By Rita Chapman for Winery Adventures
Are you ready to be served
some “Detention,” or try some wine that is described as “better
than adultery?” Then head to the fruitful state of Michigan to visit
some unique “aged to perfection” history!
The Old Mission Peninsula is
unique in its own right. It offers no gasoline stations; no Wal-Marts;
fast foods or billboards. However, Peninsula Cellars proudly
calls the Old Mission Peninsula home. Peninsula Cellars makes its
vintage home in an old one-room school house called the Maple Grove
School which proudly held “Detention,” from 1895 to 1955! The
current owners exposed the original maple floors; painted the interior
and exterior; installed a new roof and built the tasting bar and
bathrooms.
Peninsula Cellars was
founded by an old fruit growing family, Dave and Joan Kroupa. The Kroupa
family are a fourth-generation cherry and apple growing family. One of
their most “revved up” wines is the White Cherry. The label of this
wine describes it as Rod Cherry with flames painted on the bottle like a
souped up Chevy Camaro. The labeling actually states, “She’s got a
sweet body. She packs a Cherry big block with 750 ml. of road ready
tumble.”
Appropriately, this
“Hotrod” wine zoomed to a Bronze medal award recently. Their most
award winning wine is the Gewurztraminer Manigold Vineyard which took
Best of Class Dry White at a recent Michigan Wine and Spirits
Competition. Their Pinot Blanc attained a Double Gold medal and
Lemberger a Gold.
The school house also has a
tasting room with chalkboards displaying the “Problem of the Day,”
and what seems to be the honor student’s creed, “I will only drink
good wine.”
However, if you linger too
long at this winery, you will be served “Detention,” which is a
blend of Baco Noir, Lemberger and Cabernet Franc. Their website is www.peninsulacellars.com.
Raftshol Winery sells
wine the old-fashioned way by skipping the middleman, and loading cases
into a Ford van and selling to wine shops across Michigan. One of their
wines, is a Port Wine called “Any Port In A Storm.” Other Raftshol
wines include a Chardonnay; Dry Riesling; Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir
and all sell for under $10 a bottle. This facility was first a dairy
enterprise; then a cherry orchard and now a proud producer of Bordeaux
varietal red wines.
The winery is located on the
Raftshol family homestead and the label and tasting room proudly
showcase the Raftshol heritage. The winery sign and wine labels bear a
picture of the owner’s mother at the age of 20. The owner, Warren
Raftshol, feels this tribute to his mother is very necessary since she
held on to the family farm during very lean times. Raftshol’s website
is www.raftsholvineyards.com.
The Round Barn Winery is truly an
architectural gem. An actual round barn was dismantled, moved from
Rochester, Indiana and rebuilt by local Amish. This is an ambitious
venture as the Round Barn Winery serves as a winery, distillery and
brewery. The tasting room is located in a turn of the century post and
beam bank born originally built in 1881. Banquet and wedding facilities
are held in the round barn and a bar and distillery are on the second
floor.
The Round Barn Winery also
fared well at a recent Michigan Wine and Spirits Competition securing
four Gold medals for their Apricot Demi Sec; Artesia Rose; Black Walnut
Pi Brandy and Dry Riesling. Silver medals were also awarded for their
Cabernet Sauvignon, Peach Pi Brandy and Vineyard Tears.
This “adventure in
diversification,” is a pleasure to visit. However, many of their wines
do cater to an upscale crowd. However, their Vineyard Tears and
Demi-Secs are affordable. Their website is www.roundbarnwinery.com.
The Boskydel Vineyard is
a true adventure from locating it, meeting its owner and learning the
uniqueness of the winery. Founder Bernie Rink, is a true throw back to
the early days of Michigan vintage as he does not advertise; participate
in events or enter wines into competition. His Rose de Chaunac is
described as “better than adultery.” Rink is a hands-on vintner, by
cleaning out the tanks himself to planting and pruning vines. You
literally could spend hours in his small tasting room reading the witty
sayings and admiring the artwork.
However, personal experience
found that he was a humorous vintner after a few glasses of afternoon
wine. All of his wines are French American hybrids such as Seyval Blanc
and Vignoles. He is very proud of the fact that he has raised prices
only four times during Boskydel’s history.
Even the name, “Boskydel,”
has a unique history. Rink says the term “Bosky,” means shrubs or a
dell. Used together, in old English, they also mean “tipsy.”
Rink, is a retired librarian
and thought hard work that was delegated to his sons taught them values.
Rink proudly remains a true boutique winery producing 4,000 cases of
eight different wines. He feels that Mom and Pop stores, farms and
cottage industries built our country. Rink’s father was a truck farmer
during Prohibition in the Lake Erie area, near Cleveland. Yes, he was
one of the farmers who sold juice to the Little Italy section of
Cleveland and made wine using Delaware, Concord and Catawba grapes.
His five sons knew he was
serious about growing grapes when he announced he was razing the family
baseball diamond. The Boskydel sons were expected to prune in the
knee-deep snow; sort out wood; chop woods in the summer and pick grapes
in late fall. The Boskydel boys made up lively little songs about the
vineyard like, “We Work at Boskydel, The Closest Thing to Hell; We Are
Never Treated Well at Slave Camp Boskydel.”
Boskydel Winery proudly
holds the honor of being Michigan’s first bonded winery. Rink is still
experimenting as he has started a chestnut orchard and Christmas tree
farm. Incidentally, his Chinese chestnut orchard claims its nuts only
have 69 calories per ounce. Their website is www.boskydel.com.
Rita Chapman is a frequent visitor to
the Winery Adventures website.
