On the Vine

By Emily Brown

Shining Star, Sparkling Wine: A Springtime Preview of Leelanau Wineries

Driving north on Leelanau Peninsula away from the hubbub of Traverse City, it becomes obvious that we’re in wine country. Flanking the narrow road on both sides are green hillsides and then open blue waters. Outside temperatures come in waves of humid June heat to abrupt chill from the lake, swathing the entire peninsula in its own special climate. We’re on the 45th Parallel. This place was made for vines- indeed it is bursting with them.

Leelanau is home to some of Michigan’s premier wineries, each with its own style and level of excellence. It is a place for everyone- novice to sommelier. No pretentious wine snobs here - Leelanau vintners know that the best is yet to come from their neck of the woods. Potential buds everywhere, from the vines to the wineries themselves, and with inspiration from Leelanau’s stretching, glacial landscape, the possibilities are endless.

No winery takes advantage of the Leelanau Peninsula better than Suttons Bay’s Black Star Farms. Charmingly situated off Highway 220, its very driveway seats thousands of grapevines, sparse and delicate in the spring, but doubtlessly becoming more and more robust as the summer moves toward harvest. Black Star’s wines are award-winning and diverse, from their 2002 A Capella Riesling Ice Wine, whose grapes are painstakingly harvested and crushed while frozen, to the up-and-coming 2002 Leorie Vineyard Merlot Cabernet Franc, a subtle, full-bodied blend with talked-about aging prospects. Black Star’s thorough website walks readers through every wine they make, with information about flavor and aroma, food pairing, awards, and aging potential. You can order these wines from home or arrange a private tasting getaway at .www.blackstarfarms.com/winery

Black Star’s tasting room is clean, cavernous and rustic, with rich wood beams arching overhead. This place is bustling and popular, and there are myriad nifty gadgets to take home with your wine purchases. While you browse and sample, you’ll get a 360-degree glimpse into the wine and cheese making processes that happen on the premises. But there is more to Black Star than their prize-winning wines. The farms are home to a petting zoo, stables, fruit orchards and creamery. The on-site colonial-style inn is unexpectedly elegant, and is frequently rented for weddings and events.

If you are a purist- just looking for wine with personality (petting zoo not included), you must visit L. Mawby, within 10 minutes of Black Star. There, Larry Mawby began winemaking in 1978. Now producing around 40,000 bottles a year, 95% of which is sparkling, the vineyard produces two labels of sparkling wine: the L. Mawby line, which is carefully bottle-aged through the sophisticated methode champenoise, and the M. Lawrence line, barrel-aged, younger, less expensive. With names like Fizz, Sex and Talisman, who could resist a tasting trip to sample L. Mawby’s sparkling treasures?

L. Mawby’s quaint tasting boutique and rows of generous vines are delightful in themselves, but add gourmet food and you’ll never want to leave. Visit one of L. Mawby’s Picnics for an enchanting combination of local food artists and fine estate-grown wines. For more information on these events, or to reserve your spot, visit www.lmawby.com/buy/gardens.asp, and make it mandatory in your next Traverse City vacation.

Wine Quote of the Week:

“He said that few people had intellectual resources sufficient to forgo the pleasures of wine. They could not otherwise contrive how to fill the interval between dinner and supper.”

Samuel Johnson