakers to help transform their reputation. He landed at Potomac Point Winery where he was able to have creative freedom. Four years later he received a phone call from a winery in Georgia asking him to come be their new winemaker. As soon as he saw the property in person, he felt an instant connection. He and his wife quickly packed their bags and headed to Braselton, joining our wonderful community henceforth.
Meet the Muscadine
After arriving at Chateau Elan, Simone quickly identified an opportunity for improvement to take the production to the next level. The vineyard had been cultivating grape varieties not native to Georgia. Because grape-growing success depends heavily on regional factors like soil, climate and rainfall, Simone led a shift toward planting muscadine—the official grape of Georgia. Native to the South, muscadine vines thrive in the local environment and are naturally resistant to common fungal diseases. The transition not only celebrates Georgia's agricultural heritage but also allows the vineyard to remain free of pesticides and other chemicals, thanks to the hardy nature of the native grape.
So what does this mean for Chateau Elan? Instead of trying to grow grapevine species that weren't producing, they focused on what would thrive and shifted to only growing that species on the property. They then created a program to work with several wineries in California to acquire their other grape varieties. California grows the grapes, transports them to Chateau Elan and that's when Simone and his team take over the remaining stages from blending to bottling. The results? Chateau Elan grew from producing 5,000 cases of wine annually to 50,000! They also expanded production from seven wines to over 30, many of which we're all familiar with and love.
Wine Awards
Simone's exceptional work has earned him more than 500 awards, including Sweepstakes Winner at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. For this specific award, Simone shared that Chateau Elan was the only winery representing the East Coast. The wine they entered was a white port that was harvested in 2017 and bottled in 2022. This method of experimentation is one of Simone's favorite aspects of the entire process. He shared that you start with science but end with creativity. Other awards include Wine Enthusiast's Editor's Choice Award and recognition as Decanter World Wine Awards' Top 200 Wines of the World. See all of Braselton's current Accommodations and World-Class Dining & Wine Awards.
The Harvest, Fermentation & Winemaking
Now that we've uncovered the secrets behind Winemaker Simone Bergese and his team, let's dive into the world of winemaking at our enchanting Chateau Elan. With the property only growing muscadine, harvesting is a simple matter of waiting for the grape vines to reach peak readiness. This occurs sometime between August and November and, depending on how much the grapevines produce, the team may only have 10-15 days to collect them.
For this process, Simone and one of his team members head over to the fields using a hi-tech harvester. They go carefully through each row of vines as the rods on the harvester gently shake the grapes, dropping them into a storage bucket attached to the machine. Once the bucket is completely full, they head over to the backside of the winery where the rest of the team is waiting. This side of production involves the intriguing process of the buckets being dumped into a large automated machine. The machine removes any debris (and sometimes critters like spiders) and stems from the grapes so they can be crushed. It's a very loud process as the grapes are crushed and sorted!
As they continue crushing the buckets of harvested grapes, each batch creates a mixture known as must. Must is the combination of the pulp and juice that comes from the crushed grapes. The team then takes this mixture and puts it into barrels for the fermentation part of the process. At this stage, the natural evolution of wine occurs, where the yeast converts the sugars into alcohol.
The completion of fermentation can vary but Simone has a rare gift for knowing exactly when it's ready. Through his expertise, he can tell when the features he's looking for in the wine are present. Once that point has happened, Simone and his team will blend different barrels together for the final product. This is where Simone's creativity shines, enabling him to achieve just the right taste and look for the finished wine. After blending, the bottling process begins, where his team uses machinery to bottle the wine and package it for transportation.
Through Simone's artistic vision and his team's hard work, Chateau Elan is now known as Georgia's largest wine producer. The property is truly from the images of a storybook, from the French estate with exceptional views of the vineyard to the gorgeous tasting room at the Vineyard Ballroom. As for the future, Simone envisions the winery engaging with the local community more through unique events and programs. One thing's for sure, with Simone Bergese leading the winery, Chateau Elan will keep establishing itself as a top destination for Braselton locals and travelers from around the world to flock to for an exceptional experience.
Vineyard Fest at Chateau Elan
Chateau Elan Winery and Resort
100 Rue Charlemagne | 678-425-0900 | chateauelan.com
This Autumn, book your tickets for Time Well Spent in Braselton during Chateau Elan Winery’s annual Vineyard Fest, a two day harvest celebration on September 19 - 20 packed with award-winning wines, chef-driven bites, live music and harvest energy.
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