Traverse, Northern Michigan’s – July 2019

Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine | JUL '19 109

petoskey wine region | drinks

You’re winning awards and running a successful winery in a non-traditional growing

zone, how does that work?

Well, it’s too cold here for traditional vitis vinifera like riesling or pinot noir so we

have to focus on grapes that are suited to the climate. That means the cold-hardy

stable hybrid grapes like Marquette and La Crescent that were developed at the

University of Minnesota.

What should we know about these hybrid grapes?

Just like vinifera, hybrids each have their own personality and they make delicious

wine. They don’t make inferior or superior wine, they make the wine that they

make and we just try to guide each one toward its best expression. Because of

their resilience to cold and disease the quality of the fruit stays more consistent

from year to year.

How do La Crescent and Marquette relate to wines we might be familiar with?

Both are super relatable for most wine drinkers. La Crescent has showy lemon

meringue aromatics and really crisp acidity that’s a lot like sauvignon blanc.

Marquette is very dark and low in tannins but its signature cherry characteristics

and bright acid make it similar to pinot noir.

What is tasting room culture like in the PWR?

There’s a ton of variety. We’re twelve wineries within the larger Tip of the Mitt

AVA—and everyone is doing something different. All of our wineries are small fam-

ily enterprises so pretty much anywhere you go you’ll find an owner, winemaker

or family member filling your glass, and we’re all supporting each other.

Traverse food and drinks editor Tim Tebeau writes from Petoskey. [email protected].

// Dave Weidner is a freelance photographer based in Traverse City. [email protected].

The Petoskey Wine Region is the North’s next frontier in

cool climate viticulture and Walloon Lake Winery co-owner,

Britta Dennis and winemaker Matt Killman are leading the

charge with fresh, fruit-driven wines pressed from cold-

hardy grapes like Marquette and La Crescent. We sit down

with Britta and Matt for a primer on hybrid varietals and

some insight into Petoskey’s emerging wine scene.

We’ve engineered a Petoskey

summer Saturday full of snaky

scenic highways, wine tasting

and an al fresco food truck

lunch. Cheers.

WALLOON LAKE WINERY

231.622.8645

Stock up on WLW’s lemony Wildwood

White and the black plum and lavender-

laced Randall’s Point Red for aprés-tasting

beach bottles.

RUDBECKIA WINERY

231.622.4173

Rudbeckia’s hybrid plantings will come

online in 2020 but for now swirl a zippy dry

riesling sourced from Lake Michigan Shore

or sip their award-winning hard cider.

THE BACK LOT

231.881.9933

Mim’s gyros, Happy’s tacos and cold pints

of craft brew at P-town’s open-air food

truck emporium make for a much needed

midday intermission.

PETOSKEY FARMS VINEYARD & WINERY

231.290.9463

Finish out the day with rolling vistas and a

cold glass of First Crush, a juicy semi-sweet

Frontenac rosé full of ripe strawberry and

tropical fruit.

TAKE A TOUR

PETOSKEY

WINE REGION