Area ripe to take advantage of growing business

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4 Top, bottles from Rose Va lley Winery and Stoney Acres Winery are spotlighted. Middle, Stoney Acres owner Jim Grochowski pours blueberry juice into a holding tank while his wife, Helen, stands by. Below, Stoney Acres wine bottles are neatly arranged in the store front. Fifteen hundred pounds of blueberries are pressed to make the wine. Area ripe to take advantage of growing business NORTHEAST MICHIGAN - Breaking ground on a vineyard near the Black River in 1992, the late Nicholas Koklanaris fulfilled dreams harbored since arriving from his native Greece at the age of 17. Those vines are now his legacy, and the Koklanaris clan carries on in its patriarch's name - producing Nicholas Black River Wine and selling it at their winery and their Mackinaw City tasting room. But the legacy Koklanaris began reaches further than family. The success of the Black River winery demonstrates to other Northeast Michigan vintners that they can rightfully stake claim to a part of the state's S75-million-per-year wine industry. "Our Nicolette Le Blush 2000 was entered in the state fair and won the silver medal, and our 2001 Black River Red won the gold," said Alea Melacrinos, Koklanaris' niece and winery manager. "Our newest wine, Ambrosia, won first place at the Cheboygan County Fair. "We have 4,000 vines and we have plenty of room to grow," added Melacrinos. "Our grapes do really well here." That a Northeast Michigan winery can grow a respectable wine grape is not telling Chuck Burrone of Lachine, in Alpena County, anything he doesn't already know. For eight years, Burrone has been nursing his fledgling, four-and-a-half-acre vineyard in preparation for starting his own winery. Using quality wine grapes known to do well in the northern climates, Burrone conducts an informal, in-field experiment with 18 varieties of proven wine grapes. Vines that do well will remain; those that suffer from cold, insects or other ailments will be replaced with more locale-friendly varieties. In the end, Burrone figures he will be left with a wide variety of grapes from which to make his wine. "That is one thing we can offer here - variety," Burrone said. "I'd like to see us have our own identity on this side of the state. I think that is key, to have a wide variety of wine and to show that you really can make a good, quality wine from grapes grown here in Northeast Michigan." Like Koklanaris before him, Burrone's dream to start a winery using his own grapes produced in Northeast Michigan is well within reach, according to Linda Jones, executive director of the Michigan Wine Council, the state agency in charge of promoting Michigan's wine industry. "New releases of grape varieties are coming along all the time, and many of them are cold, hardy varieties," Jones said. "We really think there is the potential for wineries all around the state." There is certainly plenty of room for growth around here. Of Michigan's 12,000 acres of commercial grapes, only 1,500 acres are devoted to wine varieties, according Jones, and less than 20 acres of those are in Northeast Michigan. Some wineries have experienced 10 percent growth or better, particularly in their first few years. 14 rh,.ur 'OI\TIJAll,OOJ

5 Jones suggests that's a sign that Michigan wine sales are only getting better. "There is a huge potential for growth in Michigan's wine industry. Certainly, the Northeast area can be a part of that," Jones said. Northeast Michigan's cold winters, short growing season and lack of deep snow have led to a common misconception that wine grapes will not grow here. That belief is not without precedent, according to Dr. Erwin "Duke" Elsner, agriculture educator at the Grand Traverse County MSU Extension. It was once believed that good grapes would never grow in the Grand Traverse Bay area, either. Michigan's wine industry began during the 1880s in the southwest part of the state, but it wasn't until the 1970s - in a move that ran contrary to all accepted practice - that a few pioneering souls planted Frenchhybrids along the Leelanau Peninsula while others experimented with vinifera varieties out near Old Mission Point. "111e experts said it couldn't be done and through a lot of hard work and experimentation, these guys proved them wrong," Elsner said. "There were a lot of people, the experts, that ended up apologizing." Today, the Grand Traverse Bay area is known for its Riesling, Chardonnay, Merlot and Pinot grape varieties. The idea that grapes will not grow in Northeast Michigan is "an untrue assumption," Elsner said. "People are trying and discovering new varieties all the time," he continued. "We haven't even come close to testing all the varieties that exist to see if they will grow there." While no one may be close to testing all the good wine grapes that grow in Northeast Michigan, Adam Kolodziejski, owner of the recently opened Rose Valley Winery in Rose City, is doing his part. His seven-acre vineyard, located on his family farm in Hale, contains nearly three-dozen grape varieties. Given new European hybrids and increased study and research, coupled with new pruning practices and methods of growing grapes, Elsner said there is little reason to doubt Kolodziejski's eventual success. Talk to Kolodziejski and you're made to believe it is assured. "111is is the perfect time to start a winery," Kolodziejski says, noting he is aiming for a "naturally grown, but not organic, market." "The wine industry in this part of the state is going to be different. We'll be forced to be different because we can't duplicate what they (other areas) already have," Kolodziejski says. "111e Northeast corner of our state is only waiting to be discovered. "111e wine industry here? 111is is virgin soil only waiting to be turned." ~ Mary Foeller of Ann Arbor samples one of several fruit wines in the Stoney Acres Winery tasting room. faii)oo: 11,11[.' (HVII 15

6 Northeast needs its own wine-tasting tour What could possibly be as important to Northeast Michigan's budding wine industry as the ability to grow good grapes? \Nould you believe a good wine trail? Experts, producers and retailers alike say the existence of an easily accessible route from winery to winery could be the biggest factor in whether the industry takes off and grows in this region or not. Not only can a wine trail educate consumers, but it also gives vintners a chance to greet customers and receive critical feedback. It also makes a great marketing tool. Wineries in this report all have their own tasting rooms. But a good wine trail can do even more, according to Manuel "Manny" Pompa, owner of the Flour Garden, a bakery and specialty shop in Harrisville that offers a world-spanning selection of more than 450 varieties ofwine and 150 brands of beer. "Even six wineries would be enough," Pompa said. "People flock to the west side because that's the place to go, but if they were offered an alternative in Northeast Michigan, they would come over here. People love wine. I see it here in my business. Every year wine sales are doing better and better." And Pompa looks forward to a viable Northeast Michigan wine industry. "It may be a ways off, but it will happen," he added. "Little by little, this area will change. I think eventually we'll be able to produce some very good varieties here. "Basically, when you have the guy that started out making wine as a hobby for his family, he takes the time and has the pride. When you have a smaller vineyard, you pay it more attention," Pompa said. "Those are the guys that come out with really good WlOes.. " Guys like Rose Valley Winery's Adam Kolodziejski, who says he welcomes competition. "There is nothing I'd love to see more than five more wineries right here in Ogemaw County," he said. "It's hard to have a wine trail when you've only got three wineries in this whole quarter of the state. People spend more time driving than they do tasting wine. And they'll spend a lot more time whining." ~ Two vineya rd owners, Chuck Burrone, above, and Adam Kolodziejski check their vines to see how their crops are fa rin g in Northeast Michigan's climate. 16 I l\lll',oizrrl fall200r