Georgia Resort Winery, Chateau Élan, offers Southern Luxury

by Constance E. Richards

The palatial grounds of Chateau Élan Winery and Resort hide behind a rise off Interstate-85 near Braselton, GA. The resort's showpiece — a Loire Valley chateau-style winery — visible on the way to Atlanta from the mountains, is but the face of this multi-faceted property that includes an inn, conference center, seven restaurants, full-service spa, equestrian show center, walking trails, four golf courses, tennis center and other diversions.

Chateau Élan Inn sprawling across Georgia’s countryside

The brainchild of Donald and Nancy Panoz — whose pharmaceutical company pioneered development of the nicotine patch — Chateau Élan began with 200 acres of Vinifera grapes on 3,500 acres of the Georgia countryside in 1981. The first wines were released in 1985, but the couple noted that visitors to the vineyards were looking for more than just a bottle of wine.

In 1988, they answered that call by developing the 42,000-square-foot chateau, housing two restaurants, a visitor's center for winery tours and tastings, a wine market, small art gallery, full-production winery, aging cellars and temperature controlled warehouse. The creation of rest of the immense estate followed in the decades thereafter, creating a veritable playground for adults.

Wining and Dining and then Some
Chateau Élan is Georgia's largest producer of wines with 22 varietals, including an American port and a collection of Georgia Muscadine wines. Today, rows of mature vines lead up to the winery. But my recent visit was driven by more than curiosity about Georgia winemaking.

What was this place that beckoned from the sidelines every time I drove to Atlanta?

Venture behind the magnificent structure and a getaway of both leisure and activity promises a full weekend, or at the very least, a grand lunch if you have only a few hours to spare.

Chateau Élan Founder’s Reserve Wine

One of the best ways to acquaint oneself with the Chateau is through its culinary venues. Seven restaurants grace the estate, all under the tutelage of Chef Mark Suennemann. Originally from Hamburg, Suenneman oversees the culinary operation and creation of menus for the eateries, each with different themes and cuisine leaning toward French and Mediterranean.

With its stone flooring and wine barrel accents, Café Élan will be the first place most visitors encounter. And it's a wise choice to begin here — experiencing the Mediterranean-inflected menu complemented by Chateau Élan's pinot grigio, chardonnay, riesling, merlot, Chambourcin or other wines.

Juicy bites of buttermilk batter-dipped calamari seasoned with black pepper and a mixed greens salad with the fresh green herb house dressing refreshed before a meal of New York strip steak with skinnier-than-skinny pommes frites. Braised osso bucco, grilled salmon, chicken marsala and a daily-caught fresh fish special also make appearances on the dinner menu. Lunch offers lighter fare of soups, artisan sandwiches and hearty salads. Indulge with a sweet flan, pecan-studded bread pudding or house-made ice-cream.

For a different experience, the adjacent Le Clos opens Thursday through Sunday with an elaborate prix-fixe menu with winemaker Dan Baldwin's wine pairings. The Italian courtyard ambiance, replete with painted tiles, stucco walls and a gurgling fountain, seats 28 and provides a romantic backdrop for many occasions.

Le Clos, French Dining at Chateau Élan

Other restaurants are well-incorporated into the resort, such as the L'Auberge Lounge, a sports bar in the Inn that features everything from wings to fillet mignon. Also available are the charming Paddy's Irish pub — designed in Ireland and shipped in to be reassembled on the estate, Clubhouse Grill on the golf course and Spa restaurant, Fleur-de-Lis.

The sprawling Inn, with its large meeting rooms, doubles as a conference center, offering a state-of-the-art fitness center, hotel boutiques and large atrium restaurant Versailles. This is also where inn guests take in a sumptuous breakfast of smoked salmon, omelets, house-made croissants and sweet pastries, fruit and granola bar and hot Southern breakfast buffet under a 45-foot soaring glass ceiling reminiscent of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

Grapes and Granules
With 277 rooms and an international staff, the Inn has the feel of a European hotel with American spatial sensitivities. Large, bright rooms overlook the vineyards and the large pool in the courtyard. Suites include a comfortable seating area with sofas, coffee table with the addition of magazines, large stone-tiled bathrooms with deep whirlpool tubs and walk-in showers, coffee maker and mini-fridge. Regular rooms are smaller and offer similar amenities.

However, for a truly unique, more intimate experience, 14 guest rooms in the Spa transport visitors into another era, another culture and another dimension, with its Gatsby-era, Serengeti French themed rooms.

Guests may dine right here at the Spa's restaurant Fleur-de-Lis, which won't skimp on flavor with its definite healthful edge. Spa guests enjoy tea at 4 p.m., served in the dining room overlooking Chateau Élan's nine-hole golf course, a peaceful pond and gazebo.

Inn guests may also take advantage of the Spa's 33,000-square-foot quarters of wet area, saunas, whirlpools and showers. A small fee applies if you're not scheduling any treatments.

Chateau Élan’s luxurious spa offers escape and relaxation

A yoga and exercise studio provides classes throughout the day. Several lounges offer hot herbal tea, lemon and cucumber water, orange water, trail mix, apples, magazines and plush couches. The wet area has a step-up soaking pool that an attendant will draw for you. The spa also offers a dry sauna, and a wet sauna, providing a heavenly mixture of eucalyptus, spice, and blissful, enveloping steam.

One floor up, co-ed mani-pedi rooms buzz with conversation of ladies and gents clad in thick terrycloth robes, soaking their digits in burbling basins. Step up to the manicure bar - an L-shaped counter with high stools - and sip on a glass of chardonnay with one hand, while the other soaks.

Rooms on the lower floors are dressed out in natural earth tones with subdued lights, as one might expect for body treatments like massage and wraps. With three floors of treatment facilities, the brightest rooms upstairs that overlook the lawn of the spa appear to be reserved for facials and cosmetic therapy. Being at a winery, the grape seed facial seemed a proper choice — an exfoliation with smooth seed fragments and fragrant potions. While the experience was surprising in its vigorous treatment of delicate facial skin by an enthusiastic therapist, the results were indeed a glowing and smooth visage. Expect to be taken into the small skin care boutique on the same floor to see what products were used.

Golf and Greener Acres
Hardly an afterthought, golf at Chateau Élan resonates highly within the tournament quality Chateau, Woodlands and Legends courses. Golf, a passion of owner Don Panoz, has become a primary attraction of Chateau Élan in only a few years.

Woodlands Golf Course at Chateau Élan

The PGA staff provides weekend and private instructions for varying skills levels and maintains a well-regarded Golf Academy. Women, in particular, may be interested in the Monday through Friday, November through March Free Golf for Ladies program, which waives the $50 fee.

"We hope to inspire women of all skill levels, including beginners, to become golf enthusiasts…whether for championships, business, or joining your spouse on links during vacations," said Chip Spiler, Chateau Élan's director of golf.

Golf villas on the grounds are available for those serious enough about their game to build a vacation around it, and also provide a taste of what living in the handsome 3,500-acre gated community of Chateau Élan may be like.

Whether for a few hours, a weekend or a lifetime, this stop on the highway proves much more than just a pretty façade.

If You Go…

Chateau Élan Winery & Resort
100 Rue Charlemagne
Braselton, GA 30517
(678) 425-0900