The History Press, 2010
157 Pages
When you dine in a great restaurant anywhere in the United States today and review the wine list you are overwhelmed with the selection of California and foreign label wines. Occasionally, and more frequently, you are finding at least one Michigan wine on those lists.
The Michigan Wine Industry is coming of age and its products are starting to get noticed as well as winning major awards.
Hathaway and Kegerreis took their passion for wine and researched all of Michigan's wineries. But the book is more than a wine guide. It's a geographic, agricultural and social history of everything surrounding wine in Michigan.
What most people don't know is that Michigan has a long history of wine making dating back more than 150 years. That history, which is both economic and cultural, is extremely fascinating and parallels the tumultuous history of the state itself.
Geographically, they examine Michigan's place in the Great Lakes as the perfect setting for fruit growing. The Lake Michigan shore provides the proper atmosphere for fruit with Michigan's "Fruit Belt" running nearly the entire length of Michigan's Western shoreline.
The Grand Traverse region in the Northwest lower peninsula, rests on the 45th Parallel. If you look at a globe the 45th runs through the great wine regions of Germany and France and the hilly moist atmosphere is nearly identical to it's European protege. The Grand Traverse region is well known for it's German style Riesling wines.
Historically, they examine how everything started. It didn't all start where it is now. You'll be surprised to learn that wine making began in Monroe County on the shores of Lake Erie. French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de la Salle, more commonly known as "LaSalle" (who later had a winery and a car brand named for him) first took note of the geography when he was exploring the Great Lakes in the 1670's. When he went up a tributary off Lake Erie, he was astounded by the amount of wild grapes growing it's banks. Appropriately, he named it the "Grape River" or in French "River Raisin," which is still named today. The River Raisin has become famous for the War of 1812 Battle of The River Raisin and today hosts the only National Park for a War of 1812 battlefield.
As European settlers began moving Westward, Detroit became the center of the frontier. Europeans brought their wine making (and beer) traditions to the New World, much of it was out of necessity as distilling wine was much safer and healthier than drinking water.
They go into great detail on all the era's of Michigan wine making. Detroit and Windsor became home to many wineries in the early years and a brisk trade developed as the population of Europeans moved into the era and throughout the state.
Around the turn of the 20th Century, winemakers discovered the bounty of Michigan's West side and the area's temperate climate for fruit production. Vineyards were being established all over the Lake Michigan Shoreline, feeding grapes and fruit products to vintners in Detroit.
As the Temperance Movement gained traction, the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919 and ushered in the era of Prohibition, intended to completely shut down all liquor, beer and wine production in the U.S. The chapter on Prohibition is the most fascinating chapter in the book.
Alcohol production and bootlegging became the most productive enterprise in America and was likely the greatest thing to happen as the "Roaring 20's" saw wine, beer and liquor skyrocket. In Detroit and throughout Michigan wine and liquor were flowing freely. The Detroit River became a freeway of commerce between the U.S. and Canada and there were few who observed Prohibition and many saw it as a nuisance or an opportunity. European descendants felt wine and beer making were their birthright and would have nothing to do with it. Farmers in West Michigan grew more grapes and hops than ever feeding a state full of home vintners and brewers. In Detroit, they claim prohibition never really happened.
Many fruit farmers went into non-alcoholic juice production during Prohibition. In Paw Paw, the Welch's Grape Juice Company flourished and created a whole new product in the marketplace.
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment, Michigan was the first state to ratify it. Now that the ban was gone, it created the perfect storm for wine making. The depression in 1929 had slowed things down and there was a huge surplus of grapes at rock-bottom prices. Within days of the repeal, Canadian vintners were flocking to Michigan to set up shop and take advantage of a new "legal" market. One of them was Mariano Meconi who set up shop in Detroit as the Meconi Wine Company.
Most all of the grapes coming into Detroit were grown in Michigan's "fruit belt" on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1936 Meconi visited the West side and decided to move operations to Paw Paw to be closer to the grape supply and the Chicago market. He became one of Michigan's largest winemakers under the name of Italian Wine Company, honoring his Italian heritage, and was making upwards of 350,000 gallons of wine annually. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked and we entered WWII he feared a fascist backlash and changed the name to San Guliano, the patron saint of his hometown in Falieria, Italy. Still fearing fascist overtones, he Anglofied the name and called it St. Julian which is still one of Michigan's largest commercial wineries. There are many more stories like this throughout the book.
The book details the history and circumstances of many Michigan wineries following Prohibition and reviews every one of them operating today. The book is full of stories on survival and the entrepreneurial spirit.
They discuss agricultural development of the state and how Michigan State University has played a role helping create the fruit and wine market. MSU has played a huge role in horticulure by creating grape varities that have helped Michigan compete well in the global wine market. They explore the impact the wine industry has had one nearly every facet of life in the Great Lakes.
The stories of each winery are too numerous to mention here, but is a fascinating read and you'll be captivated by the inside stories of several of Michigan's vintners.
If you want a book that encompasses political, economic, agricultural and social history, this book has it all. You will learn things you never knew about Michigan's booming wine industry and take a look into one of the fastest growing movements in Michigan... Agri-tourism. Since the publishing of this book, dozens of new wineries have opened and prospered in Michigan.
Once you learn all this cool stuff about Michigan and our agricultural bounty, you will want to visit Michigan wineries, with friends of course, and have a greater perspective on where they all came from and how important they've become to Michigan and the Midwest.
Oh yes, you will be looking for Michigan wines on the wine list next time you are in a great restaurant and will be pleased to see a few of them there. Michigan is slowly gaining respect and producing world-class wines that are being noticed.
Enjoy. In Vino Veritas!
