Family, Friends, Wine, Hockey, Restaurants.... Michigan! (G's Tasting Series)

Happy Holidays!  I must admit that I am a little behind on writing, so here is a recent trip to Michigan and Michigan wine tasting to cover the Wednesday G's Tasting Series!  Enjoy.

I recently ventured to the mother land known as Michigan to taste more wine, see family, see friends, partake in the Big Chill, and to check out one of the boldest restaurants/wine bars I have seen in Michigan, let a lone West Michigan.

I arrived in Grand Rapids, escaping the giant snow storm hitting Minneapolis.  I got in pretty late so I just went back to my Dad's and went to bed.  I went to bed giddy, feeling like a kid going to bed on Christmas Eve.  I knew that Friday would be a day filled with wine and food!  We left for Reserve (Reserve, Grand Rapids) around 3 in the afternoon in order to get there before the after work rush and traffic.  It was a success.  The menu was unlike anything I have seen in Michigan.... ever.  Cheeses, smoked fish, cured meats, pork fat fries, just the craziest stuff you could possibly imagine.  Definitely for those who are culinary explorers and want something out of the box... so I hate using this word... but, well it's for the "Foodies."  I'm not going to get into my tyrad about Foodies, well maybe a little.  I believe everyone, yes everyone is a Foodie, even if you don't know it.  If you like food in any way, you are a Foodie, if you like to try new food, you are a Foodie, if you eat food, you are a Foodie... you get my drift.  Foodie, Foodie, Foodie, blah.

Back to Reserve, the place was very modern, sleek but cold.  When modern is over done, for whatever reason, it feels cold to me.  The food was amazing, we had a couple cheeses, some prosciutto.  We also place an order for the Smoked Fish Trio which consisted of Lake Superior White Fish, Lake Michigan Trout, Wild Alaskan Salmon and was served with Kohlrabi and German Butterball Potato Salad, two words, Smokey Deliciousness!!  I also had to have an order of the Pork Belly, which is hard to mess up..... it was rich, fatty, and yumyum.  Sooo good!  Just melted in my mouth.  The food was absolutely superb!

View from out table on balcony.

Of course since it was a wine bar/restaurant I ordered some wine.  Had the below in the picture, since I was out with family and just wanting to enjoy myself I didn't really take any tasting notes on the wine just sipped and sort of decided in my head what I thought of them.  I do remember that the star of this "Western Pinot" trio was the Vision Cellars out of Sonoma County, very interesting (Vision Cellars).

From left to right, Scherrer, Ghost Hills Cellars, and Vision Cellars, all Pinot

I was also impressed with their 100+ by glass wine options.  How is this possible you ask?  Well they have the largest Cruvinet (Cruvinet Link) Wine Bar System in Michigan and the first and largest I have seen in person.  It basically preserves a opened bottle of wine for much longer than just opening a bottle and putting one of those stoppers in it.  This allows the wine bar to offer slightly lowers prices (if it chooses to) and also offer a wider selection as the chance of the opening a wine and it not being drank is lower.

Cruvinet System

Overall, this place is a great place to out and adventure into wine and food in Grand Rapids, MI.  I will warn you that it is expensive for what you are getting as it is probably the only place in the state that is like it.  Well worth it in my opinion

After Reserve we headed back to my Dad's for some Michigan wine and dinner.  I selected three wines at a local wine shop and that were recommended to me by a friend that works at one of the wineries up in Northern Michigan.  I wanted to revisit Michigan wines after tasting my way through many of California's wineries over the last 4 or 5 months.

Since it is Wednesday, here are some brief tasting notes for G's Tasting Series.  I have high hopes for Michigan wines as I hope to one day maybe return to open a winery.  I hope that as the years go by the wine gets dialed in.  I havent really tasted any Michigan wine of superb qualitiy however I have had some that were interesting and show serious promise.  I am still in the infancy stages in tasting and also tasting Michigan wine so here we go!

2009 Chateau Chantal, Pinot Gris, Old Mission Peninsula
consumed Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, with family, Retail $21

A nice wine.  Aromas of freshly cut apples erupt out of the bottle.  The wine is crisp, acidic, a little tart.  It has a nice mouth feel and was very pleasant.  I could only see myself sitting on a deck in the summer relaxing with this wine.  Unfortunately as I tasted it I was starring out to the Michigan winter!
***
2009 Chateau Chantal, Pinot Noir, Old Mission Peninsula
consumed Friday, Dec 10, 2010, with family, Retail $16

Another nice wine from this producer.  It has some out of a harsh nose open open but settled in after breathing some oxygen.  There really wasn't much going on in the bottle off the first sniff but want on to reveal some tart cherry and some what of an earthy aroma.  Also, apparent was what seemed to be a little smoke.  Overall, again, a pleasant wine from the region.
**

The white wines from Northern Michigan seem to fair much better than the reds.  One thing is for sure, I will continue my quest to find amazing wines in Michgain.  I have found good wine but not that wine that just says, WOW!!!

Saturday was spent with family and friends in Ann Arbor to watch the "Big Chill" which was an outdoor hockey game played at U of M stadium between Michigan State and U of M.  It was great to be a part of it.  The game set the world record for attendance at an outdoor hockey game and it set the record for highest attendance at Michigan Stadium ever!!  A hockey game set the record for attendance (113,411, I think) at a football stadium, being a hockey player, I love it.

Have a great New Year!  Coming up on G's Tasting Series, will be the highly regarded first growth Bordeaux's!!!  As one of my friends told me, "A cork tease is someone who constantly talks about the wine he or she will open but never does."  I love that saying, but it's not me, I drink the stuff.  Look out for these two tasting notes!!!

Watch out Burgundy meet Michigan Wines

I promised z wine, I bring z wine!!  Okay, the title is a bit of a stretch, read below, or better yet visit a Michigan winery and you decide.

Oh the beloved Burgundies!  The wine from this region in France is arguably the best and most sought after wine in the world.  You have two predominant varietals in Burgundy, Pinto Noir and Chardonnay.  At their best the Pinot's from Burgundy are absolutely delicious.  I recently had a Girardin Santenay, 1er Cru (its reads, producer, area in Burgundy, specifically the Cote d'Or, Premier Cru) that had rich aromas/flavors of black cherry.  After swirling the wine a little the classic Burgundy aromas start to come out, truffle, earth, barnyard, mushroom, they just come in waves and waves.  At this point after smelling the wine it just made me hungry, it was certainly in odd and satisfying feeling.  The wine I was smelling and tasting was actually making me hungry!  To me, this is what Burgundy is all about!  I suggest you head to your local wine shop and get your hands on a nice Premier Cru from Burgundy and smell and taste your way through one.  You will not be disappointed, I promise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgundy_wine

On to the Michigan wine trail,     

I awoke very excited for the adventure into Michigan Wine country.  I have never had a Michigan wine even though I am from the great state.  I must admit that my expectations going into to the day where not that high.  The short growing season, the wicked cold and snow in the winter, and a widely fluctuating summer heat had me thinking the wine would be watery and thin.  I was dead wrong!

Our first stop of the day was at Fenn Valley Vineyards (Fennville, MI), we walked into a huge hall with tons of tables and chairs, it felt like Grandma's Bingo Club or something!  Then we looked a little to left and there was the beautiful tasting room just waiting for us.  To my delight and surprise all of the wines we had were made from the classic Vitis vinifera plant (Merlot, Pinot Noir etc).

We tasted our way through 5 different wines, True Chardonnay (unoaked), Capriccio, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Lakeshore Demi-Sec (semi-dry German style wine).  Of the 5, the Capriccio was the show stopper.  When I asked what the Capriccio was a blend of the nice gentleman at the tasting room really didn't know... you are pouring the wines and you don't know what they are made from... hmm seems odd, anyways, he did know a little, he mentioned it was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and some other grape.  I assume that other grape was likely Merlot which would basically make this wine a Bordeaux blend.  The wine itself was smooth, spicy cedar notes, and a nice fruit finish.  It was also pretty tannic (makes you mouth pucker a little, or the inside of cheeks burn a little) which tells me it would probably be even better if it were cellared for a bit.  The wine we tasted was a 2008, so it was pretty young.

While their Pinot Noir was lacking in fruit, short, and little watery its light and smooth characteristics started my mind on a path of wow, is this a little Burgundy-esque (Village wine not the good stuff, yet)?  

After buying a few bottles of wine we were on to the next winery, however, not before a photo op.

Yes my brother is missing a tooth, long story, hahaha.

About an hour south, we had left the Fenn Valley appellation and entered the Lake Shore appellation. This is where things really got interesting.  Our first stop was Karma Vista Vineyards (Coloma, MI) which sat a top a an awesome hillside.  Their Pinot Noir was solid, aptly name Stone Temple Pinot!  This Pinot reminded me of the Burgundy Pinots I have had in the past, while not 100% there, it definitely shared the characteristics.  The other wines we tasted were just as good.  Especially an interesting blend of Chambourcin and Cab Franc, it was just gnarly, fruity, truffley, earthy, yummy wine!

After that delicious tasting I was thinking, ok, Michigan wines really have potential.  If Karma Vista has only been around for 8 years and are producing wine of that quality, I can't wait to see what happens to this region as it matures.  The next stop was also a fairly young winery of just 4 years old I believe, Contessa winery

Just about a mile away and again sitting a top a hillside was Contessa Wine Cellars.  We pulled up and they were literally still building the tasting room.  The wine that for me was the best was the Rosa d'amore which was another blend of Chambourcin and Cab Franc.  This wine was awesome!  Even though it is not a Pinot it definitely reminded be of the Burgundy region, notes of barnyard, earth, and fruit where all over this wine.  Just writing this is making me hungry and wanting to crack the bottle that is lurking in the kitchen!!  I began to wonder if the Burgundy wine region was at the same latitude as the Lake Shore region we were in, come to find out... it is.

  
We also hit St. Julian winery, which if you are from Michigan you know St. Julian, they are known for their sparkling juices so going into it I really wasn't expecting much from them in terms of wine.  Well, I was again proven wrong, a common theme throughout the day.  The Pinot was superb... truffle, plum, and cherry were oozing out of the glass and dancing on the tongue.  Overall, their wines were very good.  Unfortunately, you can only buy their "reserve" wines at the store in Paw Paw, MI.  What an outrage!  I'm going to petition Congress, they will stop this madness!   

At this point in the day, I was tired, and ready to head back.  There was another winery literally a stones throw away from St. Julian, so we couldn't pass it up.  Glad we didn't.  Warner Vineyards is the oldest winery in Michigan dating back to 1936.  The highlight here was another one of the blends, Chambourcin and Cab Franc.  This wine is definitely emerging as the wine of Michigan.  It's just amazing, and the one from Warner might have been the best of the day.  Aromas of cured meat, bacon, and truffle with a nice fruit burst.  The wine was fruit forward in the mouth with a lingering finish.  Warner also had an amazing tasting room!

 
We ended our day on a nice note, tired, full of wine, and hungry, we made our way back home.... 17 bottles of wine later!!  If you are in the lower west side of Michigan I suggest you hit up some of these wineries.  I am excited to see where this young industry goes, I only see up side.

The bros and Dad!

 Well, I am signing off, I hope you enjoyed the post.  Its time to pack and get on over to Milwaukee.  The journey across the country begins today!  I'll be back soon.

In the meantime stay thirsty my friends.