Michigan Wine Country: A Community That Needs a Face

If I mentioned that Michigan has a substantial number of wineries, most of you’d probably say, “Michigan has wineries?!?”  There are actually wineries all over Michigan.  (You can find more info at MichiganWines.com.)

Today I went with my parents to Haslett, Michigan’s Burgdorf Winery to check out their winery.  They don’t grow their own grapes or fruit (they have some awesome fruit wines) but they buy the grape & fruit and then make and sell the wine in this pretty massive addition that put on their house.  It was good.  I walked out of their with a bottle  that I’ll be brining back with me to Washington, DC. 😉

But… unless someone would have told you about Burgdorf, chances are that you would have never have found it.  Much like most Michigan wineries (or so it seems), they completely depend on word-of-mouth as the way to get the word out.

It seems like the Michigan Wine community is in desperate need of a face.  It’s needs an evangelist or a community manager.  It needs a person that you can see and have a relationship with.   It’s in the need of someone who’s going to go out into the world and tell everyone about the wonders of Michigan wine.

Why hasn’t there been more Michigan wine on Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV?

It’d be great if someone did a video blog that chronicled their journeys from winery to winery… talking to wine makers along the way.

You could go around the country and hold tasting parties where you showcase Michigan wine.

Have you had Michigan wine?  If so, what do you think?

What’s a community that you think needs a face?