A recent visit to the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail by a notable wine guru has garnered some great vibes for a couple of local wineries, including Dr. Dave Miller’s White Pine Winery in the heart of downtown St. Joseph.
Richard Leahy, a wine author and wine industry consultant specializing in regional wines east of the Rockies, spent some time at the end of August in Michigan’s Great Southwest and is now sharing his thoughts in his online Blog where he gives Dr. Dave some high marks for his wine-making prowess.
Leahy has been reporting on the wines of Virginia and other regional wine states since 1986. He works with numerous wineries, associations and state agencies, and is the Conference Manager for the largest wine industry trade show on the East Coast, the Eastern Winery Exposition.
In late August he came to St. Joe to, as he put it, “Do some writing,” but he also had another agenda to visit a couple of the wine tasting rooms in the region. His first such visit was to White Pine Winery in downtown St. Joseph largely based on Dr. Dave’s recognition in the eastern U.S. stemming from his work at Michigan State University.
In telling of White Pine’s wines, Leahy says, “All the grapes used come from within the Lake Michigan Shore AVA,” and adds, “I’m pleased to say that the quality was both high and consistent, and also skillfully showed the terroir of the region, which is much like the Finger Lakes of NY without the intensity of the latter’s vivid fruit and acidity. Clean, bright, fresh, cool climate but not ‘edgy’, rather easy to drink, is how I’d describe the wines of the Lake Michigan Shore.”
That assessment brings a huge smile to Dr. Dave’s face, and he’s been sharing a link to Leahy’s Blog since finding it online. The renowned wine guru, Leahy, also tells of a visit to the Fenn Valley tasting room at Saugatuck and provides tasting notes from both White Pine and Fenn Valley which you can read for yourself in his Blog which I have linked below.
Leahy’s comprehensive book on Virginia wine, Beyond Jefferson’s Vines, in a second edition of 2014, is now available on Amazon and Kindle. He became well-known in the Eastern wine industry as East Coast Editor for Vineyard & Winery Management, and is the Mid-Atlantic and Southern Editor for the ground-breaking Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America (2000), a regional editor for Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide and assisted Steve DeLong on his recent Wine Tasting Notebook.
Mr. Leahy is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers, professional organization of leading wine journalists based in the U.K. He was the Executive Director of the Virginia Wine Experience in London in May 2007. The event was timed to coordinate with the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement and was a huge success in attracting the attention of leading British wine writers such as Steven Spurrier and Oz Clarke. Richard has consulted to a range of clients from start-up vineyards to well-established wineries, and state wine and agriculture organizations, so it’s understandable that wine makers and winery owners were happy to host his visits here in the region.
As Patrick Duffeler, Proprietor of the Williamsburg Winery says, “Richard Leahy is a true, high caliber wine industry professional. He knows wines, has an excellent palate and appreciates the business dimensions of the wine industry. He brings the correct background and expertise to consult and assist in a start-up operation of for the development of a winery that sees growth as its objective.”
If you’d like to see what Mr. Leahy had to say about the area and some of the wines found here, click the link below to read his piece, “Enjoying Wine (and the Lake) Country of the Lake Michigan Shore,” regarding his August 2018 visit.
