New York State growers are expecting a bountiful grape harvest in 2009, hopefully with the great quality levels of the past few years. Even for grapes for which we are most well known, like Riesling and Cabernet Franc, there will be a surplus. So the New York Wine & Grape Foundation (NYWGF) is partnering with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) to try to find “homes” for these wonderful grapes.

-- Letter to Michigan wineries from Jim Trezise
President, New York Wine & Grape Foundation

JULY 3 - New York wineries have a problem, and they hope Michigan wineries have the opposite problem.

In the next few days, every Michigan winery will get a letter from Jim Trezise, President of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. Its message: We have surplus grapes to sell. Are you interested in buying?

To facilitate transactions, the Foundation and Cornell's Extension Service created a Grape & Wine classified ad website. Only New Yorkers can list grapes and bulk wine for sale -- but buyers from anywhere are welcome.

New York wineries and growers currently offer 46 lots of grapes and ten of finished wine for sale on the site.

4 Best of Class, 4 double gold, 11 gold at Indy Competition

Four Michigan wines took Best of Class and four got double gold at the Indy International Wine Competition on June 16 - 18.  Eleven Michigan wines took gold medals. St. Julian led the way with two Best of Class, a double gold and three golds.

Best of Class at Indy

• Burgdorf's: NV Perfection (tart cherry)
• Mackinaw Trail: NV "Big Red" (Chancellor)
• St. Julian: NV Catawba, NV Niagara

Double gold medals at Indy

• Burgdorf's: NV Perfection (tart cherry)
• Brys Estate: 2007 "Artisan" Cabernet Franc
• Chateau Chantal: 2007 Cabernet Franc Proprietor's Reserve, Krupka Vineyard
• St. Julian: 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Braganini Reserve

Gold medals at Indy

• Brys Estate: 2008 Naked Chardonnay
• Cascade: NV Raspberry / Chocolate Silk
• Gill's Pier: 2007 Cabernet Franc /  Merlot
• Leelanau Cellars: 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling, 2008 Botrytis Vignoles
• Sandhill Crane: NV Raspberry
• St. Julian: NV Catawba, 2008 Traminette Braganini Reserve, NV Niagara
• Tabor Hill: 2004 Cabernet Franc Port, 2008 Riesling

Michigan medal winners from other recent competitions:

Did you hear the one about the airline pilot winery owner with a runway in his back yard, a VIP tasting room in his basement, and a crush pad in his airplane hangar -- right next to the vintage Cessna?

If that sounds like the lead-in to a bad joke, you'd better straighten up and fly right. Chateau Aeronautique is getting ready to take off this later this summer.

Owner Lorenzo Lizarralde, who captains a DC-9 for Delta at Detroit Metro, recently broke ground for a tasting room in an unlikely spot: next to his aero park home, ten minutes north of Jackson and a short taxi from that backyard runway.

Lizarralde, 48, uses the insulated hangar attached to his house for grape hoppers, a crusher and other vinous paraphernalia, making him Michigan's first hangariste winemaker.

But the winery equipment shares space with the building's primary occupant: the mint-condition 1956 Cessna he flies in his spare time.

Bill and Lisa Hendricks: A vine grows in Brighton

Is there more to learn about where we can plant vineyards?

It's even less likely than discovering an airplane hangar winery near Jackson that makes high-quality wine.

But many of its top grapes come from a vineyard just north of Brighton. That's a Livingston County exurb, 40 miles northwest of Detroit, without a trace of climate-moderating lake effect in sight.

Don't believe it? Ask Bill Hendricks, owner of Glaciers Edge Farms. His 11 varietals, growing on three-plus acres, survived the mean winter of 2008-9 and a record-tying late May frost with little visible damage. That's more than many growers elsewhere in Michigan can say.

This year marks the fifth vintage for most of his vines. Among the grapes thriving on the property: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Summertime... and the sippin' is easy. No wine goes with warm weather like a bright, fruity glass of chilled Rosé.

Rosés -- in various hues of pink and orange -- are riding a surge of popularity after two decades in the wilderness, following a consumer backlash against blush wines like the unfortunately-named White Zinfandel. Sales flew up 22% in 2008, while overall wine consumption rose just 5%.

The assortment of Michigan Rosé is also growing, the overwhelming majority made from Cabernet Franc or Pinot Noir grapes.

For these reviews, MichWine's tasting panel sampled 11 different Michigan Rosés. Some were clearly better than others, but we could enjoy a glass of any of them on a hot summer day. Part of the attraction: a variety of styles and sweetness make it easy to find one you like, or to accompany the food you plan to serve.

Our top three wines perfectly illustrate the point. They begin with two grapes from three different growing regions, and represent three completely different styles of wine.

The top-scoring wine, 2008 Forty-Five North Pinot Noir Rosé (90 points), is noticeably off-dry, bursting with bright fruit flavors set against a stiff acid backbone. Right behind (89 points) are 2008 Tabor Hill Cabernet Franc Rosé, bone dry and food-friendly, and 2008 2 Lads Cabernet Franc Rosé, slighly off-dry, nearly red in color and deep in flavor.

IN THE PINK:  REVIEWS OF TEN ROSÉS
        REVIEW NOTES by Chris Kassel and the MichWine Tasters
        ROSÉ ADORES FOOD -- AND THE FEELING IS MUTUAL!
                 by Master Sommelier Claudia Tyagi
        FAQ about MichWine's review procedures and tasting panel