Michigan By The Bottle

WIOG Weekly Roundup: Sept. 16, 2012

This edition of WIOG Weekly Roundup features some Michigan wines we tried over Labor Day while visiting the Leelanau Peninsula. 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: Chateau Grand Traverse, Leelanau Cellars, Free Run

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:

Chateau Grand Traverse
Leelanau Cellars
Free Run Cellars

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...

Video Feature: Northern Wine Loop's Wine Release Weekend

Want the short version? Watch the video. Want the long version? Read the recap. Want the full story? Do both! 

Keep reading for a meandering travel diary detailing our whirlwind weekend on the Northern Wine Loop, including where we stopped and (of course) what we drank ... Then stop by our Facebook page to chat about which Northern Wine Loop wineries are your favorites!

Chateau Grand Traverse and Leelanau Cellars Expanding Sales Nationally

To comprehend Chateau Grand Traverse’s (CTG) reach beyond its home state of Michigan, you need only check out the winery’s Facebook page.

One recent post: “Spring Break: CGT Late Harvest Riesling and Ship of Fools spotted at Sharky’s On The Pier in Venice, Florida,” along with an image of a table placard perched against a backdrop of blue, sunny skies. Scrolling down the page, another post announces Ship of Fools by the glass at the newly opened Publican Quality Meats in Chicago.

For Chateau Grand Traverse, one of  Northern Michigan’s largest wineries with 100,000 cases produced each year, boosting out-of-state wholesale distribution is an important part of business.

“I’d say the majority is still sold within the state of Michigan, in Indiana, and Ohio,” says Sean O’Keefe, vice president and specialty winemaker for CTG. “But we’re making an aggressive effort in New York, Miami, Washington D.C., and Chicago.”

via midwestwinepress.com

Michigan wine beyond Michiga!

We Asked, You Answered: What Did You Drink for Thanksgiving?

Congratulations to ADAM AFFHOLTER! He was picked randomly from entries in our Thanksgiving Day contest that asked readers to show us which Michigan wines were gracing their holiday tables by posting pics on our Facebook page or emailing them to us. Adam will get his pick of either a Michigan By The Bottle "I Support the State with Every Sip" T-shirt, a copy of Sharon Kegerreis' and Lorri Hathaway's book "The History of Michigan Wines: 150 Years of Winemaking Along the Great Lakes," or a copy of Kegerreis' and Hathaway's book "From the Vine."

Read on to see some of the answers we received...

Northward Bound: Shady Lane Winemaker Heads to Leelanau Cellars

One of the most well-respected winemakers in Michigan, Adam Satchwell, is leaving Shady Lane Cellars after 12 years to join Leelanau Cellars. Although his first official day at Leelanau Cellars was Sept. 30, he will continue to assist Shady Lane through the harvest.

Leelanau Cellars spent the first half of the year scouring the country for a new winemaker. "During our national search for a winemaker, we realized that while there are a lot of quality winemakers out there seeking employment, there were not a lot of them with significant experience in cooler climate viticulture and in higher volume wines," said Leelanau Cellars General Manager Tony Lentych. "After much internal discussion, we realized that Adam's skill set was broad enough and deep enough to help Leelanau Wine Cellars accomplish many of our goals."

In 12 years, Satchwell had turned Shady Lane Cellars from a hobby winemaking operation to a well-run, quality-focused boutique winery producing 5,000 cases per year. Shady Lane Blue Franc, Cab Franc and Rieslings are arguably among the best Michigan wines every vintage. 

Michigan Wines : Michigan Wines Receive Prestigious Awards

Michigan wines and wineries have been in the spotlight throughout the summer; and it's not just in Michigan, it's happening across the country. The reason? Michigan wines have been winning a significant number of top awards at regional, national and international wine competitions.

In January, Chateau Grand Traverse won a Best of Class award at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for their 2009 Lot 49 Riesling. This off-dry wine was produced from grapes harvested from a single vineyard -- located on a steep, west-facing slope on Old Mission Peninsula, in northern Michigan.

Judges evaluated more than 2,000 wines from around the world at the Pacific Rim Wine Competition, held in San Bernadino, Calif., in April, and declared a tie for Best Gewurztraminer: Tabor Hill Winery, in Buchanan, for their 2009 vintage, and Chateau Fontaine, on Leelanau Peninsula, for their 2010. Chateau Fontaine went on to win Grand Champion honors as Best White Wine of the competition.

via www.michiganwines.com

The awards keep piling up!

Michigan Meritage Merits Mention |

Still, the bulk of Michigan wineries  dabbling in the dynamics of the Bordeaux blend have chosen to go the thrifty route and coin their own  handle—and thus continue to handle their own coin.  Domaine Berrien uses ‘Crown of Cab’, since they consider it the ‘crown jewel ‘of their portfolio.  Pentemere’s goes by ‘Le Griffon’ for reasons known only to the untamed savages of Boondockia; i.e., Tecumseh.  Wyncroft Cellars calls theirs’ ‘Shou’—Chinese for ‘longevity’ which the wine indeed displays.  Accurately, if somewhat less imaginatively, Raftshol’s label reads simply ‘Red’.

via intoxreport.com

A tongue twister, indeed, but a good article.

Merry Christmas from MBTB!

Merry Christmas from the entire Michigan By The Bottle crew — all two of us! We hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with Michigan wine!

Our Christmas gift to you: Through 11:59 p.m. Dec. 25, post a picture of which Michigan wines you'll be sipping to celebrate on our Facebook page and you'll be entered to win a free download of the new Michigan By The Bottle iPhone/iPad app. Keep the redemption code or gift it to a friend! (And stay tuned next week for an even bigger New Year's contest!)

Here's a peek at what we're planning to have in tow when we head out to festivities today and tomorrow:
• Shannon's red pick: Free Run Cellars Cabernet Franc
• Cort's white pick: Left Foot Charley Murmur
• Crowd-pleaser pick: Leelanau Cellars Winter White
• Joint bubbly pick: L. Mawby Blanc de Blancs 

Cheers, and merry Christmas!

Wines We Are Sharing on Christmas Eve

 For Christmas Eve, we are serving Leelanau Cellars Winter White and Chateau Chantal Nice Red Wine.