Michigan By The Bottle

SUPER HUGE Giveaway Wrap-Up!

While we'd love to keep this party going, the calendar insists it's May. (Boooooooo...) It's hard to believe that Michigan Wine Month is really over. But hey, the good news is, only 334 days until the next one! Here's a quick wrap-up of the latest edition of the Michigan By The Bottle SUPER HUGE Michigan Wine Month Giveaway... (Looking for the winners' list? Click here.)

Michigan Pinot is Black Star Farms Forte

Now Black Star Farms Winery in Leelanau County has made Pinot Noir, the wine drinker’s wine,  its signature grape. Given the high expectations of Pinot Noir drinkers- like the main character in the 2004 movie Sideways – it’s noteworthy that a winery in an emerging wine region would dedicate itself to a grape that Jancis Robinson calls “capricious and extremely variable.”

Lee Lutes at  Black Star is aware of the risks and rewards of committing to Pinot Noir. “Pinot Noir is also known as the heartbreak grape – the bastard grape, or any number of other negative associations. This is one variety, however, that greatly reflects it’s growing season and viticulture, so you need to work closely with it in order to really capture the best qualities of the variety.”

via midwestwinepress.com

Love Pinot Noir!

Leelanau wineries: What's new, what's hot in Northern Michigan - Wine - The Detroit News

Longing for Leelanau? The beaches, the wineries, the winding roads, the cherry pies?

Spring has been slow in coming up north, but the buds on trees and vines are starting to swell as witnessed by more than two dozen scribes who recently converged on Traverse City for the annual Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association Media Day.

via blogs.detroitnews.com

Sandra Silfven of the Detroit News checks in with a report from the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association Media Day on April 20. Thanks for the MBTB shoutout, Sandra!

WIOG: April 28, 2012

It's the triumphant return of WIOG, featuring tasting notes from some of the Michigan wines we've sampled recently! This edition 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!

This Weekend in Michigan Wine (April 25-28, 2013)

Welcome to the latest edition of This Weekend in Michigan Wine, a listing of what's happening now, what's coming up and what's ongoing in the world of Michigan wine!

Wineries, if you'd like your event listed, please email us with all of the pertinent information, and we'd be happy to post it. MBTB fans, we hope this serves as your weekly "go-to" guide for finding the best options for getting your Michigan wine on! Cheers!

Video Travel Diary: 2013 LPVA Media Weekend

Cort, her cousin/"assistant" Melissa and Paper Shannon embarked on a Northern Michigan adventure April 20 for the LPVA Media Weekend. From offroading in a bus to tales of cougars and porcupines, it was an action-packed event. What's your favorite Leelanau Peninsula winery? Come tell us about it!

Video Feature: 2013 Michigan Wine Showcase

I AM MICHIGAN WINE! Michigan winemakers, winery owners, staffers and aficionados say it loud and proud in our video wrap-up of the 2013 Michigan Wine Showcase, held at The Rattlesnake Club in Detroit on April 15. It's helping kick off our new online campaign to help spread the word (even more) about Michigan wine. Tell the world what you love about Michigan wine and what you're drinking nightly on Twitter and Instagram using hashtag #iammichiganwine!

This Weekend in Michigan Wine (April 18-21, 2013)

Welcome to the latest edition of This Weekend in Michigan Wine, a listing of what's happening now, what's coming up and what's ongoing in the world of Michigan wine!

Wineries, if you'd like your event listed, please email us with all of the pertinent information, and we'd be happy to post it. MBTB fans, we hope this serves as your weekly "go-to" guide for finding the best options for getting your Michigan wine on! Cheers!

Reporter's notebook: Highlights of the Michigan Wine Showcase - Wine - The Detroit News

It was impossible to taste all the wines at Monday’s annual Michigan Wine Showcase at the Rattlesnake in Detroit — but I tasted enough of them to walk away with yet more impressions of this wonderful, changing, booming industry in our state. Clearly wine styles vary greatly, especially the Rieslings and Chardonnays. Vintners showed many dry whites with bracing acidity ideal for the table — some with unabashed oak. Pinot Noir continues to be a passion. And there was one new varietal of note — Gruner Veltliner more commonly associated with Austria — brimming with bold lime zest, red grapefruit and potential for Michigan.

via blogs.detroitnews.com

Podcast #94: Old Shore Vineyards 2011 Refuge Pinot Noir

We ramble on for about as long as the recommended cellaring for this bottle of 2011 Refuge Pinot Noir from Old Shore Vineyards, a "delightful" (Shannon's word) Pinot with hints of cocoa and coffee. And don't mind the mention of gnomes. Are you an Old Shore Vineyards and/or Pinot Noir fan? Come tell us about it.