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!!!
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