Shady Lane Cellars takes a high-quality, hands-on approach to sustainable winemaking as Harvest Season begins
SUTTONS BAY, MICH. (Sept. 18, 2024) – When it comes to choosing a bottle at your local wine shop or tasting it at the winery, there are plenty of clues that can lead to just the right bottle.
Topping the list – choose small batch wines from a boutique winery.
At Shady Lane Cellars, Executive Winemaker and General Manager Kasey Wierzba understands the importance of leading a small, boutique winery. She spent part of her career in the Napa Valley before returning to her home state to create wines that are hand crafted, hand-harvested, from the ground up.
“The quality is a step above when it’s a smaller producer,” Wierzba said. “They tend to be really engaged and intentional about every step and process.”
As Harvest Season approaches in northern Michigan, the differences in winemaking processes become even more apparent.
“Being an estate winery, we choose when we pick the grapes,” said Wierzba. “When grapes are picked matters. For example, Pinot Noir grapes that are going to be made into rosé will get a cold soak, so they are picked early morning and processed the same day to ensure fresh fruit flavors and aromas.”
That mindfulness of how and when to pick grapes carries over into all other areas. Boutique wines like those crafted at Shady Lane Cellars follow a sort of farm-to-glass philosophy.
“Hand-harvesting makes a great difference in quality,” said Wierzba. “Our fruit doesn’t sit around. It doesn’t travel. It doesn’t sit on a truck bouncing around or getting squished.”
Just as grapes are handled swiftly and carefully, they are processed in smaller batches, compared to large commercial wineries.
Shady Lane Cellars fermenters accommodate about 1,000 gallons of wine, compared to more commercial operations where the fermenter might hold up to 10,000 gallons. Wierzba and Assistant Winemaker Maddie Vint-McCandless can obtain a good representation of the yeast and fermentation process just by sampling these smaller batches.
“We can control the quality and guarantee a nice, healthy fermentation and that leads to a higher quality wine,” Wierzba said.
To choose a high-quality, boutique wine is simple, look for these tell-tale signs:
- The American Viticultural Area, AVA, shows what grape-growing region the wine comes from. This provides an indication of where and how it was made.
- Boutique wines like Shady Lane Cellars will call out their techniques and important certifications. Look for a note about the wine being hand-harvested, for example. See if the wine is SIP – or Sustainability in Practice – certified to get an idea of the farming and winemaking methods.
- And knowing where your wine comes from is key. Look for a designation that the wine is estate-grown. That means it’s harvested right on site, not purchased from a separate vineyard, where the winemaker has less control over the farming and harvest.
At a winery like Shady Lane Cellars, the entire crew is engaged in processes that lead to higher-quality wine. Wierzba said boutique wineries in particular tend to attract a very close-knit team of self-starters.
“People really want to be part of the process,” she said. “And (a boutique winery) demands it of them. In a larger winery, someone might just be responsible for one aspect all the time. That quickly becomes a grind. Here, we’re really all hands on deck. If you don’t know how to do something, you will learn. This also makes for a more engaging work experience.”
Harvest Season 2024
Vineyard Manager Andy Fles added that this year, the 2024 harvest is looking to begin about a week ahead of schedule this year – just after mid-September.
“We had a challenging year with rainfall and climate but the quality and quantity should be good,” Fles said.
That also means long hours and often requires extra staff.
“We have 12-hour days multiple days in a row,” said Wierzba. “We try to harvest Monday through Friday and give everyone a little break. When it comes to punch downs, pushing the ferment cap, it’s all done manually. This is very labor-intensive. But it gives us the ability to build and to choose different yeasts and different pick times.”
This is the time of year that will dictate the wines sold and consumed for months to come. It’s also the perfect time to visit an estate winery, experience the season at its peak and taste the wines made right on site.
ABOUT SHADY LANE CELLARS
Located at 9580 E. Shady Lane in Suttons Bay, Mich., Shady Lane Cellars produces one of the largest percentages of estate-grown wine in its region. Offering hilltop views of the Leelanau Peninsula in northern Michigan, the winery and its staff create a comfortable approach to wine. The winery was founded in 1999. Since 2017 all Shady Lane Cellars wines are 100 percent estate grown. In 2020, Shady Lane Cellars’ vineyard earned Sustainability in Practice – or SIP Certified – status and renewed this certification just this year. Tours, tasting experiences, events and a wine club membership are all available. Visit www.shadylanecellars.com. Connect on Facebook or Instagram.
