Regional Wine Fighting Its Way Into Chicago
Chicago is the third largest U.S. wine market by case sales ranking behind Los Angeles and New York. One would think that demand for regional wine in a Midwestern metropolis with 9.72 million residents...
Category: Michigan
Great Lakes Riesling Steps Onto The World Stage
Riesling originated in the Germany’s Rhine and Mosel valleys in the 1400’s. The grape is currently grown across the globe; South Africa has Cape Riesling, British Columbia has Okanagan Riesling and Bulgaria has Misket,...
Midwest Wine Press Michigan Wine Wire
Welcome to the Michigan Wine Wire, a new feature that will appear from time-to-time in Midwest Wine Press, reporting on news of interest in the Michigan wine business. Forty-Five North Welcomes Briggs, Grossnickle In...
Urban Vineyards Sprouting in the Midwest
Driving through Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, the last thing you’d expect to come upon is a vineyard. Hough has long been one of Cleveland’s most distressed areas, site of the notorious ‘Hough riots” – the...
Gill’s Pier Corn Maze Opens In Leelanau Peninsula
On September 1st, Gill’s Pier Vineyard & Winery opened the only corn maze on the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan. Recently, Midwest Wine Press spoke with Gill’s Pier co-owner Kris Sterkenburg about how and why...
Leelanau Harvest Stompede: Messy and Fun
On September 8th, runners raced through Leelanau Peninsula Vineyards followed by a self guided wine tour of Leelanau Peninsula Vintner’s Association (LPVA) member wineries. The tour, which included 19 wineries, highlighted local foods and...
Offbeat European Grapes Growing Across the Midwest
Increasingly, Midwestern winemakers are defying convention by growing popular vinifera grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc. But in recent years, a number of vineyards have planted lesser known European grapes considered offbeat for the...
The True Value of Cold Hardy Hybrids
When the early members of the Minnesota Grape Growers Association (MGGA) first experimented with wine grapes in the early 1970’s, all the vines were cold tender or marginal at best. Foch stood out as...
Craft Beer Craze Opens Doors for Midwest Cider, Sparkling and Wine
The growing U.S. appetite for regional craft beers is having a positive, knock-on effect for the makers of local cider, sparkling and still wine. According to the Brewers Association, the craft beer industry grew...
Midwest Wineries Start Using QR Codes
With over 50% of Americans now having smartphones, Midwest wineries are finding QR codes help them engage with their customers both in retail stores and at their wineries. The Midwest wine industry is seeing...