Forty-Five North’s Tasting Room is Open
Forty-Five North opened its temporary tasting room earlier this month at its production facility at 8580 E. Horn Rd., northeast of Lake Leelanau. Their "real" tasting room is a 120-year-old barn that was disassembled in Wyoming, Michigan, transported to the vineyard and, as owner Steve Grossnickle blogs, "is now in the process of being raised as a rustic, nostalgic remembrance of the past." It should be ready to welcome tasters this fall. Check out the new wines they're offering! Sounds like there's something for all tastes. Here's the list from Steve's blog:
Peach Cremant - Our 45 White table wine with peach essence from local orchards, sparkled to help drive the bouquet into one's nostrils. Fabulous on a hot day as it's both refreshing and tingling.
Cherry Dessert - Dry-fermented Balaton cherry wine, aged in freshly emptied bourbon barrels from the Buffalo Trace Distillery and fortified with cherry brandy. It's a brandied cherry with a turbo boost that was nicknamed "Cherry Bomb" by my son, Brian, although I thought it best described as "Forty-Fied Forty-Five" or cherry essence raised to the 45th power.
Sparkling Pinot Noir Rose - Our Best of Class Rose at the Pacific Rim Competition, sparkled to intensify the bouquet and bone-dry the long taste.
Icebox Pinot Gris - Our answer to ice wine, made from late harvest pinot gris grapes bursting with juice, starting 46 degree brix fermented to 23 degree brix and residual sugar of 20% that is tamed by it's very high acidity. Truly the whip cream for dessert.
Cherry Wine - Of classic up-north style, the sweetest of Balaton cherries fermented leaving a residual sugar of 4% with both still and sparkling products. Simply opening it will conjure up remembrances of northern Michigan.
Apple Wine - Made with organic apples from the orchard of Northern Naturals, organic makes this truly a health drink.
Sparkling Hard Apple Cider - Made from organic antique heirloom apples and, editorially speaking, a favorite of the author. At 6% alcohol even the heartiest beer drinker can savor this.
Peach-Apricot Mead - Northern Michigan honey, peaches, and apricots fermented together to blend another memory building taste experience.
45 North is open for tasting Friday, noon to 5 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
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