A few years back, I had the opportunity to participate in a great online event. It’s called #WineStudio and its run by the lovely Tina Morey. Tina is the liaison between the wineries and the individuals participating in her online events. The concept of #WineStudio is this; producers send out a few bottles to the participants who drink them and talk on Twitter together. It’s not just the participants talking online, but the producers and Tina as well. We get a chance to comment on the wines, ask questions about the company, varieties of grapes, or whatever else we think is relevant.
When I saw that Tina had lined up Michigan producers to be on for the month of February, I jumped at the opportunity. Being from Michigan myself, I know what great alcoholic beverages we make. My background is more in the cider side of it, but I’ve taken then trip up Traverse City and went on a wine tour through the years. I was even married at Black Star Farms, an amazing winery by Traverse City. If you are looking for a giant flavored red wine, you might not find it in Michigan (although, there are exceptions.) That being said, our white wines taste awesome and the prices make them highly attractive.
We tasted seven different wines over the three nights. These include an estate Riesling and Gruner Veltliner from St. Julian, a Chardonnay from Amoritas Vineyards, a reserve Chardonnay from Chateau Chantal, a Pinot Grigio from Fenn Valley Vineyards, a canned white blend from Big Little Wines, and a bottle of sparking Blanc de Blancs from L. Mawby. All of them were very nice white wines.
During the sessions, I committed an act that I try never to do. When I saw that St. Julian was participating, I was pretty underwhelmed. Sure, I’ve had their Concord wine before and the Gunga Din Cider (now called Forbidden Fruits) but was acting like a hipster and disregarding them for no good reason. Then, I tasted the reserve wines and was blown away. They were complex and delicious which I hadn’t experienced (probably more like ignored) when I previously drank their stuff. I capped both bottles on that night and took them to band practice later in the week. The drummer in my band likes wine but was really “ho-hum” about drinking wines from St. Julian. After he tried it, he had almost the same reaction as I did. Sometimes, it’s good to revisit something you thought was just OK. St. Julian is the Grand Daddy of Michigan wines and has been in business since 1921. It was in 1935 that they moved to Paw Paw and started their vineyard. They wouldn’t still be in business if they didn’t make fantastic products. We drank two of their products; a Riesling and a Gruner Veltliner. I had never tried a Gruner before and was quite taken with it. High acid ciders are among my favorites so a high acid white wine played nicely to my palate.
The group of people involved in this Winestudio was from many different areas of the country. This is great because Michigan’s wine scene can fly under the radar as compared to Napa Valley or Finger Lakes. The idea that kept being repeated was along the lines of amazement of the quality of wine from Michigan. For us here in the Great Lakes State, it’s no secret.
Like I said earlier, many of us have taken wine tasting trips around the state. We know the quality of wine that is produced. Many of those high quality wines are Rieslings. One thing that came up during our discussions was hybrid grapes like Traminette, for instance, and how they grow here. Those wines aren’t always that popular because casual wine drinkers have never heard of those specific grapes. Michigan does grow some red wine grapes as well. Cab Franc is a popular red variety that is grown in the northern part of Michigan. Down in the Lake Michigan viticulture area, they do grow more traditional red varieties like Syrah and Pinot Noir.
I think the overall February Winestudio went very well. Many people who had never tried Michigan wines were exposed to our region and wines. The further we got through the month, the more chatter there was about visiting Michigan and hitting up some of the wineries. People that have never been here don’t understand all that Michigan has to offer; beaches, wine, the arts, wine, hard cider, wine, sports, beer, nature, good food, and friendly folks. Did I mention all of our world class booze? Pure Michigan could run a campaign of “Come for the booze, stay because it’s awesome!”
I think there will be more collaboration in the future among the Michigan alcohol companies through the newly reshuffled and rebranded “Michigan Craft Beverage Council.” This group gives a voice to wine, cider, beer, spirits and agricultural products (like hops or barley for instance.) There is crossover between the wineries and cider for sure. Beer is BIG business here as well. Spirits are just getting started. Then add in the agricultural products and it seems like a winning recipe to me.
This Winestudio was a lot of fun. The person who runs the Twitter account for the Michigan Wine Collaborative did a fantastic job. Whether it was leading up to the event, during the event, or after, the MWC was quick to respond with a fun response or a funny .gif. Social media was on point for sure! The folks from the different wineries were very friendly with great insight or history of their places of business. I felt like I could help them with explaining some things, but they were more than up to the job themselves.
I’m very glad I was able to participate. It gave me a chance to rediscover St. Julian for one. Another thing was the fun interaction with the other participants. I always love chatting with people online whether it’s a political debate or talking cider, if you go in with an open mind, you will take something from it. That’s what the February Winestudio about Michigan did; brought people together and opened their mind to a lesser known wine region.
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