Michigan By The Bottle

WIOG: May 5, 2013

This edition of WIOG features some of the wines we tried at the Michigan Wine Showcase at The Rattlesnake Club on April 15. As we often stress, we're not wine experts, but we do taste a lot of Michigan wine. (You may have noticed.) WIOG is our attempt to give you an idea of some selections that you may be interested in checking out based on what we've been tasting. Cheers!

Feedback Friday: Blustone Vineyards, Hawthorne Vineyards, Burgdorf's Winery

You may have at least heard of or seen our Michigan wine app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android — hopefully, you own it, use it and love it! Now, you have a chance to be IN it.

Welcome to Feedback Friday, our weekly feature that works like this: We solicit comments about a specific winery or wineries. You supply them. We pick some to include in our app. You become famous (at least in the Michigan wine community). The end.

Today's featured wineries:

Blustone Vineyards (Leelanau Peninsula)
Hawthorne Vineyards (Old Mission Peninsula)
Burgdorf's Winery (Pioneer Wine Trail) 

Send your comments on these wineries to cort@michiganbythebottle.com or post them as a reply to today's Feedback Friday thread on Facebook. We'll be accepting Feedback Friday comments for these featured wineries until next Friday, when we'll introduce a new set. (Of course, feel free to come chatter on Facebook about the wineries you love just for fun any old time. We dig that.)

Read on for complete details...

Northern Michigan Food and Wine: Blustone Vineyards Wins Double Gold - My North

Northern Michigan Event: November marks yet another milestone for Leelanau Peninsula’s Blustone Vineyards; the 40-acre family-owned vineyard opened their highly anticipated tasting room this month to showcase wines already achieving top honors in international competition.  

"We're very excited to be introducing Blustone to so many new friends and are encouraged by their response to our new tasting room and to our wines,” commented owner Tom Knighton.  The wood, steel, stone, and glass structure sits atop a hill overlooking the vineyard with panoramic views of the Leelanau landscape.  

via www.mynorth.com

WIOG Weekly Roundup: Sept. 30, 2012

This edition of WIOG Weekly Roundup features wines we tried at Blustone Vineyards on the Leelanau Peninsula over Labor Day. As we often stress, we're not wine experts, but we do taste a lot of Michigan wine. (You may have noticed.) WIOG is our attempt to give you an idea of some selections that you may be interested in checking out based on what we've been tasting. Cheers!

Podcast #72: Blustone Vineyards 2011 Riesling/Late Harvest Riesling

It's a "Tale of Two Rieslings" as we taste through the beloved varietal done in two different styles from Blustone Vineyards, the soon-to-be-opened addition to the Leelanau Peninsula. (That's our excuse for the video being a little longer ... double the fun!) Also, Cort gets whipped into a bit of a frenzy over a certain Traverse City restaurant boasting Blustone on its wine list, and Shannon gets "cheesy." (P.S. If you're looking for the "sneak peek" video on Blustone referenced, in this podcast, you can find it here.)

Sneak Peek: Blustone Vineyards

The good news is: We're giving you a video sneak peek of the killer views from the property of the soon-to-be opened Blustone Vineyards in Lake Leelanau, plus some insight into the winery's philosophy from owner Tom Knighton. The bad news is: We were competing with vineyard elements both man-made and natural in the form of a little wind and a LOT of screeching decoy bird. We promise that if you're able to tune out the angry cries of a faux bird with an impressive set of faux lungs (we're so sorry — we didn't realize it was going to come across that loud on video), you'll get to hear some interesting info on this new addition to the Leelanau Peninsula, which already has a slate of award-winning wines.

New to the Scene: Blustone Vineyards

Blustone Vineyards is still putting the finishing touches on its Leelanau Peninsula tasting room, but it already has an impressive lineup of wines — and some serious medals to go with them! Here, Tom Knighton, the owner and general manager, and his son, Matt, the marketing manager, talk about what their fledgling winery already has accomplished, and what lies ahead.

Northern Michigan Wine: Blustone Vineyards Joins Leelanau Vintners

Northern Michigan Wine: Blustone Vineyards sits on a 40-acre plot of land in beautiful Lake Leelanau, in the heart of the Leelenau Peninsula. While the land has provided grapes for various Northern Michigan wineries over the past decade, it is under new ownership that these grapes are lending themselves to award-winning wines gallantly striding alongside Northern Michigan's respected vintages. With plans to open a tasting room late this summer, Blustone Vineyards plants themselves as one of Northern Michigan's newest wineries.

via www.mynorth.com

We love new wineries!