Producer Article
Chateau Grand Traverse
Last edited on 6/28/2017 by sweetstuff
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Many Estate Rieslings here are made from the first substantial commercial plantation of Riesling in Michigan (bud wood from Schloss Vollrads), circa 1972 and following, on the eastern or north-eastern Lake Michigan Shoreline, near Traverse City and the Traverse Bays region. Up to this point the climate in the region was thought to be too severe for Riesling. It is also the first commercial plantation of any size on the Old Mission Peninsula (near Traverse City, Michigan), although wine had been grown previously on the Leelanau Peninsula, adjacent to the West across the West Arm of the Grand Traverse Bay. The lake effect is very intense, because not only is there the Lake Michigan effect, but effects from the West and East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay (into which the Old Mission Peninsula runs) and multiple large inland lakes to the east, west, north, and south. It could be said that this peninsula is surrounded by water on all six sides. Because of this there are often many feet of snow on the ground during an average winter. The climate is continental (hot and sometimes fairly dry in the summer, and cold in the winter, with a somewhat short growing season.) This Peninsula has long been famous for growing fruit (Montmorency [sour] cherries and apples). The main threat to fruit production and viticulture is early bud-break, in the months February through April, followed by frost, which can devastate flowering wood, such as happened in 2002 after a very warm February.
The winery is the property of the O'Keefe family, Edward O'Keefe, long in the Michigan wine business, and his five children, of whom some are directly active at present in vineyard or winery management. It's a largeish winery by Michigan standards, and may be by the measure of sales volume or case production the largest family-owned wine production operation in Michigan. It produces wines from grapes grown in Michigan, and also it produces wines from grapes grown outside Michigan in other American vineyards. It is a good thing when looking at labels to look for the AVA (American Viticultural Area) If the wine is made by the estate for sale in Michigan only, it doesn't have to have an AVA listed on the label, even if it is a vintage wine. So what you have in hand may be made from grapes grown in Washington State, the most common source outside Michigan, and it is perfectly legal for these grapes to be made into wine sold in Michigan and vintage-dated, as long as it's not intended to be commercialized outside Michigan.
For those of you who are interested in fine as distinguished from everyday wine, you really are more interested in the AVA wines. The best wines are made either in the Old Mission Peninsula AVA, or in the Leelanau Peninsula AVA from this region. At present, most of the fine wines you'll be interested in will be grown on the Lake Michigan Shore AVA, inside which is the Old Mission Peninsula AVA. These comments apply to many wineries in the region, not just to this one. The non-AVA are good and inexpensive, but lack the typicity and terroir typical of the best Old Mission wines.
rztraminer
The soils are generally glacial till on top of limestone reefs, sandy and poorly loamy. There are also plenty of glacial moraine materials scattered about, many from extremely old Canadian Shield igneous and other rocks dug out of the beds of the Great Lakes and their associated region. This means there is plenty of 'terroir' variation from vineyard to vineyard in the area, and here and other producers it is worth considering the small premium charged for vineyard-designated wines
The most important white grapes are those commonly grown in Alsace, Germany, and Burgundy, (Riesling, Sylvaner, Pinots blanc and gris, Gruner Veltliner, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer, and the most common red grapes are Bordeaux and Burgundy types, such as Pinot noir, Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon, and Gamay. There are in general among other growers grapes called 'Riesling (or Euro-) Crosses' meant to ripen earlier and legal to plant in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and crosses between Vinifera and Labrusca, that were commonly planted earlier when it was thought incorrectly that Vinifera would not survive the rigors of Eastern North Amercan and Michigan winters.
jht
Many Estate Rieslings here are made from the first substantial commercial plantation of Riesling in Michigan (bud wood from Schloss Vollrads), circa 1972 and following, on the eastern or north-eastern Lake Michigan Shoreline, near Traverse City and the Traverse Bays region. Up to this point the climate in the region was thought to be too severe for Riesling. It is also the first commercial plantation of any size on the Old Mission Peninsula (near Traverse City, Michigan), although wine had been grown previously on the Leelanau Peninsula, adjacent to the West across the West Arm of the Grand Traverse Bay. The lake effect is very intense, because not only is there the Lake Michigan effect, but effects from the West and East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay (into which the Old Mission Peninsula runs) and multiple large inland lakes to the east, west, north, and south. It could be said that this peninsula is surrounded by water on all six sides. Because of this there are often many feet of snow on the ground during an average winter. The climate is continental (hot and sometimes fairly dry in the summer, and cold in the winter, with a somewhat short growing season.) This Peninsula has long been famous for growing fruit (Montmorency [sour] cherries and apples). The main threat to fruit production and viticulture is early bud-break, in the months February through April, followed by frost, which can devastate flowering wood, such as happened in 2002 after a very warm February.
The winery is the property of the O'Keefe family, Edward O'Keefe, long in the Michigan wine business, and his five children, of whom some are directly active at present in vineyard or winery management. It's a largeish winery by Michigan standards, and may be by the measure of sales volume or case production the largest family-owned wine production operation in Michigan. It produces wines from grapes grown in Michigan, and also it produces wines from grapes grown outside Michigan in other American vineyards. It is a good thing when looking at labels to look for the AVA (American Viticultural Area) If the wine is made by the estate for sale in Michigan only, it doesn't have to have an AVA listed on the label, even if it is a vintage wine. So what you have in hand may be made from grapes grown in Washington State, the most common source outside Michigan, and it is perfectly legal for these grapes to be made into wine sold in Michigan and vintage-dated, as long as it's not intended to be commercialized outside Michigan.
For those of you who are interested in fine as distinguished from everyday wine, you really are more interested in the AVA wines. The best wines are made either in the Old Mission Peninsula AVA, or in the Leelanau Peninsula AVA from this region. At present, most of the fine wines you'll be interested in will be grown on the Lake Michigan Shore AVA, inside which is the Old Mission Peninsula AVA. These comments apply to many wineries in the region, not just to this one. The non-AVA are good and inexpensive, but lack the typicity and terroir typical of the best Old Mission wines.
rztraminer
The soils are generally glacial till on top of limestone reefs, sandy and poorly loamy. There are also plenty of glacial moraine materials scattered about, many from extremely old Canadian Shield igneous and other rocks dug out of the beds of the Great Lakes and their associated region. This means there is plenty of 'terroir' variation from vineyard to vineyard in the area, and here and other producers it is worth considering the small premium charged for vineyard-designated wines
The most important white grapes are those commonly grown in Alsace, Germany, and Burgundy, (Riesling, Sylvaner, Pinots blanc and gris, Gruner Veltliner, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer, and the most common red grapes are Bordeaux and Burgundy types, such as Pinot noir, Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon, and Gamay. There are in general among other growers grapes called 'Riesling (or Euro-) Crosses' meant to ripen earlier and legal to plant in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and crosses between Vinifera and Labrusca, that were commonly planted earlier when it was thought incorrectly that Vinifera would not survive the rigors of Eastern North Amercan and Michigan winters.
jht