North by Northwest: Michigan wineries ready to 'Rendezvous' in Washington

Come July, Washington will get a taste of what Michigan wine fans already know: When it comes to Riesling, the Mitten State certainly has something to brag about.

Representatives from several Northern Michigan wineries plan to travel to the west side of the country July 11-13 for the 2010 Riesling Rendezvous. The biennial event, now in its third installment, is hosted by Chateau Ste. Michelle and Ernst Loosen of Germany’s Dr. Loosen estate, and draws Riesling producers, national media, trade professionals and passionate consumers.

“We are excited to be participating in this event and look forward to presenting our wines alongside the classic Rieslings of Germany, Austria and Alsace,” said Sean O’Keefe, winemaker at Chateau Grand Traverse. “This is a fabulous opportunity for us to show that not only ‘can’ we grow Riesling in Northern Michigan, but that we can do so at the highest international level.”

Lee Lutes, winemaker at Black Star Farms, agreed that the Rendezvous represents “a great opportunity to show our ‘stuff.’”

While several Michigan wineries have taken part in the past, this year, they’re doing so at an “elevated level,” said Lutes. Specifically, as co-sponsors, they’ll be pouring six Rieslings for more than 250 attendees at one of the Rendezvous lunch programs on July 13 — a meal that will be paired exclusively with Michigan wines, he said.

They’ll also be showing off eight Rieslings at a “thematic tasting” on July 12 and six Rieslings, plus one “other” white, at July 11’s “grand tasting" and Michigan table.

“We’ve been there before, but not quite with the number of us going this time, so we are coordinating a marketing effort to make sure they do not forget us any time soon,” said Lutes. “Due to the participation level that many of us have had for the last two events, we were on an invitation list, and we all jumped at the opportunity to be there again.”

With only one chance to make a memorable impression, the decision on what to serve was crucial, and not taken lightly. John Kroupa, owner/winemaker for Peninsula Cellars, said winemakers from the participating wineries gathered to blind-taste all of the potential submissions prior to drawing up their Rendezvous wine list “to make sure our region was being represented properly.”

2 Lads Winery owner/operations manager Chris Baldyga said the goal was to compile “a diverse and round lot of wines” to showcase.

“If we had a wine or two that didn’t show well, they might assume that was a representative sample from the state and extrapolate that to the wines made here,” he said. “This would obviously be faulty, since the (majority) of Rieslings in Michigan are pretty fantastical across the board.”

The Northern Michigan winemakers will kick off the event with Bel Lago Vineyards’ 2008 Auxerrois and 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling, Chateau Chantal’s 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling, Peninsula Cellars’ 2007 Dry and Semi-Dry Rieslings, and 2 Lads’ 2009 Riesling and 2008 Sparkling Wine at the July 11 grand tasting/Michigan table.

The July 12 thematic tasting will feature Chateau Grand Traverse’s 2001 Whole Cluster Riesling and 2007 Botrytis Riesling, Black Star Farms’ 2002 Arcturos Semi-Dry Riesling and A Capella Riesling ice wine, Bowers Harbor Vineyards’ 2006 Block II Riesling, Left Foot Charley’s 2006 7th Hill Riesling and Peninsula Cellars’ 2006 Select Riesling. Also on the list: Triple Entente 2008 Cuckoo’s Nest Riesling, a trio of blended Rieslings from Left Foot Charley, Bowers and Chateau Grand Traverse.

Making the menu for the climactic July 13 luncheon were Peninsula Cellars’ 2007 Dry Riesling, Bowers’ 2008 Block II Riesling, Black Star Farms’ 2008 Arcturos Dry Riesling, Left Foot Charley’s 2008 7th Hill Riesling, Chateau Grand Traverse’s 2008 Lot 49 Riesling and 2 Lads’ 2009 Riesling.

Kroupa called the finalized lineup “outstanding examples of what this noble variety can do. They are unique in this wine world for some of the flavors and aromas that the terroir imparts.”

He hopes the reaction will be “respect and heightened curiosity, the ‘Hey, I want to try those again’ mindset.”

Baldyga said he wants the Northern Michigan contingent to communicate to Rendezvous attendees that if they haven’t tried Michigan Riesling yet, “you haven’t had a truly comprehensive sample of the world’s great wines.”

While the state has a rich heritage of grape-growing and winemaking that spans more than a century, Baldyga said he feels the latest generation of offerings coming out of Northern Michigan is “truly world-class in quality and expression of the varietals in any global, classic definition of the varietal’s characteristics.”

“I’d love it if they would take note of one of the world’s emerging regions that shows great quality and consistency while it’s still in its relative infancy,” he said. “I think that fact alone is noteworthy; I can’t think of many other youthful wine regions that show as much promise as ‘NoMich.’ We make many of the world’s great varietals in classic styles that most consumers know and love, but with the expressive edge that our climate, soils and winemakers bring to the party. It’s exciting.”

While the winemakers are clearly thrilled to be to showcasing their successes with the grape long known as Michigan’s darling — a fact they’ve proudly highlighted with a new “State of the Riesling” logo, depicting a hand with a finger pointing toward the Traverse City area —Baldyga said they’ll also be looking to pick the brains of their international counterparts.

“The possibility of learning and gleaning as much info as possible from the other great Riesling producers in the world is too great an opportunity to pass up,” he said. “The Germans have been doing it longer than anyone and perhaps better than the rest of the world. The Aussies make a lot of it and almost all of it under screwcaps; learning about winemaking for Rieslings specific to that closure type via different techniques and principles they hold dear — they’ve been at it with the screwcap longer than anyone — is important. Much of the little tricks and tips that winemakers are using doesn’t ever make it to the media or research articles; you’ve got to get it straight from the source and, more often than not, an informal setting.”

Staffers from Bowers and Left Foot Charley and Linda Jones of the Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council, representing the wines of Bel Lago and Chateau Chantal, will join those from Chateau Grand Traverse, 2 Lads, Peninsula Cellars and Black Star Farms at the event.

Lutes said he hopes Michigan juice will “capture the interest” of national writers who will, in turn, be drawn to highlighting the area and its winemaking capabilities.

“Anytime we do this, we act as one big ambassador program for our northern region — but also for Michigan as a state,” he said.

For more information, visit www.rieslingrendezvous.com.