Regional profile: Michigan

Long overlooked by wine lovers outside the region, Michigan is the sixth-largest wine-producing state in the US.

The name ‘Michigan’ comes from the Native American word for ‘big water’, and the state is bordered by freshwater lakes on every side save its southern border. It’s these lakes that make the state hospitable to vineyards, since the climate here is harsh. Temperatures can fall below freezing from December through February, sometimes into March.

The presence of the lakes, however, moderates the severe climate and makes growing wine grapes possible. Nearly all vineyards must be planted within 40km of a body of water to receive the lake’s insulating benefit. As one might expect in such a cold climate, some of the most successful wines are aromatic whites. Riesling has long been a staple, but it’s far from the only game in town.

As Master of Wine and Master Sommelier Doug Frost points out: ‘Riesling is what most people talk about here, but I’m also a fan of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. It’s that sense of purity. You can get riper versions from Alsace that have more mineral character, but that stunning delicacy and purity you can get from Pinot Blanc in Michigan is really attractive.’

Madeline Triffon MS concurs. With a 43-year wine career based in Michigan’s largest city of Detroit, including becoming the second woman (in 1987) to pass the Master Sommelier exams, Triffon has been called ‘Detroit’s First Lady of Wine’. ‘There is some shockingly good Pinot Blanc out there,’ she said. ‘If I were to short-list the varieties with real potential, it would be Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Pinot Noir, Blaufränkisch and Riesling.’

Restaurateur Amanda Danielson of Trattoria Stella in Traverse City notes that winemaking is evolving quickly. ‘In the past 10 to 15 years you’ve had winemakers making the wines that should be made in Michigan. They’re not trying to be Napa or Russian River. They’re having fun and not afraid to push the envelope on some lesser-known varieties.’

The lie of the land

Wine production in Michigan originated with French settlers in 1679, who made wine from local Vitis riparia grapes. Due to the harsh climate, viticulture struggled to take root in the state. There were several commercial wineries in the 19th century, but none survived Prohibition. Post-Prohibition winemaking was also somewhat checkered, since the most famous Michigan wine of the era was the sweet, sparkling red known as Cold Duck. Then production through the 1960s was dominated by hybrid varieties and by fortified wines.

The first winery to plant traditional European grape varieties (Vitis vinifera) in Michigan, in the mid-1970s, was Chateau Grand Traverse. The amount of vinifera planted has grown steadily since. Hybrid varieties such as Vidal Blanc and Vignoles are losing ground, but they are still important to the local industry, according to Dr Paolo Sabbatini of Michigan State University. They are most frequently found in the American Viticultural Area (AVA) called Tip of the Mitt, where it is just too cold to ripen vinifera adequately.

There are five main grape-growing areas in Michigan, whose soils throughout are sandy, well-drained glacial moraine, mixed at times with clay. Lake Michigan Shore AVA is in the southwest corner of the state. This is where Michigan’s first grapes were planted and it is still the region with the largest production. The smaller Fennville AVA is wholly contained within the Lake Michigan Shore.

Perhaps the most promising areas are located in northwestern Michigan on two peninsulas that jut into the lake. Leelanau Peninsula AVA is the larger of the two and separates Lake Michigan from Grand Traverse Bay. This peninsula is the home of the two largest wineries, Leelanau Wine Cellars and Chateau Grand Traverse, each producing more than 100,000 cases each year. Most of the other Michigan wineries are much smaller, producing 3,000 to 10,000 cases annually and selling most of it from the cellar door.

Producers to watch

Among the best of the smaller producers is Bryan Ulbrich at Left Foot Charley, who bottles about 5,000 cases annually under that label and does contract work for other growers who ship another 3,000 cases. The winery is a co-operative owned by 18 farmers who each tend vineyards ranging in size from 0.5ha-2ha. Ulbrich vinifies the grapes in his urban winery located in a refurbished mental hospital in Traverse City.

‘For the Riesling, it’s important to get into a Saar-like mentality,’ Ulbrich says of the Germanic balance he is trying to achieve. ‘I don’t like to deacidify, so I leave a bit of the natural residual sugar in most years and make truly dry Riesling only in the warm years.’

Another top-quality Northern Michigan producer is Sean O’Keefe at Mari Vineyards, located in the heart of Old Mission Peninsula AVA. This peninsula also projects into the Grand Traverse Bay, but it is much narrower than the Leelanau Peninsula.

O’Keefe is a second-generation winemaker: his father Edward founded Chateau Grand Traverse and planted the state’s first Riesling. In 2015, O’Keefe signed on with Mari Vineyards, where they farm an incredible 30 different varieties, including Teroldego, Refosco, Malvasia Bianca and Schioppettino along with the more common Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Cabernet Franc. All varieties are grown in Mari’s estate vineyards.

The Pinot Grigio is made in a ramato style, using some skin contact before pressing to harness colour and phenolic compounds. O’Keefe goes even further with the Friulano, which makes up 5% of his Pinot Bianco blend: he ferments the grapes for 48 days on the skins before pressing. Mari’s overall production has grown to 8,000-9,000 cases annually, split evenly between red and white wine.

‘It isn’t like you have to work hard anymore to find good Michigan wine – there is just so much out there’

The spirit of experimentation in Michigan, and the desperation provoked by the extreme climate mean an ample range of wines are produced. Many are available only locally, although most wineries ship. As Madeline Triffon notes, ‘It isn’t like you have to work hard anymore to find good Michigan wine – there is just so much out there.’

Charles Curtis MW’s top Michigan wines