MAY 21; UPDATED MAY 28 -- If you like to support charity while you sip Michigan wine, here's your chance. Two southern Michigan wineries have agreed to donate a share of the proceeds from new wines to charities, one local and one national.

Jackson's Sandhill Crane will donate $4 from each bottle of its 2007 "Legacy" to the local Legacy Land Conservancy. The wine, a dry blend of half Chardonnay and half Vignoles, sells at the winery for $20.

And Paw Paw-based St. Julian is supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation with a donation from each bottle of "Simply Pink", a semi-dry rosé that sells for $8. The wine, with a pink ribbon on its label, blends Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Both wines carry a Michigan appellation, and both wineries' owners have strong personal interests in the causes they're supporting.

Sandhill Crane's Legacy

Legacy -- which recently won a gold medal at the Great Lakes Wine Competition -- commemorates a new name and mission for the Washtenaw Land Trust, which has worked in Washtenaw County since 1971 to preserve open spaces and farmland. Their recent expansion into Jackson County created the impetus for the name change.

The wine combines 50% Vignoles fom Sandhill Crane's vineyard near Jackson with 50% Chardonnay from a Lake Michigan Shore grower.

"The Conservancy is now a blend of two counties, and our Legacy wine -- which blends two different grapes grown in two places -- is a symbol of what they're doing," explained Heather Price, Executive Director of Sandhill Crane.

"Our winery is right on the edge of the Waterloo Recreation area, where the Land Conservancy does a lot of work," she said.

The winery produced 100 cases of Legacy, which is also available for sale at both Whole Foods Markets in Ann Arbor.

Simply Pink is a personal project for St. Julian President David Braganini, whose mother died of breast cancer at age 45, in 1971.

"Everyone you talk to has a breast cancer story," said Braganini, a longtime local supporter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 

St. Julian plans to produce the wine every year "from here to eternity," according to Braganini. "This will be an ongoing thing, not a one-shot deal. It's a line extension to our Simply Red."

St. Julian produced 1200 cases for its first release of Simply Pink, which is currently available through St. Julian tasting rooms and the winery's online store.

Limited quantities will soon be distributed through the winery's wholesale channels. Increased production from 2009 and future vintages will allow distribution to the winery's full range of retail customers, Braganini said.

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Legacy photo courtesy of Mary Morgan / The Ann Arbor Chronicle

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