Wine on the 45th Parallel: Michigan's Cool-Climate Boom

Mention American wine country and people picture California. But draw a line around the 45th parallel and it cuts right across northern Michigan. That same latitude runs through France’s Bordeaux and Italy’s Piedmont. Up near Traverse City, that happy accident of geography has grown into a serious wine region.

The stars are two slender peninsulas reaching into Grand Traverse Bay. The Leelanau Peninsula (recognized as a wine region in 1982) and the narrow Old Mission Peninsula (1987) are cradled by big water on nearly every side. That water is the whole trick. Lake Michigan and the bay moderate the temperature. They stretch out the growing season and protect the vines from frost. The result is bright, cool-climate wine. Above all it is Riesling, which one Old Mission grower flatly calls “king.” Then come Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, and sparkling wines.

It started with a handful of pioneers in the 1970s. Michigan has grown to roughly a hundred wineries across five recognized growing areas. Most of the bottles never leave the Midwest. So the best way to get to know Michigan wine is still to drive up, wander a peninsula, and taste it where it’s grown.