We talk a lot about wines from all over the world, and we will always care about that. There is so much to learn, so much to taste, so much to explore. At the same time, we are incredibly lucky to have something special happening right here at home.
Northern Michigan wines don’t always shout for attention. They are not trying to compete with Napa or Burgundy. They just quietly do their thing, and if you spend a little time with them, they start to make a lot of sense.
There is a freshness to them that feels very tied to this place. The growing season is shorter, the nights cool down, and the wines retain their acidity in a way that keeps them lifted and alive. They feel balanced without trying too hard. You see it right away in producers like Left Foot Charley and Bos Wine, where precision and energy are always at the forefront, and in places like Mari Vineyards and Shady Lane Cellars, where there is a clear sense of intention behind every bottle.
The whites are often what pull people in first. Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay. They have this definition and form that feels familiar if you have spent time with wines from Germany or Austria. There is that same tension, that same ability to be both refreshing and detailed at the same time. When we pour these side by side, the conversation shifts. It stops being about comparison and starts being about recognition.
Sparkling is usually the turning point for people. It is the moment where they stop and go, wait a second. Being this close to the Great Lakes does a lot of the work for us. It keeps things from swinging too far in either direction and gives the grapes more time to develop without losing that bright edge. That acidity sticks around, and that is everything when it comes to sparkling. We are also right along the 45th parallel, which sounds like a random fact until you realize how many great wine regions sit on that same line. When we pour local bubbles next to Champagne, we are not trying to prove anything. It is more like, let’s just see what happens. And almost every time, there is that moment where people look at each other and go, oh, okay, I get it.
The reds ask for a different mindset. They are not about weight or power. They are about nuance and balance. Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch, and even some of the hybrids being grown here are showing a level of thoughtfulness that feels very true to place. Once you let go of the expectation that they should be something else, they start to open up in a really compelling way.
There is also the part that matters just as much as what is in the glass. We know the people behind these wines. We have spent time with them in the vineyards and the cellar, talking through the challenges and the wins. This is not easy farming. The weather can turn quickly, the growing season is short, and every vintage asks something different of the people working it. That level of commitment shows up in the wines in a way that is hard to replicate.
We choose to pour these wines alongside bottles from places that are considered benchmarks because we believe they deserve to be there. Not as a comparison, but as a continuation of the same conversation. These are wines that speak clearly, that hold their own, and that tell a story that is just beginning to be understood on a wider scale.
It feels like we are on the edge of something. More people are starting to recognize what is happening here, and it is exciting to watch. For us, it is an honor to be part of that. To pour these wines, to talk about them, and to share them with people who might not have discovered them otherwise.
We will always love wines from around the world. That is part of who we are. But our local wines are just as important. They are not separate from that story. They are part of it.
