White Pine Winery
Southwest Michigan Winery and tasting room
Spring News From the Vineyard and Winery
We’re having a Spring White and Rose’ SALE just in time for warmer weather! We are offering 10% off 4 bottles; 15% off 6 bottles and 20% off 12 or more bottles, mix and match (does not include Effervescence or Ice Wine). Our award winning white and rose’ wines are perfect with summer foods or by themselves on the deck with friends. Take this opportunity to fill your wine rack with White Pine whites and Lady Slipper Rose’
White Pine is open daily for wine tasting and we have some great wines for you to enjoy! Our newly released 2021 Reserve Cabernet franc; 2022 Reserve Teroldego and our 2022 Dry Riesling. Each wine demonstrates the beautiful varietal character developed by these grapes in our Michigan climate. The reds show intense deep ruby red color, great length on the palate and a broad range of flavors derived from the grapes, the fermentation process and aging for 12 months in French Oak barrels. Our white wines show bright, forward fruit in the aroma and on the palate. Crisp acidity perfectly balances these wines and makes them great for sipping with a meal or on the deck or patio.
Vineyard News:
Winter was mild with one cold snap in January. That one cold snap damaged buds on vinifera vines throughout southwest Michigan (e.g. Riesling, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Chardonnay) so there will be a small crop at best on those varieties. Our resistant hybrid varieties like Chambourcin, Marquette and Traminette should make a good crop. There is still a risk of frost through Mother’s Day so our fingers are crossed that the buds are able to open after the last frost!
Winery News:
In the cellar we are preparing to bottle our 2022 vintage whites and rose’. Muscat Ottonel, Pinot grigio, Reserve Riesling, Traminette and Lady Slipper Rose’ will be bottled soon with Dry Riesling and Chardonnay still aging on their lees in barrels for added complexity and depth. The 2023 reserve red wines will continue resting in barrels and going through what the French call ‘elevage’ or an “elevation” from coarse, young wines to elegant, refined wines. The 2022 reds were bottled in January and are aging in bottles before being released.
Our current releases of wines are receiving rave reviews from our customers. Taste them yourself and see what all the fuss is about!
Upcoming Events
Antiques on the Bluff: First Sunday of the month May through October
Memorial Day Parade: Friday, May 24th, 12:00 pm.
St Joe Farmer’s Market: Saturdays May 25th through October 12th, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.
Lake Bluff Artisan Fair: Saturday June 1st, 10:00am – 3:00pm.
Maker’s Trail Festival: Saturday June 8th, Weko Beach, Bridgman, MI 1:00 – 7:00 pm.
Friday Night Concert Series: Fridays July 14th – September 1st, 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Bandshell
Retail Locations & Restaurants
Our wines can be purchased at these retail locations:
Liquour Locker - St. Joseph, MI
Liquor Cabinet - St. Joseph, MI
Total Wine & More - Grand Rapids, MI
Total Wine & More - Ann Arbor, MI
Total Wine & More - Sterling Heights, MI
Total Wine & More - Novi, MI
Total Wine & More - Rochester Hills, MI
And these fine restaurants:
Bistro on the Boulevard - St. Joseph, MI
Clementine's Too, St. Joseph, MI
Tello's - South Haven, MI
Tim's Too, St. Joseph, MI
Where to find White Pine wines around southwest Michigan
When you are looking for White Pine wines and don't want to make the trip downtown, you can find them around the area in these fine shops:
Liquor Locker
Liquor Cabinet
Lambrecht's Liquors
Mini Mart in St Joe (New in 2019!)
Hardings of Richland (New in 2019)
We also share a tasting room with Red Cedar Spirits in East Lansing where you can find a selection of our best selling wines alongside the amazing creations of Red Cedar Spirits.
We only offer our wines in shops that fully support the growing wine industry in southwest Michigan!
Our wines can also be found in these fine restaurants that support local wines:
Silver Beach Pizza
Tim's Too
Clementines Too
Schu's
Bistro on The Boulevard
Coach's Bar and Grill
Spring in the Vineyard
It's spring time! TIme to finish pruning the bearing vines and get the young vines ready for the growing season. We cut back the vines to 4 or 5 buds at the base in their 2nd season so they can grow a strong shoot that will become the trunk for the new vine. The grow tubes protect the new growth from wind, deer and weed sprays. Very soon we will build the trellis for these vines. Stay tuned as we show you their progress this year!
Grapevines in Winter
Grapevine response to cold weather:
I am often asked how grapevines respond to winter weather. Especially given the crazy weather we’ve had the last couple of winters. In summer, it’s obvious if vines are stressed from drought or nutrient deficiencies. But in winter it’s not so obvious. So how do perennial plants like trees and grapevines respond to winter weather?
Grapevines, like all woody plants, take cues from the environment. During the long days of summer, the vines are growing and making grapes. They could not go dormant during that period if they had to. But as the days grow shorter toward the end of summer, the vines are able to detect that the change of seasons is coming and respond by storing starch reserves in their roots and trunks. They detect a change in the ratio of red light to far – red light that occurs as the days grow shorter. The green shoots that grew all summer begin to turn brown and woody so they can over - winter and carry next year’s crop. As the shoots turn brown or “lignify” they become tolerant of cold temperatures and can survive a frost. As the crop ripens the plant becomes more and more prepared for the cold winter months ahead. Finally, the leaves fall and the vine becomes dormant.
So what happens if there is warm weather during the winter? As it turns out, the vines do not achieve their maximum level of hardiness until there has been sub-freezing temperatures for several days. The vines become more tolerant of deep cold as they head into the coldest part of winter. During this time the vines are in what is called “enforced dormancy”. During this period they cannot begin to grow, no matter what the weather does. If you took a cutting of an over wintering cane into your house and put it in water it would not grow. This protects the plants from responding to warm temperatures and starting to grow in the middle of winter. As winter continues however, the vines are able to measure the passing of time so they “know” when to begin growing. The actual mechanism is not fully understood but the plants need a certain amount of time at temperatures between freezing and 40⁰ F to complete what is called their “chilling” requirement. This mechanism gives the plants a way to measure time during winter and allows them to begin coming out of dormancy once the chilling requirement is met.
The period when enforced dormancy ends is called “eco-dormancy” because now the vines depend on cool temperatures to keep them dormant. Once the temperatures warm the vines begin to grow again.
Understanding that plants have a way to measure time while dormant is fascinating and it helps us understand when plants might become vulnerable to environmental damage like winter injury or frost injury in spring.
Let’s look at our current weather for an example. The weather turned cold in December and stayed cold for several weeks. When the temperature stays below the freezing point the plant gets no chilling time. Now, in January, we are having a thaw and the temperatures are forecast to be above freezing for a week or more. During this time the vines are fulfilling their chilling requirements and are moving closer to being able to begin their climb out of deep dormancy toward bud burst in spring. What we don’t want right now is too much of this mild weather. If that were to happen the vines might begin to come out of deep dormancy before the coldest part of winter has passed which might lead to winter injury. Additionally, the more chilling the vines get now the sooner they will be likely to come out of dormancy. This sets the stage for early growth and then frost damage in spring. That’s what happened in 2012 when we had 10 days of 80⁰ weather in March. All of the fruit trees started to grow and bloomed. Then there were a series of frosts in April that killed the blossoms and there was virtually no tree fruit in Michigan that year.
So even in the middle of winter, the woody plants are alive and sensing the environment around them. They are measuring the passing of time and getting ready to start growing in spring so they can make another crop and complete another growth cycle. It is truly an amazing process and we have the privilege to watch it happen – if we just take the time to slow down and look.
Cheers!
Dave Miller