Michigan Wines

Just a brief note on my crush plans for this fall. I may be going a just a tad overboard if I end up making everything I like. If so, my friends had better be prepared for getting a lot of samples! I was really wanting to make wine from fresh grapes this fall. I've made 3 grape wines from kits so far, a sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, and a syrah. Most kits are concentrated, pasteurized grape juice and require dilution with water. The chardonnay kit was pure sterilized juice and the syrah kit came with a grape skin pack, so that's as close to working with fresh grapes or grape juice that I've been able to come (neither one has been bottled yet--still aging). This spring's late frosts dealt a small blow to my plans to acquire local grapes. Fortunately, there is a U-pick vineyard north of Detroit that had a reasonably good year, but they don't have a lot of red grapes that I'd like to make wine from. If I can get to the vineyard in mid September when their white grapes are ripe, I'd like to get ~90 lbs of seyval blanc and vidal blanc. That'll be enough to make 5 gals of each wine. I'm debating about their reds--baco, De chaunac, & marachel foch. I have yet to taste a wine made from those grapes that I've really liked, so I'm hesitant to spend the effort on a wine that I'm not really looking forward to drink.

Searching farther afield, I've come across a vineyard in the NY Finger Lakes region that sells the red vinifera varietals that I'd really like to try. Of course, that's about an 8 hr drive away, which means I could only make 1 trip. After careful perusal of their harvest dates, I'm going to make the trek on Oct 14-15 to pick up 100 lbs each of chambourcin, cabernet franc, and chelois. I'm most interested in the chambourcin and cab franc, but the chelois will be harvested the same day, so I decided to take a chance. I've been told that chelois makes a merlot-like wine, full bodied with lots of cherry flavors. Sounded delicious, so I splurged! I'm also going to pick up 5 gals each of gewurtztraminer and vignoles.

So the sum total is that I'm aiming towards at least 7 wines this fall: chambourcin, cabernet franc, chelois, gewurtztraminer, vignoles, seyval blanc, and vidal blanc. I'm excited, but a little bit nervois--that's a lot of wine (35 gals!). I have enough carboys to hold everything while it's fermenting and aging, the only big piece of equipment that I still need to buy is a grape press.

I still have a couple of possible sources for other white grape juices from California and Ohio. I'm waiting to see what they offer before I commit to making any additional wines. I also have 20 lbs of blueberries in the freezer to play with this winter, and I'd like to get some fresh cider from the Dexter Cider Mill for an apple wine. Lots of yeast will be flying around my house.

The chambourcin is a recent infatuation. I first tasted a wine from that grape at Pentamere Winery in Tecumseh, MI. Delicious! Full-bodied, with some tannin backbone. They make their version in a chianti style--easy drinking, full bodied red. I just recently tasted a chambourcin wine at a winery in Maine (yes, Maine) that was more like a cabernet--more pepper and fruit flavor. This is a cold-hardy red hydrid that does very well in the Eastern states. Frankly, I'd say that more wineries in Michigan need to forget trying to make cab sauvignons and go after chambourcin as a way to differentiate themselves from California wineries. Cab Sauv grows very well in California's climate, but Michigan rarely gets warm and dry enough to truly bring out the flavors in the grapes. On the other hand, chambourcin was bred to excel in our climate, and it does! So if you go wine tasting at a local winery and see chambourcin on the tasting menu, don't shy away from the unknown. Drink away and discover an eastern treasure.

Regards,
a Student

Last night, I opened a bottle of Lone Oak Estate Vineyards Michigan Chardonnay (non-vintage) to have with dinner. A very pleasant, dry chardonnay that paired nicely with BBQ turkey burgers, coleslaw, and corn-on-the-cob. A very light yellow color, the wine exhibits delicate floral, melon, and apricot aromas with just a hint of sugar in the nose. Unoaked, it has a slight tang on the tip of the tongue and a slight buttery feel as it moves towards the back of the throat. Not a strong taste, just some herbaceous green notes. Thankfully, none of the overwhelming butter and oak that I’ve come to dread in a chardonnay. The wine tasted much better when drunk cold. As it warmed up in my glass, I began to get a bit of a barnyard aroma in the nose. Attractively priced at $12.95, this is a decent wine for a hot summer day.

I believe the wine was made from estate grown grapes, although I would have expected a vintage label on the bottle. Since it was a non-vintage label, that may mean this is a blend of more than one vintages or blended with a vintage from another winery.

The bottle was purchased in early May at the winery and was stored in my basement wine cellar since then. Best place to find the wine is at the winery, but the Cork 'n Cap in Jackson carries Lone Oak wines. If others know of off-winery places to purchase Lone Oak wines, please let me know.

I have to get a digital camera so that I can add a picture of the label.

Most blogs and reviews of Michigan wines would probably start with the wines and wineries of the Leelanau & Old Mission Peninsulas in northern Michigan near Traverse City. However, I live 4-5 hours away from those wineries, and travel opportunities are somewhat limited with the high price of gas these days. Fortunately, a new group of wineries has risen nearly on my doorstep in the last 10 years, the SE Michigan Pioneer Wine Trail (www.pioneerwinetrail.com). The Trail consists of 6 wineries and 3 tasting rooms stretching from around Lansing through Parma and Jackson to Tecumseh and Dundee. The wineries are typically small family-owned affairs, many who have been making wine at home for several years before deciding to turn commercial. I find myself attracted to the owners and winemakers of these wineries because they are truly wine pioneers in Michigan’s newest wine-growing region. A decade ago, most people probably would have scoffed at the idea that one could grow wine grapes in southeast Michigan, far away from the tempering climate of Lake Michigan, let alone make quality wines from the fruit’s of one’s labor. However, Kip & Dennise Barber of Lone Oak Estate Vineyards and the other winemakers have proven them wrong.

Last February, I first ventured out to explore these wineries, visiting Lone Oak Estates, Sandhill Crane Vineyards, and Pentamere Winery. To be honest, I was expecting to taste a lot of insipid, sweet wines, but I was stunned to taste many well-made wines, both white and red, that were very reasonably priced. Almost a case of wine made its way into my cellar from that first visit, although I’ll admit that I’ve since drunk my way through it. Oh well, that only means I have to go back and revisit often and regale you with my adventures.

My friends and co-workers have been curious about my experience at these wineries, especially if the wines were comparable to wines from California and other wine-producing region. I would have to admit that no, the wines of the Pioneer Trail are not quite on par with California wines, and frankly, I wouldn’t expect them to be. After all, these wineries have been making wine for a relatively very short period of time, and while significant growth has occurred, there is room for a great deal of more learning and exploration. I would firmly state that these wines are different and unique, focusing on the terrior of the grapes and fruit grown throughout Michigan. So don’t expect a merlot from Sandhill Crane Vineyards to come close to the silky, full, fruity merlots from California or Washington. The pricing of these wines is a definite plus in their favor as well. I am far more lenient on a wine that is priced for less than $15, than am I of a wine asking more than $20. For the more budget minded wine drinker, a large percentage of the wines along the Pioneer Wine Trail are cheap enough to enjoy during everyday drinking, and do not reach the price level where serious consideration must be made if the wine really approaches the quality level of the advertised price. This is one of my biggest complaints about the wineries around Traverse City and the reason why I usually purchase very little wine when I visit. On the other hand, I have readily purchased almost two cases of wine during two visits to the ‘Trail. The results speak for themselves!

Over the next few posts, I will describe each of the wineries that I have visited in more detail, as well as some of their wines. I’m planning on taking a trip to Indiana this weekend to pick up some equipment for my fall winemaking, and by gosh, Cherry Creek Cellars is right along the way (I hate it when visits are that convenient). That will leave only one winery left to visit in the Pioneer Trail, and then maybe I’ll be able to bring myself to enter one of the St. Julian tasting rooms.

More on other visits and wines soon.

Cheers,
A Student

Greetings and salutations! This post is the first of what I hope to be many, many musings on wineries and wine in Michigan and the surrounding Great Lakes states. Why am I doing this? Because I am embarking on a journey of discovery and experimentation. My first wine moment was with a bottle of Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel at a party during graduate school about 11 years ago. One taste of that concentrated jammy loveliness and I was forever enslaved by the glorious god Bacchus. My gracious thanks to Randy, who sent me down this wonderful journey with the simple application of a corkscrew.

Since that time, my wife and I explored many of the primary wine-growing regions in California--Sonoma, Napa, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, Temecula, and Monterey. I now live in southeast Michigan, just outside of Ann Arbor (I suppose a gratuitous "Hail to the Victors" would be appropriate and perhaps expected, but I am a Hawkeye by birth, so forget it). For several years after moving to Michigan, I resisted visiting the wineries of my home state because of a prejudice that good wine could not be made outside of California and the West Coast. When encountering a bottle of St. Julian in the store, a superior smirk would race across my face. After reading a Wine Spectator review of Michigan wineries, we took a tentative trip to Traverse City to see for ourselves. Wow--my eyes were opened! If you haven't tasted L. Mawby's Blanc de Blanc or Sex, well, I just pity you! Besides, how can you not enjoy a wine called Sex?

Since then my wife and I have specifically sought out wineries whenever we travel to sample what the local vintners are crafting. Not every wine is great, but the love of their craft is evident in every wine these folks offer. While California will always remain a solid foundation in my wine universe, the wineries of the rest of the country beckon as twinkling stars to be visited and sampled--Oregon's Willamette Valley, Michigan, Niagra, the Finger Lakes of NY, Ohio, and Virginia.

I also have a burning desire to one day open my very own winery. Towards that end I have embarked on a personal pilgramage to explore as many of the wineries in Michigan and the surrounding Great Lake states as I can reach. Some would call it an obsession, I call it market research. My aim is to examine their wines, tasting rooms, vineyards, and personalities in search of what makes a small winery succeed. This blog will document that journey. Part travel log, part wine review, part visitation reports, I want to share my musings during my journey towards my winery dreams. Hopefully, my reports will inspire you to venture into these wineries as well. Along the way, I'll share my adventures in home winemaking from time to time.

If you are looking for amazing prose and an eloquent tongue, go somewhere else. I am a scientist by training, having spent 5 years in graduate school for a Ph.D. in synthetic chemistry. Seven more years as a medicinal chemist for a major pharmaceutical company has taught me to be brief and concise. However, my liberal arts education ("Go Flying Dutchman!") occasionally sneaks through in my writing and comes close to approximating clever writing.

I welcome you to my blog and invite you along on my wine journey. This will be a memorable and hugely enjoyable trip!

Regards,
a Student