A good glass of wine...

A friend, Greta Hurst of Tabula Rasa Gallery in Baroda, recently attended the 5^th Annual Southwest Michigan Wine Evaluation at Lake Michigan College, Mendel Center in Benton Harbor. It was a serious, day-long event where Michigan wineries brought their wines to be blind tasted by 40 winemakers, chefs, restaurateurs, grape growers, wine enthusiasts, AND three highly trained sommeliers. Michigan wines have a reputation for being too sweet for serious oenophiles who historically have tended to dismiss them. They may need to rethink that.

Participants tasted 59 different wines grouped into ten varietals: Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux Blend and Cabernet Sauvignon. Each category included at least one wine from outside the region as the benchmark for that particular varietal.

The goal:

• to unemotionally evaluate local wines against a benchmark and provide consistent feedback to winemakers as they work to raise the bar on Michigan wine.

Bottom line? Tasters unanimously chose Michigan wines over benchmark wines every time.

I expect this was a lovely way to spend a day and appreciate learning of it from Greta. Hats off to Southwest Michigan’s wine country!