The five sisters all wanted to go shopping in Traverse City, some had never been there, and none of them truly needed a reason to go shopping.  Now my Bride really enjoys shopping and she was leading the way, especially to some of her favorite haunts.   One of the sisters insisted that she had to go to the Grand Traverse Distillery to get a certain beverage that isn’t sold, but at the Traverse City location, at least that is what her one son said, so she was on a mission. 

While she was on a mission to get that purchase and whatever else might please her fancy, I wandered over to the other side, and they were offering tastes and sales from a couple of local wineries as well.  The young man that was helping me, decided that perhaps, I could help him, in his pursuit of knowledge about wines, as he was observing me taking photos and writing my cryptic notes in my spidery long hand.  The first wine that I tried was from a winery that my Bride and I had visited before, and I tried the Brengman Brothers Riesling Kabinett Crain Hill Vineyard Leelanau Peninsula 2021.  Two brothers Ed and Robert Brengman began their dream of being winemakers in 2003 with the purchase of Crain Hill Vineyard.  They now make besides wine; vermouth, brandy and have started a distillery as well.  The Riesling Kabinett is a medium-dry wine, I opined that Kabinett has no real status in America, as compared to Germany and Austria, but it was an excellent marketing choice.  There were no production notes offered by the winery, so I will just describe the wine.  The wine is a soft-yellow colored wine offered notes of citrus, white florals, and some candle wax.  On the palette there were tones of lemons and limes with some good acidity and a finish of more fruit.  A very easy drinking wine that would be a crowd pleaser. 

I then tried three wines from Shady Lane Cellars on Leelanau Peninsula, a small, but industrious winery that produces about seven-thousand bottles of wine each year.  We have been to the winery in previous trips to the region.  The wines I tried were the Coop de Blanc Estate Leelanau Peninsula 2017, the Semi-Dry Riesling Estate Leelanau Peninsula 2019, and the Cabernet Franc Estate Leelanau Peninsula 2018.  The estate vineyard was first planted in 1989 and their tasting room opened in 1999 and they are one of the original twelve vineyards on the Leelanau Peninsula.  Richard Fortune was originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, but his family had been visiting the region for about fifty years.  He built a home and started a vineyard named Hennessey Harbor Vineyards and in 2013 he became the owner of Shady Lane Cellars.  Shady Lane Cellars now owns just over sixty acres in two distinct vineyards.  The Coop de Blanc is pure Vignoles and the first grape of the harvest.  Vignoles is a cold-hardy hybrid bred by J. Ravat in the 1930’s in France, and is basically grown in the northern and midwestern state of America.  The parents are thought to be either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, but it is no longer sanctioned in France, but has found a home here.  A pretty golden colored wine that offers notes of tropical fruits, white florals and ginger.  On the palate there were tones of pineapple, tangerines, a touch of honey and a tinge of ginger.  It has nice acidity, refreshing and bit sweeter than I usually drink, but I found it enjoyable, and I think that I would enjoy it with some fried chicken.  I then had the Semi-Dry Riesling made from four different clones and fermented in small batches and aged in Stainless Steel for a bit.  The straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of citrus and orange blossoms.  On the palette there were tones of green apples and citrus with some bright acidity and crispness.  The Cabernet Franc had Initial Fermentation for nineteen days in open-top bins with four different strains of yeast.  The Malolactic Fermentation began after the wine was placed in French Oak barrels and were aged for eighteen months.  A nice garnet red wine that offered notes of dark fruits, pomegranate, and violets.  A pretty wine that offered tones of dark cherries, and baking spices with fine tannins and balance acidity.  An enjoyable wine.