![]() Heather Hall of Troy says the vistas of Northern Michigan wine country were what initially captivated her when she began visiting wineries on Old Mission Peninsula. She finally convinced us to travel to Traverse City for a wine-tasting weekend. “We were very skeptical and could only think of the sweet cherry wines we saw in the grocery store. ![]() “Our daughter, Cassandra, kept telling us we would love the wines,” says Badhorn, a Beverly Hills resident. It took Marcia Badhorn’s daughter to convince her to give Michigan wine a try – and now she’s hopelessly hooked. I haven’t stopped drinking Traverse City wine ever since.” I was bummed that things backfired, but I was delightfully surprised, and it was my door opener for wine. “She thought it would be a great idea to open it and drink it together. “A co-worker bought me a bottle of Chateau Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling, and I hated wine, so I re-gifted it to a friend,” she recalls. Sterling Heights resident Virginia McCallum’s love for Michigan wine stemmed from an unlikely source: an unwanted present. So I committed to drinking Michigan wines almost exclusively, in addition to buying local produce and food items whenever possible and giving locally crafted gifts.” “If our local industry, craftspeople, and farmers were going to survive, we needed to pitch in and help. “During the 2007/2008/2009 financial crisis which hit Michigan so hard, I realized that no one was going to come to our aid,” she says. Clair Shores, it grew out of a desire to support local industries when the recession struck. In a month when love is in the air, I thought it fitting to explore other Michiganders’ stories of how they discovered a passion for Michigan wine.įor Joanne Fisher of St. It’s the embodiment of the winemakers’ hard work, dedication, and years of honing their skills.Īnd Michigan wine, especially, combines all those things with a sense of place – a sense of home. It becomes intertwined with the good times in our lives and celebration. To me, wine has become a symbol of something so much more than just a beverage made from fermented fruit. I discovered that wine isn’t just something for the rich and retired it’s perfectly accessible, if you share it with and learn about it from the right people. The more winemakers I met, discussing their passion for their craft, and the more wine lovers I encountered, sharing a laugh with glasses in hand, the more I realized that wine is truly for everyone (of legal drinking age, that is). (It didn’t hurt that I ended up marrying someone who became as enamored with the Michigan wine industry as I did.) The fact that I went on to establish an online Michigan wine community, own three Michigan wine tasting rooms, and become a freelance wine writer probably is evidence enough of how that visit to Chateau Chantal – and subsequent visits to tasting rooms throughout the state – radically altered my perception of wine. How dull and pretentious! I tagged along with all the enthusiasm of a sulky teenager forced to endure an adults’ dinner party. I was dismissive of the so-called “hobby” of wine tasting. At the time, I thought wine was for retirees and insufferable snobs.
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