Michigan Wine

Michigan Wine Month is Officially Upon Us!

April 9, 2010

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

Governor Granholm has declared April Michigan Wine Month, and the opportunities to take part in wine related activities during the next few weeks are endless.

If you have the opportunity to do so, start your Michigan Wine Month off with a visit to any one of the 71 wineries – 7 more to be added by the end of the year – located throughout the state. If you aren’t able to make it to one of the wineries, there are still plenty of wine related activities to partake in around the Metro Detroit area.

Visit Michigan Wineries

Many of the wineries kicked off their season the first weekend in April and are beginning to offer tastings of their 2009 releases. Visit the Pure Michigan site for a full list of all the wineries and a list of Michigan wine trails. I visit the wineries around the Traverse City area on a yearly basis – a relaxing weekend of wine tasting, beautiful views, and great food is a great way to welcome in Spring and say goodbye to Winter.

Wine Expo

This weekend, the Michigan Wine Expo kicks off. For wine novices who want to sip their way into the world of wine tasting, check out the Wine Tasting 101 seminar, while winos can skip the seminars and focus on the 300+ different wines being poured. I’ll be stopping by the Wine Expo on Friday, so be sure to say hi if you’re there!

Detroit Restaurant Week

On top of it being Michigan Wine Month, Detroit is holding its second Detroit Restaurant Week during the week of April 16-25, 2010 – for a fixed price of $27, diners can enjoy a three course meal at any one of the 17 DRW restaurants. Participating restaurants including The Whitney, Andiamo, Atlas Global Bistro, and Coach Insignia proudly serve a variety of Michigan wines; if you stop by one of the restaurants that hasn’t yet included Michigan wines as part of their offerings, you can always encourage them to do so in the future with a “Meal was fine” card.

Michigan Wine Flights

If you can’t make it up to one of the many wineries in Michigan during April, you can always try a Michigan Wine Flight at restaurants like Vinotecca in Royal Oak (they are currently featuring ‘Sex’ by Mawby, Shady Lane Cab Franc, and Bowers Harbor UnWooded Chardonnay).

If you’re looking to enjoy your Michigan wine in the comfort of your own home, you can purchase a few bottles at local stores and restaurants such as Joe’s Produce and Holiday Market. I always have a bottle of L. Mawby Fizz on hand, and you can’t go wrong with one of the many Michigan Cherry wines. Why not pick up a few bottles of Cherry Wine from each of the wineries that produce it, creating your own Michigan Cherry Wine flight, and plan a night in honing your wine tasting skills.

You can also join the online crowd in discussing Michigan wines by following the Wineries on Twitter list or participating in one of the Tweet & Taste Michigan (#TTMI on Twitter) wine tastings on Facebook and Twitter – Michigan wine lovers all around the world pick up a flight of the featured Michigan wine being tasted that session and compare tasting notes on Twitter.

Michigan Wine Council and Michigan Wine Country Magazine

On top of all the events planned around Michigan Wine Month, the Michigan Wine Council is also distributing the 2010 Michigan Wine Country magazine during the first few weeks of April. Anyone interested in receiving the latest issue can request a free copy.

Happy Sipping

I’ve only included a small sample of the Michigan Wine Month events occurring. For a full list of events, visit Michigan Wines. Know of an event that should be listed or were you one of the first visitors to one of the Michigan Wineries this month? Let us know below in the comments!

Rachel Kuptz writes about cocktails, wine, and dining experiences at Girly-Drinks.com. She can regularly be found online on twitter (@girlydrinks), scoping out the newest restaurants around the Metro Detroit area, and at wine and cocktail events throughout the state.

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Deer Widows Weekend

November 11, 2009

in Pure Michigan Ads

This weekend kicks off firearm season, the weekend where hunters stream into Michigan’s woods and fields in search of their white-tailed prize. In the meantime, “deer widows” begin a hunt of their own – looking for shopping deals, weekend getaways, wine tours, and more.

On the hunt for a place to escape to this weekend?

Check out the hotels and resorts offering special packages and pricing that give you the chance to relax and pamper yourself.

Feel more like bargain hunting?

Check out the great deals being offered by Prime Outlets in Birch Run, and the Scrapbooking Weekend at the Raymond House Inn in Port Sanilac.

Hunting for a different kind of diversion?

Well, grab your friends and head to Bay City for Sunday’s In The City, where they showcase all the unique businesses Bay City has to offer, along with holiday decorations and strolling carolers. Or maybe you’d rather head up to Traverse City for Toast the Season, an event where you are invited to taste and tour up to 16 wineries. If you’re going to be in the Detroit area, check out The Inn on Ferry Street, offering the “DIA: Let Yourself Go” weekend package that includes 2 tickets to the Detroit Institute of Arts.

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A Pure Michigan Wine Tour

September 11, 2009

in Pure Michigan Ads

A fantastic guest blogger submission from Sherrie Pryor and Mike Brindley. A wine tour is a great way to spend a Pure Michigan fall weekend!

Vineyard view

Touring the various Michigan Wine trails has become one of our favorite vacation activities. This year, we spent our July 4^th holiday in a log chalet on Fife Lake, for their “Best 4^th in the North” celebration. Thanks to some careful monitoring of the weather channel, we were able to have the best of all worlds; we planned out a long weekend of boating on the lake for the sunniest days and saved our tour of the Old Mission Peninsula Wineries for the one overcast day.

Below are Mike & Sherrie’s “Best Of” Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula July 2009

1. Black Star Farms - Best Hospitality on the peninsula. We loved the Hard Apple Cider! The Sirius Cherry Dessert Wine is divine with a piece of semi-sweet chocolate. If you can only visit one winery on the Peninsula, this is the one.

2. Peninsula Cellars – An adorable one room school house converted to a tasting room with a friendly staff and the rock-your-socks Hot Rod Cherry wine at $11.99 per bottle, please give me two!

Peninsula Winery Schoolhouse

3. Chateau Chantal – Big variety of wines, more commercial than some of the others, but worth the drive for the view alone. With rolling hills of vineyards in every direction and views of both bays, you will feel like you’ve been transported to California or Italy.

4. Bowers Harbor Vineyards – We loved Bowers Harbor for the vineyard dog and the friendly, homey atmosphere. They specialize in Riesling and Chardonnay.

5. Chateau Grand Traverse –The Cherry Sangria is — delicioso! We were sure to bring a bottle home with us. Mike also liked the Late Harvest Riesling, but we decided to wait and pick that up at Meijer’s since it is readily available near home.

The other two wineries: 2 Lads and Brys Estate were not really our cup of tea–or wine. 2 Lads is an extremely modern, metal and glass building, up a hill at the end of a long, winding driveway, with an austere, almost science-lab atmosphere. The wines were pricier and they specialized in dry to semi-sweet whites, which we haven’t been drinking much of this season.

Brys Estate is a beautiful, elegant tasting room with rich, dark wood walls, but again, offered little that appealed to our sweet, fruity, red tastes. They also do not offer complimentary tastings, which we understand may be the way of the future on the Peninsula.

One of the interesting things we learned on our visit is that in order to have the designation of “Old Mission Winery” and to operate a tasting room in the peninsula, 85% of the fruit (grapes, apples, cherries) must come from vineyards and orchards on the Old Mission Peninsula. Since the area is mostly conducive to growing Chardonnay grapes and Riesling grapes, it means that sweet red wine drinkers, like us, will not find a wide variety of selections.

The Leelenau Peninsula wineries do not have this limitation, so we are very excited for our next wine tasting trip to explore the 15+ wineries in that area.

Also not to be missed on your journey to the Old Mission Peninsula: Bad Dog Deli for their amazing sandwiches and Old Mission Point Lighthouse for a little peek into the history of the peninsula.

Sherrie Pryor, owner of One Office Girl, LLC, a small business offering support services to other small businesses spends her free time exploring Michigan’s small towns and festivals. You can contact her by leaving a comment below, or via Facebook.

Mike Brindley is a foreman for the City of Plymouth Municipal services department, but grew up growing food on a farm in West Branch, Michigan. He loves to spend his time just about anywhere in Michigan’s outdoors.

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Another sneak peek…our newest Pure Michigan Wine radio ad

September 4, 2009

in Pure Michigan Ads

This ad won’t hit the airwaves until September 9, but we wanted to let you listen to it first. This one is all about Michigan wines. Did you know that Michigan is home to over 50 wineries, and 13,000 acres of vineyards that stretch across our state, and produce world-class wine? We have miles of wine trails for you to explore, where you can experience the rich Michigan wine culture while tasting some of the finest wines.

We hope you enjoy this radio ad, and that you find time this fall to experience a Pure Michigan winery. Leave us a comment, and let us know what you think!

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Great Lakes Wine Country

July 12, 2009

in Outdoors

michigan grapes If you’re looking for the perfect summer weekend getaway, look no further than Michigan’s beautiful wine country. We’ve got over 50 wineries and thousands of miles of vineyards for you and your friends to come explore. Depending on where you want to visit, there is a wine trail suited just for you.

The West Coast

Check out the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail, the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail, or the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail, all beautiful routes along the coastline dotted with unique wineries producing delicious reds, refreshing whites, and even some fruit wines.

The East Coast

On the sunrise side of the state, check out the Sunrise Side Wine and Hops Trail. This trail features wineries, breweries, and unique and exciting attractions.

A little further south? Check out the Pioneer Wine Trail in southeast Michigan. Not far from Ann Arbor or Detroit, you can drive through the rolling hills, stop for tastings, and tour the vineyards.

You can explore all of these trails, or pick just one winery, and spend the afternoon there. Many of Michigan’s wineries feature bed and breakfasts on site or nearby, to make travel easy, and all are located within minutes of fine dining and other events and attractions, guaranteeing that you’ll never be bored.

If you’re unfamiliar with Michigan wines, would like to learn even more, or want to hear the latest about your favorite Michigan winery, you can do some reading up on Michigan By The Bottle (@MichByTheBottle), a site dedicated to all things Michigan wine, including reviews of wineries, tasting tours, and specific vintages. Or visit Michigan Wines – the official website of Michigan Wineries.

We want to hear about your Michigan wine tour experiences, and what your favorite Michigan wines are. Leave a comment and let us know!

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