Michigan Wines in Paradise

Filed in archive Wine Tours on July 23, 2006

Michiganians (is that a word?) think they live in paradise, especially those around the Old Mission Peninsula area.

Strict zoning ordinances have limited tasting rooms, and this might be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

From Northern Michigan wine tour: Old Mission Peninsula:

There are seven wineries, but only five with tasting rooms, which makes Old Mission the easiest wine tour up north. But it's also the one that's takes some planning. There are no filling stations, no Meijer, no Rite-Aid, no Burger King, no billboards. There seemingly are as many zoning restrictions as grape vines.
The ironclad ordinances to keep this little slice of heaven an agricultural oasis, however, are good or bad if you talk to the growers.

"They keep every Tom, Dick and Harry from opening a tasting room without their own grapes in the ground," says Bob Begin, founder of the luxurious Chateau Chantal at the tip.

Ordinance amendments passed in 2004 not only limit the footage of winery buildings, but also require ownership of 20 acres of grapes in the ground and control over a portion of another 20 acres. (By contrast, little Willow Vineyard on the less-restrictive Leelanau Peninsula sits on a 12-acre plot with 7.5 acres in vines.)

Goodness knows, we want to make sure that Tom, Dick, and Harry do not open tasting rooms!

This article includes a photo gallery as well. If you decided to read the whole thing, look to the right of the screen for a link to the gallery images.