Michigan By The Bottle

Disgorging and dosaging 2 Lads Reserve Sparkling Wine

The guys were down in the cellar yesterday disgorging and dosaging another "batch" of our Reserve Sparkling Wine. I thought I'd use this as a great time to explain the process a little better...

Disgorging and dosaging: a wine story in photos

There are a few different methods to make sparkling wines (known better as Champagne, although legally only wines made in the Champagne region of France can be called that). We choose to use the méthode champenoise or method traditionnelle (traditional method) in which the secondary fermentation process that actually creates those bubbles is done inside the bottle. This creates a much more elegant style with finer bubbles (its also a lot more work, but hey, we like the end result better).

via twoladswinery.typepad.com

Very educational!

On the Michigan Wine Trail « Stephanie Schlatter Art

“On the Michigan Wine Trail” is more than just a series of paintings attempting to recreate the beautiful sights of wine country.  It captures the essence of the people there, and what happens to them as they inhabit and grow attached to this enchanting place.

My series, like their wine, tells of their journeys, their art, and the relationships they’ve built with the land.  The stories are all there on canvas, like a bottle of wine, waiting for us to uncork it.

via stephanieschlatterartblog.com

Check out this series! It is awesome!

Northern Michigan Wine: Chateau Grand Traverse Wins Best Wine - My North - January 2012 - Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan Wine: The vines of Traverse City are home to yet another award-winning wine from the 2010 season. The 2010 Chateau Grand Traverse Whole Cluster Riesling was recently included in Food & Wine Editor Picks 2011 for Best Wine and beer.  In the article, wine editors Ray Isle and Megan Krigbaum selected ten wines as most exceptional of the year, including Northern Michgian's Chateau Grand Traverse award winning 2010 Whole Cluster Riesling.

Northern Michigan's Chateau Grand Traverse has produced wine on the Old Mission Peninsula near Traverse City since 1974 and is now in its 2nd generation of leadership.  The winery is noted internationally for its excellent riesling wines and has won several international competitions.  

via www.mynorth.com

Fantastic wine!

Northern Michigan Events: 'Taste the Passion' with Leelanau Wine - My North - January 2012 - Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan Events: Romance your February with Leelanau Peninsula wines. Mark your calendar!

Share the love of Leelanau (and Leelanau wine) at the "Taste the Passion" wine tour, held February 4 & 5, 2012. This special weekend celebrates wine, chocolate and love at the wineries of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail in Northern Michigan.

Your ticket allows you to chart your own course, enjoying food and wine pairings at 17 wineries along with a optional winter and Valentine-themed activities at many of the wineries.

via www.mynorth.com

Sounds like fun!

Michigan Wines Shine at Wine Competitions - Hour Detroit

Michigan wines just keep getting better and better. Need hard evidence? Sales of Michigan wines are up 12 percent, and longtime wineries, such as Chateau Grand Traverse on Old Mission Peninsula, are garnering oodles of accolades at national and international wine competitions. Chateau Grand Traverse, for instance, earned a Best of Class for its 2009 Lot 49 Riesling at the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and scored six medals at the 2012 event in early January, as well as numerous other medals last year. And they're not alone. Dozens of longtime wineries are earning medals at renowned wine competitions and, surprisingly, new wineries are scoring impressive victories, too. (Get the full list here)

Verterra Winery of Leland, which opened in 2011, won big at the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The winery's 2010 Pinot Blanc won double gold, Gewürztraminer won gold, and three white wines (including two Chardonnays) won medals as well. (I'm particularly excited to taste their Pinot Blanc and 2011 dry Gewürztraminer to be released this year.)

via www.hourdetroit.com

Great article!

Verterra: New wines from old traditions

Northwestern Michigan is already home to a bounty of wonderful wineries. Do we really need another one? The short answer is yes, when the winery is Verterra. This brand-spanking new winery just opened a tasting room this fall in downtown Leland.

What's with that unusual name, Verterra? It's a combination of two ancient Latin words. Veritas was the Roman goddess of truth. You may have heard of the phrase "in vino veritas," or "In wine there is truth." Terra is Latin for land. So we have Verterra meaning the truth of the land; unusual, but it sings.

via nwmichigan.secondwavemedia.com

Some love for one of our favorite new wineries!

Mild winter creates problems for ice wine makers

Along with ski resort operators and snowmobile vendors, the unusually mild winter has been rough on makers of a cold-climate delicacy called ice wine.

The pricey dessert beverage, produced by wineries stretching from Minnesota through New York and in parts of Canada, is revered for its sweetness and often-syrupy texture. It comes from grapes that are picked and pressed while they're still frozen, yielding precious drops of concentrated juice. Winemakers have waited nervously for temperatures to drop low enough to harvest the fruit.

Many were finally able to do so last week, thanks to a short-lived cold snap. But winery operators say the delay resulted in far fewer usable grapes.

via www.nctimes.com

Don't mess with my ice wine!

New wineries, tasting rooms taking root across Michigan | Lansing State Journal

Michigan's winemaking industry is thriving in a state that takes pride in producing and supporting locally made goods.

Vineyards and tasting rooms are springing up rapidly in Michigan, where fertile hillsides near the Great Lakes provide ideal settings for cool-weather varieties such as riesling, pinot grigio and chardonnay.

Eleven wineries have opened in the past year and four others will soon follow, said Linda Jones, executive director of Lansing-based Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council. The number of Michigan wineries using fruit grown in state has jumped from 18 to 89 in the past couple of decades.

via www.lansingstatejournal.com

The more the merrier!

Local tasting rooms and vineyard benefit from wine industry growth - Holland, MI - The Holland Sentinel

Nobody’s whining about more people wining.

In fact, Michigan’s growing status as a wine-lover’s destination spells success for local tasting rooms and at least one vineyard in the Holland area.

Doug Welsch, owner of Fenn Valley winery near Fennville, helps new wineries get started by crushing their grapes or selling wine in bulk.

“A significant part of our business is what we call custom crush, which is making wine for other wineries,” Welsch said. “I’m fully aware of a lot of new wineries. ... In the last 10 years, I think we helped about 10 different wineries get going.”

via www.hollandsentinel.com

Good news!

The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association Highlights Ice Wine: A Labor of Love

'When you want something truly amazing, ice wine is the nectar of the gods."
~winemaker Alan Eaker of Longview Winery

The Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan is an ideal location to grow and harvest grapes for ice wines. Located right on the 45th Parallel, Leelanau is on the same latitude as some of the best wine growing regions in the world including the Rhone Valley in France, the Piedemont in Italy, and the Williamette Valley in Oregon.

via www.sfgate.com

Who loves ice wine?