Archive for December, 2009

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

If our visit to Chateau Fontaine wasn’t quite as exciting as the wild ride that owner Dan Matthies took us on the last time we were there, it was still rewarding on a number of levels.  Dan and wife Lucie Fontaine Matthies are putting out as solid a lineup of wines as ever, and they now have the ubiquitous Shawn Walters making the wines for them. Read the rest of this entry »

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

We pulled into Ciccone Vineyard and Winery, our last Monday appointment, late in the afternoon.  Established in 1995 by Silvio T. (Tony) and Joan Ciccone, the estate is situated on forty acres with a panoramic view of West Grand Traverse Bay to the East and Elm Valley to the West. 16 acres are planted to Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer, Dolcetto, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat, Malbec, Foch and DeChaunac.  Most of the vineyards face west, enjoying the long summer days.

Tony Ciccone is a tell-it-like-it-is kinda guy, and we were utterly charmed by his plain speaking manner and genuine hospitality. And, yes, the wines were quite nice too!  Tony started us off in the standard manner, with two whites. Read the rest of this entry »

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

Click to enlarge

We began our second day of tasting Leelanau at Longview Winery, a producer with which Kim and I had essentially no previous experience.  Owner Alan Eaker comes from a Fine Arts background, having studied ceramics and sculpture before accepting a professorship at the University of South Florida in 1969, where he worked in various capacities until his retirement in 1998, including serving as Chairman of the Fine Arts department from 1984-1989 and as the Director of GraphicStudio, the premier joint public-private venture for research in art at USF from 1989-1995.  He bought land in Leelanau County in 1998 after his wife Linda told him that she wanted to live on a farm, but she wasn’t so sure what to think when he told her that vineyards would be planted there.  Happily, things have turned out very well for the Eakers; the wines they are producing are very fine indeed. Read the rest of this entry »

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

Adam Satchwell - click to enlarge

I met Adam Satchwell, winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars, at a (mostly) rosé tasting last May, and because the pink stuff was my total focus at that event, I didn’t taste through everything he was pouring. We discussed the possibility of visiting him at a later date, however, and lo and behold, there we were, pulling into the tasting room parking lot for our second appointment on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry »

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

Kris Sterkenburg - click to enlarge

The first thing I noticed when we pulled into the parking lot at Gill’s Pier Vineyard and Winery is that the tasting room looks suspiciously like a pole barn, and a second glance quickly confirmed that.  Co-owner Kris Sterkenburg likes to point out just what can be done with a pole barn when you enter the room, and indeed, it’s an elegant, well appointed setting in which to taste the wines that she, husband Ryan and winemaker Bryan Ulbrich produce.  We arrived late in the afternoon on Tuesday for our final appointment of the day, and we were especially pleased to find stools at the tasting bar, which we immediately settled ourselves upon in order to rest our weary feet and limbs. Read the rest of this entry »