Story
sips at bleu celebrates the good things in life - art, wine, and friends - one sip at a time.
Sips at Bleu began as a blank canvas in January of 2024, when Bleu Gallery brought in resident artist Sonja Heisinger to reinvent the vacant bar space at the heart of the art gallery. Together, Sonja and the owners of Bleu Gallery envisioned serving premier North Georgia wines while exhibiting the excellence and creativity of local artists. From floor to ceiling, every inch of the tasting room was reimagined and remodeled, featuring stunning, hand-made countertops, shelving, and light fixtures that resulted in an intimate and celebratory space, surrounded by an eclectic collection of local art.
With the remodel underway, Sips’ owner Sonja embarked on a quest: to find exceptional wine worth sharing. She looked beyond Dahlonega in hopes of discovering burgeoning wineries with a limited presence. As an entrepreneur and mother of young boys, she felt drawn to two young farm wineries who were just breaking onto the scene: Living Water Winery and Vineyard in Blairsville and Limoges Cellars in Cleveland. Not only were these winemakers already generating buzz and producing great wine, they were visionaries with young families who’d built their wineries from the ground up. With Living Water and Limoges wines on board, Sips rounded out the menu with a long-established winery: Tiger Mountain Vineyards, who’s 30-year-old vines produce multiple award-winning wines.
Our mission is to promote the growth and vitality of Dahlonega while cultivating a memorable, sharable wine tasting experience. We purposefully select artistically crafted wines that showcase the best the North Georgia region has to offer, and we strive to build lasting relationships with our patrons.
Meet Sonja – Owner
Over the past decade, I’ve established myself as a celebrated portrait artist, published author, military wife, and mother of two highly spirited boys. As a California native, my appreciation for wine started early in life, and that love has only grown the more I’ve learned, tasted, and traveled. When the Army brought my family to Dahlonega in 2022, I fell in love with this town and knew I wanted to establish myself in the community. At the time, that looked like becoming a showing artist at Bleu Gallery in the Square. When the opportunity arose to open a wine tasting room within the gallery, I seized the chance to give back to Dahlonega in a big way: by creating a space that celebrated art, wine, and community.
Meet Ashley – Manager
I started young in the service industry waiting tables, and it was in a small bistro in Kerrville, Texas where I discovered my passion for wine. Always the adventurous type, my now wife and I left Texas to camp our way through all 48 continental states before settling back in San Antonio, where we’ve spent the past couple years managing a thriving new restaurant. But after visiting Dahlonega in October of 2023, I knew it was where I wanted/needed to be. My wife and I have decided to make Dahlonega home, and I look forward to getting to know all the locals, as well as anyone else who happens to stop by Sips.