Our Memphis Belle

Sage Creek Winery

Date Visited:  June 2, 2019

Stop:  #4

Ahhh, at long last.  Our first Winery Blog!!!  After trying unsuccessfully for several weeks to convince my wife to write the blogs for the winery visits, I finally caved in and put fingers to keypad.  Forgive me for my lack of knowledge on the subject of wines since, afterall, I don’t drink wine (wink, wink).

So why do I title this piece “Our Memphis Belle?”  For WWII history buffs, you may know that the Memphis Belle was a famous flying fortress, one of the first of its kind, in the early years of WWII, and it has been immortalized in at least two movies.  It was mostly known for its 25 successful bombing runs before retiring and going on the “war bonds and recruiting trail.”  Or, was I inspired by the beautiful southern belles immortalized in “Gone with the Wind” and who reside in southern cities like Memphis, Tennessee?  No, this particular Memphis Belle is the “diamond-in-the-rough” winery located in Memphis, Michigan.  If you’re like me, you probably had never heard of Memphis, Michigan (even though I have lived in the general area for over 50 years).  Cementing my decision to title this blog “Our Memphis Belle” was the fact that this winery featured a sweet red wine called Memphis Belle.

Memphis, Michigan (pop. 1,184 as of 2014), was settled in 1834 and is a typical midwestern town located at the intersection of Main Street (M-19) and Bordman Roads.  Memphis has a very small downtown area with small shops, restaurants, bars, party stores, a gas station, and that one solitary flashing stoplight at the main intersection.  Located about 6 miles north of Richmond, it is also home to one of our favorite wineries, Sage Creek.  It is located just 190 feet east of Main Street on Bordman Road (35050 Bordman Road, Memphis, Michigan 48041), and it resides in a 100-year-old former Masonic Temple building.  It is owned by military veterans, and they are very involved in community service events and fundraisers.

As you walk into the main entrance, you turn left into what must have been the informal meeting room, with a nice fireplace on the east wall.  The owners of the winery left the front room as an informal sitting area, with plenty of chairs, sofas, and loveseats, with coffee tables and end tables in close proximity so you had a place to set your glass (or glasses) of wine.  It is a great place to casually kick back, get comfortable, and have a great conversation while sipping some wine.  The wine bar is directly south of the living room, and I can only imagine that in its day, probably served as the main meeting room.  The bar runs along the east wall, with racks of wines running along the south, west, and north walls.  There are plenty of seats at the bar and at several tables within the room.  Overall, it had a very comfortable, homey feel about it.  The wait staff is very friendly, and can tell you about each of the wines they offer.

So, this was actually our second visit to Sage Creek – the first coming several months before we started our official Quest.  I can’t think of a better place to start our winery quest than Sage Creek because I fell in love with the place after our first visit.  I call it a “diamond in the rough” because it is located in a non-traditional winery setting – no vineyards or orchards in the area, off the mainstream path where tourists and wine-lovers would traditionally frequent.  As a result, I had very low expectations for this place when we first visited it.  But after that first visit, my mind was completely 180 degrees turned around and our second visit only reinforced my feelings.  On this particular day (June 2), Sage Creek was doing what it often does – supporting community service by participating in a fundraiser for pets seeking homes.  Although the weather was not the greatest, the place was packed as prospective cat and dog owners took time to sample some wines.  We were lucky enough to find a couple of seats at a table already occupied by another couple who were on a motorcycle ride and had stopped to sample some wine.

Once we got our wine lists, we wasted no time picking out our first round of selections even though on this particular day, there were 40 different wines to choose from (2 sweet wines, 4 blush wines, 4 semi-dry and dry white wines, 8 seasonal wines, 7 sweet red wines, 8 semi-dry and dry red wines, 3 dessert wines, and 4 additional wines that fell under the “Almost Gone” category).  You could get four one-ounce pours, eight one-ounce pours, or four two-once pours.  My wife immediately selected the 8-sample tasting, called the Grand Tasting, and I went for the 4-sample tasting, which they simply called the Flight.  Since we share our wines, we were careful not to select any that the other one chose.  My wife ordered Puppy Love, Memphis Belle, Vets Returning Home, Old School House, Sugar Plum, Lemon Drop, Honeydew Haze, and White Cranberry.  I, on the other hand, settled on Bee’s Knees, Ruby Nectar, Cherry Picker, and Raspberry Truffle.  Most of these wines were very sweet and, for the most part, very fruity, refreshing, and enjoyable.

Not satisfied with trying just 12 samples, my wife ordered another round of 8 samples, and I decided that I would just sample her selections (since I was driving, I did not want to drink too much more).  For this round, my wife chose Stargazer, Great Lakes Splash, Blueberry Muffin, Blood Orange, Under the Tuscan Sun, Super Tuscan, Golden Glow, and Playing with Fire.  My wife’s taste in wine is migrating towards drier wines, so this sampling contained a few wines that were semi-dry or dry.  Again, most of these wines were very enjoyable.  So, during our visit, we tried half of the 40 wines they had available that day, and we both agreed that a majority of the wines were very good.  We walked out with a case of wine, with half of them being Vets Returning Home, our favorite wine.  Sage Creek did not disappoint.  We had spent nearly two hours there and enjoyed every minute of it.  I definitely see another visit in our future.  Afterall, there’s another 20 wines yet to sample!

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #historyisbetterwithwine