My Bride likes to drive, as compared to me, who only likes driving on freeways away from municipalities; my Bride was a Road Warrior, since I have known her.   As she was driving on main roads in northern Michigan, she pulled into another winery after we left Petoskey, and the winery was Boyne Valley Vineyards.  I mean they are really a relatively new winery, because by the time this article is published, it will be around their Fifth Anniversary.  Now, if you are thinking that I am pulling a fast one on you, let me explain that I have mentioned Boyne before.  There is a Boyne, Boyne Highlands, Boyne Mountain and Boyne Falls in Michigan and while I have mentioned a couple, we have not been to them all. The winery backs up to a scenic one-hundred-thirteen-acre nature preserve.  My Bride thought she had found another winery for us to explore, and as we “bellied” up to the tasting bar, the tasting manager said, that she remembered us, because I write a wine blog.  I wonder what gave me away, was it the note pad that I produced, the questions that I started asking, or was it that I may be the only individual up north with a sport coat and a Panama Straw hat.

We tasted the white wines that were being poured that day.  The wines are aged in plastic tanks for four months.  We had the Boyne Valley Vineyards Estate Itasca White Wine Tip of the Mitt AVA Michigan 2024.  Itasca is a Cold Hardy Grape that was bred at the University of Minnesota in 2002 and released in 2017.  There are some years that the berries turn a pinkish shade, but it is still considered a white variety.  It is a crossing of Frontenac Gris and Seyval.  A soft yellow colored wine that offered notes of pear, melon, citrus and honey.  On the palate this light-bodied wine displayed tones of pear, and melon with moderate acidity and had a short-count finish of fruit and lemon zest.  We also had the Boyne Valley Vineyards Cayuga White Michigan 2023.   Cayuga is also a Cold Hardy grape that is a French American hybrid, found in the Finger Lakes and in Michigan, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.  It is a crossing of Schuyler and Seyval Blanc that was bred in 1945 but not released until 1972. This pale straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of lemon zest and green melon.  On the palate this light-bodied wine displayed tones citrus and melon, some acidity and ending with a short-count finish of fruit and foxing.  We also had Boyne Valley Vineyards La Crescent Tip of the Mitt AVA Michigan 2024.  La Crescent is a Cold Hardy grape developed by the University of Minnesota and is a crossing of Saint-Pepin and a Muscat Hamburg.  This soft yellow colored wine offered notes of pineapple and lemon zest.  On the palate this semi-dry light-bodied wine displayed tones of tropical fruits, stone fruit, and citrus fruit with light acidity and a short-count finish of fruit and lemon-zest.

While we were tasting and discussing wines, I learned that the fruit is manually harvested by friends and family of the winery. The last wine that I will mention is Boyne Valley Vineyards Frontenac Bliss White Wine Tip of the Mitt AVA Michigan 2023.   This wine was aged for four months in plastic tanks, but with the addition of Oak Staves in the tanks.  Frontenac is another French American Cold Hardy grape developed at the University of Minnesota in 1978 from a crossing between Landot Noir (itself a cross between Landal Noir and Villard Blanc) and a native local wild  grape; and it was released in 1996 as Frontenac.  In 1992 a mutation occurred on a Frontenac vine at the Minnesota Horticultural Research Center resulting in a gray grape called Frontenac Gris.  A further mutation occurred and was released in 2012 as Frontenac Blanc.  This wine is a blending of Frontenac Gris and Frontenac Blanc.  This yellow-colored wine offers notes of white fruit, vanilla, caramel and spices.  On the palate this semi-dry light-bodied wine with moderate acidity displayed tones of green apples, stone fruit and a short-count finish of fruit and vanilla.