The Grand Slam – Beer, Wine, Cider, and Spirits

Rudbeckia Winery

Date Visited:  November 8, 2019

Stop:  #63 

Our Michigan Wines and Signs quest through Petoskey continued after our visit to Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery, but not before we found a place to eat some lunch.  It was 12:45 pm when we pulled out of Maple Moon, and our next winery was several miles away, west of Petoskey, which gave us the perfect excuse to drive into town to find something to eat.  Of course, the big question was WHERE?  Randy recalled a popular place that was well-known in Petoskey, so Kathy and Christie went to work on their phones to rattle off some restaurant names until one triggered Randy’s memory.  Within minutes, they hit on the right name – the City Park Grill.

In the blog I wrote kicking off this weekend’s adventure, I mentioned that this weekend was all about wine, and no historical marker visits made the itinerary.  But I was able to get my history geek on at the City Park Grill because the building itself has quite an intriguing history.  It is one of the oldest buildings still standing in Petoskey.  It was built in 1875 and opened as the McCarthy Hall (named after the builder, Alanso McCarthy), a gentlemen-only billiard hall that served wine, liquor, and cigars.  The building passed through several owners over time until the current owners, Bob and Mary Keedy, Dick and Laura Dinon, Chef John Norman, and Patrick Faylor purchased the building in 1997.  There are two stories about this building that I found the most intriguing. 

The first was the role the building played during Prohibition.  At the time, the building was owned by Frank Fotchtman and as most owners are subject to do, he made several changes to the building.  The most interesting were the changes he made after Prohibition went into effect in 1917.  Fotchtman pretty much ignored the law and continued to serve alcohol.  He built secret underground tunnels so he could “export” illegal alcohol between two other nearby establishments.  Needless to say, Fotchtman’s escapades eventually landed him in jail.  Today, the secret tunnels no longer exist, but the doors and openings to the tunnels are still visible.

The second most interesting story about the building was that it became a popular hang-out for Ernest Hemingway after he made northern Michigan his summer home from the 1910’s to the 1920’s.  He frequented the establishment often, usually sitting in the second seat from the end of the bar, scratching out ideas for his short stories and books.  The building, known as the Annex at the time, was mentioned in his short story “Gentleman of the World.”

The interior’s signature feature is the 32-foot-long solid mahogany bar.  Installed sometime after 1888 when Frank J. Gruclich purchased the building, the bar is the dominant feature you notice when you first walk in the building.  I could smack myself for not getting a picture of that bar (but the City Park Grill website does have an old pic of it).

We entered the building and walked past the bar and were seated in what must have been the billiard room or a dance hall.  It had very tall ceilings and elaborate crown moldings. The menu had a fine variety of salads, appetizers, sandwiches, and entrees to choose from.  Kathy decided on the Reuben, and I was torn between a burger, a club sandwich, the Five Cheese Penne, or the Parmesan-Herb Whitefish.  I finally decided on the City Park Club with French fries.  The food was outstanding and hit the spot, providing a good base for all the wine we planned to drink that afternoon.

Fully fueled up for the afternoon, we headed on our way to Rudbeckia Winery, which was 6 miles and 15 minutes away from the City Park Grill.  Located out in farm country, just 0.3 miles from the shores of Walloon Lake, the winery building was set on top of a hill with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.  We learned that the building had been moved to this location in 2018 to take advantage of this view.  The inside was very homey and comfortable with a large rustic bar made of wood.  There were plenty of tables to sit at, and, off to the right as you enter the tasting room, was a large outdoor seating area with a fire going in the fire pit.  Not being so bold as to sit out in the cold, we sauntered up to the bar and eventually took a seat at one of the long wooden tables in the area. 

At the time of our visit, the facility doubled as the Rudbeckia Winery and Burnt Marshmallow Brewing.  Since our visit, they have added a distillery.  The winery sits on what used to be the Foltz Dairy farm.  It is made up of 190 acres and is owned by John and Vickie Wysokinski, who have been in the wine, beer and spirits business for over 25 years working with industry professionals in California, Oregon, Washington State, the Mid-Atlantic, Finger Lakes, Spain, France, and Italy.  The Wysokinski’s moved to the farm in 2015, and 13 months later, on May 13, 2016, opened the Rudbeckia Winery and Burnt Marshmallow Brewing.  The winery is named after the yellow coneflowers that grow throughout the area (more commonly known as Brown- or Black-Eyed Susans).

The Wysokinski’s focus on making your visit a family experience.  Kids and pets are welcome, and they offer plenty of activities to keep everyone busy.  One hundred and fifty acres of their farm is open to the public for hiking and exploring.  They have several animals that kids can interact with, including mini-pigs, chickens, cats, dogs, and a rabbit.  They also have cornhole games available to be played, a bocce court, ring toss, and other outdoor games.  And if the weather is not cooperating, they have board games and playing card you can play indoors while sipping on some wine, cider, beer, or spirits. 

The Wysokinski’s planted 3,400 vines in 2016 and were hoping to have their first harvest in 2020.  Until then, their wines were made with grapes from vineyards in southwest Michigan within the Lake Michigan Shore AVA.  The Wysokinski’s also pride themselves in enhancing the winetasters experience by only using Riedel Crystal tasting glassware, the top-rated tasting glass in the world.  They are designed to enhance the aromatics and flavors of your beverage of choice.  They also use the Coravin preservation system.  This technology allows them to pour wine without pulling out the cork, therefore preserving the wine from the affects of oxygen.

We were excited to get started and try out all this wine drinking technology, so we took our seats and scoured over the drink options.  Kathy and I went in two completely different directions.  Kathy went with the Four (4) Wine or Cider Tasting Flight, which comprised of 2-ounce pours for $10.  With this option, you could go with any combination of wine and cider that included Hertiage “Many Apples” Dry Cider, Pear-O-Dee dry pear cider, Belle Blanc 2018 dry white wine, Marquette 2018 dry rosé, Belle Rouge dry red Blend, Oh Cherry Cherry sweet cider, and Blushing Moscato 2018 sweet rosé.  She narrowed it down to the following choices:

1.     Marquette 2018, Tip of the Mitt (dry rosé) – A vibrant Michigan sunset in a glass!  This wine has aromas of melon and strawberry with soft floral notes of jasmine and rose.  On the palate, the wine opens with notes of tart cherry accented by rose petals followed by crisp, refreshing acidity and a long, smooth finish.  ALC 12% RS 0% Multiple Silver Medal Winner!

2.     Belle Rouge Blend, Lake Michigan Shore (dry red) – A beautiful dry red wine aged in a blend of American and Hungarian oak barrels for a year.  Soft on the palate with bright forward fruit flavors and spicy notes with an essence of crushed violets that drifts up from the glass.  This wine has a smooth finish with hints of Michigan cherry pie baked in an oak oven.  This wine pairs well with roasted meals, pizza, hard cheeses and charcuterie.  ALC 12.5% RS 0%

3.     Oh Cherry Cherry, sweet cider – 100% Balaton Cherry cider with inviting aromas and flavors of warm cherry compote, baked apples, grassy earth, waxy honeycomb with a silky, crisp, effervescence.  ALC 5% RS 4%

4.     Blushing Moscato 2018, Tip of the Mitt (sweet rosé) – This delectably Sweet Blush is easy to love with its tempting aromas of pomegranates and red currants.  Taste the luscious flavors of fresh picked strawberries and ripe cherries.  ALC 11%, RS6%

I, on the other hand, went the beer and cider route and opted for their Beer and Cider Flight, which included 3-ounce pours for $10.  This menu included Hertiage “Many Apples” dry cider, Pear-O-Dee dry pear cider, Oh Cherry Cherry sweet cider, Autumn Equinox Pilsner, Cranberry Cream Ale, Hemingway IPA, 2019 Estate Grown Harvest Ale, “I Am Broot” Brut Extra Pale Ale, Daddy Who’s Amber? Amber Ale, SAROS-145 “Eclipse” Belgium Dubbel, “You’ll Shoot Your Rye Out” – Rye Brown Ale, S’More Porter (aka Burnt Marshmallow Beer), Nitro S’More Porter, and Ghost Pepper Spicy Hot Citrus Ale.  Kathy and I got our signals mixed up because we both ordered the Oh Cherry Cherry sweet cider, but my other three choices were:

1.     Hertiage “Many Apples” dry cider – A frothy head, clear appearance, and nice and fruity – made with loads of Gala, MacIntosh, and Northern Spy apples.  ALC 5%, RS 0%

2.     Pear-O-Dee dry pear cider, Tip of the Mitt – Sparkling pear cider that is dry like a fine champagne.  Notes of pear juice & skin, floral.  ABV 6%, RS 0%

3.     Autumn Equinox Pilsner – This Harvest Pilsner was dry hopped with Petoskey Hops grown on our farm. Lively carbonation and subtle maltiness finishes dry and clean with a floral and spicy hops.  ABV 5.2% 18 IBUs

We enjoyed all of our choices, but Kathy and I agreed on the Oh Cherry Cherry cider – it was our favorite from those wines/ciders/beers that we tried.  Unfortunately, we did not want to invest in a growler (we already had two at home, plus we were unsure how the cider would hold-up over the course of a weekend).  We also enjoyed their Moscato and settled on buying a bottle of that to add to our collection.  Overall, our visit to Rudbeckia was quite nice and I would definitely love to visit them again, maybe in the spring or summertime, and take advantage of the outdoor activities they have to offer.  Plus, it would be nice to try out the spirits as well!!!

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #wine #michiganwine #winetasting #lovemiwine #historyisbetterwithwine

America’s First (and Only) Maple Winery

Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery

Date Visited:  November 8, 2019

Stop:  #62

 Our Taste of the Season Winery Tour got off to a great start with our visit to Petoskey Farms Vineyard and Winery, and now it was time to move on to our second of 28 wineries.  The snow continued to fall at a rapid rate, making the roads very slippery, but fortunately we did not have far to go to get to our next stop.  And our next stop would offer a very unique wine tasting experience.

As we pulled out of the driveway from Petoskey Farms, we headed east on Atkins Road for 0.7 miles.  On the south side of Atkins was a driveway leading up to the Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery, billed as “America’s First Maple Winery.”  As we approached the tasting room, the place looked deserted.  At this point, we were thinking that maybe the weather was going to prevent the place from opening up for the day.  Fortunately, another car arrived a few short minutes after us and its lone occupant hustled into the building through an employee entrance.  We bided our time by taking a few outdoor pictures and soon enough, the front door was unlocked and the place opened for business.

It was very quaint and homey inside.  Just inside the front door is a small retail space filled with maple syrup products for sale and the check-out register.  Around the corner was the tasting room.  I really loved the look and feel of this room.  Lots of wood.  A beautiful bar with a granite countertop.  Racks of wine glasses hanging over the bar.  A huge chalkboard that, on this particular day, was explaining how to properly use social media with phrases that were all Maple Moon-centric (ex. My skills include drinking wine at Maple Moon).  But the piece I liked the most was the sculpture of a majestic maple tree encircled with a wood frame hanging on the north wall of the tasting room.  It is very beautifully crafted and it is the perfect logo for the winery.

We took a seat at the bar and were immediately greeted by Christi Petersen who, along with her husband Todd, is the owner of Maple Moon.  Christi was such a great hostess.  Since we were the only ones there, we had her full attention, and she gave us a full history of their business and adventures.  Even though their history is provided in their website, hearing it in person from one of the owners made for a very special visit. 

Christi and her husband first came to the Petoskey area in 1999.  Todd started his own residential construction company and Christi took time off from her career as a teacher to raise their children.  They bought the land at their current location in 2008, and in 2009, the Petersen’s started sugaring from the many maple trees on their property (80 acres in all).  By 2011, they had perfected their craft and decided to establish their family business.  That same year, their original production facility and retail/tasting room was built.  In talking with Christi, you come to understand quite quickly how rooted the Petersen family is in their faith.  It helps guide them in many of the difficult decisions they make.  In 2012, having produced their first commercial sized batch of maple syrup, they officially opened for business.  The name of the business was derived from the Native American term for the last full moon of the winter – the Maple Moon (or, the sugar moon).  This moon signified when it was time for the maple sap to flow.

The Petersen's now tend to roughly 5,000 taps and produce an average of 1,500 gallons of maple syrup a year.  In 2015, again guided by their faith, the Petersen’s entered the wine making business.  In that first year, they produced nine different varieties of wines, from dry to sweet, each unique in that maple syrup is an important ingredient.  They now carry eleven different wines and two different hard ciders – a maple ginger hard cider and a maple bourbon hard cider.  They expanded their production facility in 2019, and they have their sights on expanding their retail space and their tasting room in the next couple of years.  Their hope is that Todd can retire from his construction business in 2022 and put all his energy into their maple syrup and wine business.

Having learned the history of their business, it was now time to sample the fruits of their labor.  A flight included five 1-oz. pours of wine and/or cider for $8.50.  Our sample sizes were much more generous than 1 oz.  Unfortunately for us, three of the wines were not available on this particular day – the Maple Marquette, the Petite Pearl, and the Maple Cherry (big bummer on this last one).  So, that made our choices rather easy.  Kathy ordered the first five available wines, and I covered the last 3 and the 2 hard ciders.

Kathy:

1.     Early Spring Reserve - A dry maple wine aged on oak with earthy undertones and delightfully smooth finish.

2.     Maple Rouge - An off dry red blend with aromas of cherry, leather, and strawberry

3.     Maple Blanc – A semi-sweet white wine with pleasant citrus aromatics, small additions of maple syrup make this finish last forever

4.     Maple Blackberry – A striking blackberry nose with a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavor in this semi-sweet wine.

5.     Maple Blueberry – Creamy maple accentuates an upfront blueberry flavor in this semi-sweet wine.

John:

1.     Maple Peach – Crisp and refreshing peach wine with a mildly tart yet smooth finish

2.     Maple Gold – Coming in at a hot 18% alcohol, this better than Port style wine explodes with bourbon characteristics and a long-lasting maple finish

3.     Maple Royal – A maple dessert wine sweetened to perfection with maple syrup

4.     Bourbon Barrel Aged – A perfect blend of maple and bourbon make this exceptional

5.     Maple Ginger – A semi-sweet maple hard cider with a surprising punch of ginger.

We could definitely taste the impact that maple syrup had on each of the wines.  To me, the wine seemed smoother at the finish, a little bit sweeter than typical wine, but not overwhelmingly so.  It was very pleasant, especially considering that my expectations were very different from what I actually experienced.  I thought that the maple syrup would dominate the taste of the wine on my palette, but it did not.  It was definitely a very unique tasting experience.

It was disappointing that the Maple Cherry wine was not available.  I am sure we would have loved it.  But now we have a reason to return, hopefully someday soon.  Not that we really need a reason, but being 4 hours away from home makes it difficult to return to places like Maple Moon.  It would have been easy to walk out with several bottles, but we still had a long weekend ahead of us, so we decided on one bottle – the Maple Gold.  I was on the fence about the Maple Peach, but chose against it since we had many bottles of Peach wine already at home.  Having made that decision, we perused through their store and picked up a couple of maple syrup-based products.  As we waited for Christie and Randy, I had time to take a few extra pictures, both inside and out, and then, it was on to our next adventure.

 

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #wine #michiganwine #winetasting #lovemiwine #historyisbetterwithwine

A Scene from a Currier and Ives Christmas Print

Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery MAIN LOCATION

Date Visited:  November 8, 2019

Stop:  #61

 This was the event that started it all.  It was two years ago that our good friends, Randy and Christie, had invited us to participate in a wine tour in Traverse City called “Toast the Season".  The premise – visit in upwards of 25 wineries all located on or near the Leelanau Peninsula north of Traverse City, Michigan, over a two-day period, and enjoy a featured wine with a food pairing prepared by each winery.  Typically, each winery would also include extra free sample wine tastings – anywhere from 1 to 5 free tastings.  As I explained in our inaugural blog, Kathy and I were not real big wine drinkers, but the sense of adventure and the unknown was too appealing to pass up, so we agreed, and thus was born a new tradition and a new quest.

The first year we went, the weather was extremely mild and I think both Kathy and I got a false sense of what winter is really like in Northern Michigan.  The second year we went, weather conditions were horrific and the reality of winter in Northern Michigan really set in.  The roads were a sheet of ice, and when we reached our hotel room that first night, there was no electricity.  Getting to each of the wineries over the next two days was a challenge as road conditions did not improve, and many of the wineries we visited required treacherous driving up steep hills and narrow roadways.  So, this year, we were hoping for a return to mild weather.  We also decided to change things up a bit – instead of driving straight up to Traverse City Friday evening, we would set out early Friday morning and go to Traverse City by way of Petoskey and hit some of the wineries up in that area.  Thus, began a voyage that would see us visit 28 wineries over 3 days – a pace of just over 9 wineries per day.

We headed out at 7:45 that Friday morning knowing we had a 3 ½ hour drive ahead of us.  Kathy had already figured out that the first winery we intended to visit did not open until 11:00 am, so with luck, we would arrive a few minutes after opening.  At first the drive north was uneventful, but the closer we got to Petoskey, the dicier the weather got.  By the time we arrived at our first destination, Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery, the snow was falling quite heavily and the roads were slick and snow covered.  But, the good thing about that was it seemed to scare off other wine tasters.  When we arrived (about 11:20 am), we were the only ones there.  In fact, we arrived before most of the staff had arrived.

The Petoskey Farms Winery sits on top of a large hill with an absolutely gorgeous view of the vineyard and the surrounding countryside.  With the large snowflakes falling and a blanket of snow covering the ground, it looked like a scene straight off of a Currier and Ives Christmas card.  The vineyard and winery are owned by Andy and Tracie Roush.  Their story, like so many others we have heard, is fascinating, and although you can read about it on their website, I do want to mention some of the history here. 

Andy is a native Michigander (Howell) and has always loved the Northern Michigan area.  Tracie grew up in Amherst, Ohio.  Both received college degrees and both began careers in corporate America.  They happened to meet in 1999 while boating in Ohio.  Andy introduced Tracie to northern Michigan, and she, too, fell in love with the area.  After marrying and starting a family (two daughters), the Roush family had plenty of opportunities to visit northern Michigan since Andy’s parents had retired and moved to Indian River.  By 2009, Andy had grown weary of corporate life and after much discernment and prayer, he and Tracie decided to sell everything and move north in hopes of pursuing their dream to open a vineyard and winery.  They spent the next couple of years learning about wine making and running a business, and on June 30, 2012, they moved to Indian River to set their dream in motion.  On July 20, 2012, they purchased 22 acres of land and began planting 1600 grapevines.  Tracie’s father had been a builder his whole life, so she knew her way around tools and building construction.  She took on the task of being the general contractor for a 5,000 square foot building that would serve as their home, winery, and tasting room.  The building was completed in May, 2014 and they officially opened for business on June 21, 2014.  They have since added more space to their outdoor patio, and they planted another vineyard.  Their Head Wine Maker is Josh Morgan who learned his trade moving up the ranks at Black Star Winery, north of Traverse City, and one of the wineries we would visit later this weekend.

The tasting room is beautiful, with a very tall vaulted ceiling, and very impressive bar, plenty of tables to sit at, and some retail space for wine-themed accessories and paraphernalia and plenty of bottles of wine.  Since we were the first ones there, we each took a seat at the bar and were each handed a wine list to begin the process of narrowing down our selections.  A Standard Tasting consisted of five 1-oz. pours for $7.00, and on this particular day, there were 19 different wines to choose from, as well as several hard ciders, which were all listed on a chalkboard hung on a wall to the left of the bar.  Unfortunately, two wines were not available for tastings – the ’18 Dry Riesling and the ’18 Pétillant Naturel Riesling.  For $9.00, you could keep the souvenir wine glass.  For big-time wine drinkers, you could get the Wine Flight for $18.00, which consisted of five 3-oz. pours.  Seeing as it was not quite noon and we still had several other wineries to hit, we all went with the Standard Tasting flight.

The wines at Petoskey Farms fall into five categories:  Whites, Reds, Rosés, Fruits, and Desserts.  It was tough to choose from so many tempting sounding wines but here is where Kathy and I landed:

Kathy:

 ’17 Med. Sweet Riesling – aromas of apples, pears, and peaches.  Touch of acidity on the finish.

Romance – dry, notes of plum, currant, oak, and vanilla.

Marquette – dry, black cherry notes with hints of spice, coffee, and chocolate.

’18 Pinot Noir – dry, aromas of juniper and red cherries with bright fresh fruit on the palette.

’18 Marquette Rosé – dry, spiced cherry and strawberry.

John:

’18 Sweet Riesling – Sweet, fruit forward green apple. 

Joy – raspberry and black plums give way to a sweet smooth finish.

’18 First Crush – candied strawberry aromas blend with zippy acidity.

’18 Apple Wine – bourbon barrel aged, semi-sweet, crisp with hints of caramel and vanilla.

’18 Estate Frontenac – sweet, hints of raspberry, cherry, and cocoa powder.

Our server was very pleasant and he described each of the wines to us as we made our selections.  He also pointed out to us that the Petoskey area was doing their own wine tour this weekend called the Harvest STOMP!  There were 13 wineries in the Petoskey region that were participating, many of which we were going to visit on this day.  We told him we were heading to Traverse City for their scheduled wine tour and that it was unfortunate that both events were happening on the same weekend.  But it did plant a seed for future considerations.

Kathy and I had vowed that we would not go crazy buying wine this weekend since we had so much wine still back at our house.  So, trying to stay disciplined, and not get sucked into the volume discounts being offered, we decided to only buy a couple of bottles – the 2018 Estate Frontenac the Joy wine.

As we left the tasting room and walked along the closed-in portion of the patio, I could not help thinking how great it would be to visit here in the summer time, sit outside, and just enjoy the beautiful view while sipping on some of the other wines we did not try, as well as the favorites from those we did try.  Reason enough for me to come back for another round!!

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #wine #michiganwine #winetasting #lovemiwine #historyisbetterwithwine