TN: 4 Ch. Grand Traverse Rieslings

A few weeks back, Kim and I took the opportunity to return to the Traverse City area for a few days, and we further parlayed that into a visit with Sean O’Keefe, Vice President and Specialty Winemaker at Chateau Grand Traverse (CGT), on the Old Mission Peninsula. CGT is a family-run winery (and now the largest producer in Michigan, having recently surpassed St. Julien), founded in 1974 by Sean’s father, CEO Edward O’Keefe, Sr.; Sean’s brother Edward O’Keefe III serves as President and head of Marketing and Sales.

These are heady times at Chateau Grand Traverse; we’ve enjoyed visiting with Sean in the past and have long been fans of their wines, which have ranged from good to very good to excellent, and many selections from their 2006 vintage not only surpass most of what we’ve tasted to date, they’ve been turning heads all around the county, and indeed, the world. Consider the following:

At the recent 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, four of their wines took Gold Medals; two more took Silver, one a Bronze, and one was given a Platinum Award for Best of Class. They have received numerous medals at other competitions around the country as well, but Los Angeles was the most significant, because it gained CGT entry into the southern California market, a major coup for the first Michigan winery to achieve such placement. Ralph’s supermarkets feature Gold Medal winners from this particular competition throughout its chain, and as a result of their showing, CGT has sold 720 cases for distribution in 130 Ralph’s stores in the LA area, with an eye towards future placement in the San Francisco Bay area as well.

And as if that weren’t enough to make everyone at CGT giddy with delight, there was the inaugural Riesling Rendezvous, held at Chateau St. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington on June 24-26 under the joint sponsorship of that winery and Dr. Loosen, one of the foremost Riesling producers in Germany. Conceived as “an event to bring together leading Riesling experts and producers to explore the versatility of Rieslings from around the world,” more than a few eyes were raised in surprise by the Chateau Grand Traverse selections being poured, as recorded in the following testimonials:

“Categories aside, there were some wonderful Rieslings on display (220 of them, to be exact), and some were from surprising places. Chateau Grand Traverse in Michigan, for example, is making terrific Rieslings in a variety of styles." - Laurie Daniel, San Jose Mercury News

“Perhaps the biggest discovery at the conference for most attendees was the excellence of the Michigan wines - and that Chateau Grand Traverse produces about 65,000 cases.” - Paul Franson, Wines & Vines

“Riesling’s our main thing (and) it’s really boom times for Riesling right now,” Sean told us, and it's not hard to see why, after tasting through the following four wines with him at the winery and then again at home the following week.

2006 Chateau Grand Traverse Old Mission Peninsula Dry Riesling, 12% alc., $9.99: Medium straw in color, with some subtle floral and lime nuances that adorn the green apple aromatics, and as this opens and warms in the glass, an unmistakable note of lanolin emerges; these impressions all follow through nicely on the palate, underscored with good minerality and driven along by excellent acidity on a medium to medium-full bodied frame. The lanolin, usually an attribute more associated with white Rhônes, doesn’t exactly dominate the personality of the wine, but it does set a tone and adds a distinctive characteristic. One of the three best dry Rieslings from Michigan that I’ve had to date (those from Wyncroft and Left Foot Charley being the others), and an excellent QPR value.
Gold Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Bronze Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

2006 Chateau Grand Traverse Old Mission Peninsula Semi-dry Riesling, 12% alc., $12.99: Medium straw color with a tinge of lemon; modest perfumed apple and peach aromatics echo and expand dramatically on the palate with undertones of lime, pine and some nice minerality. Medium bodied and then some, slightly oily in texture, with good acids and length; rich, delicious fruit with Kabinett levels of sweetness. All in all, a very enjoyable Riesling that I will buy more of for personal consumption.
Silver Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Bronze Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

2006 Chateau Grand Traverse Old Mission Peninsula Whole Cluster Riesling, 12% alc., $14.99: Another one of Sean’s special projects, and my favorite of the CGT Rieslings, this pale straw colored wine was made from hand selected grape clusters pressed whole without destemming or crushing, which then underwent a very cool (42º F) fermentation to draw the process out. Off dry, at under 1% residual sugar, it dishes out rich, generous red and green apple flavors and aromas shaded with a hint o’ lime and good minerality; it’s a bit more than medium bodied, with good weight and beautiful concentration. I love this wine.
Gold Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Bronze Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

2006 Chateau Grand Traverse Michigan Late Harvest Riesling, Harvest Sugar 21.0º Brix, 4.6º Brix residual sweetness, 10.5% alc., $14.99: This wine is hugely popular in the Michigan marketplace, and CGT produces over 10,000 cases a year, but despite being released in the spring, it’s an even bet that there won’t be much around by Christmas. This year’s model is medium straw in color, and offers apple, peach and apricot flavors and aromas with Spatlese levels of sweetness and enough minerality to add another dimension and keep it from being just another simple sweet white from northern Michigan. Rich, round and crisp, with good acids and length, this certainly would serve well as an after-dinner sipper, but for me, it is a wine to pair with some spicy Thai or Indian cuisine, or perhaps even better, some fresh pan fried northern Michigan trout. Best of all, a recent taste of the 2002 shows that it has the stuffing to age and develop with some time in the cellar, IF you can keep your hands off of it now.
Gold Medal - 2007 Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition, CA
Gold Medal - 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition

Like more and more of what's coming out of our home state, these and others from CGT aren't just very good wines "for Michigan," they're very good wines, period.

-from Chateau Grand Traverse: Where Riesling is King

Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.

We, New Yorkers, posted here last year and earlier about the fine quality of the wines we found in the Traverse City area. Those posting also noted that the prices seemed somewhat high compared to those in the Finger Lakes.

If the CGT prices geo t. reports are representative of Traverse City then the price difference has largely disappeared. Fine wines in the $10 - $15 range still can be found in the Finger Lakes, but more from lesser known producers and you have to look. Have CGT's prices gone down (that seems unlikely), are they low by Traverse City standards, or has the rise in Finger Lakes prices simply narrowed the difference?

All of the above Dan, all of the above. I am another fan of CGT wines and will pickup a case or two while I visit Ann Arbor starting tomorrow. It is a shame though that Sean doesn't come down to Ann Arbor for the Mo'Cool weekend though! So there Sean, consider yourself called out!

We, New Yorkers, posted here last year and earlier about the fine quality of the wines we found in the Traverse City area. Those posting also noted that the prices seemed somewhat high compared to those in the Finger Lakes.

If the CGT prices geo t. reports are representative of Traverse City then the price difference has largely disappeared. Fine wines in the $10 - $15 range still can be found in the Finger Lakes, but more from lesser known producers and you have to look. Have CGT's prices gone down (that seems unlikely), are they low by Traverse City standards, or has the rise in Finger Lakes prices simply narrowed the difference?

I doubt that CGT has lowered many of their prices, Dan, but I don't think that they've raised them much either; the LH Riesling has gone up a buck or two over the last four years or so. It's hard to know how to respond further to your question without knowing which Traverse wines at what prices you tried last year.

Geo t. wrote:

It's hard to know how to respond further to your question without knowing which Traverse wines at what prices you tried last year.

I dug out the message referred to in my earlier post. It's at http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/vil ... 8403#48403

Here are the relevant grafs:

"Our AWS tasting of Michigan wines was held last week. The wines again: '04 Left Foot Charley Dry Riesling, '05 Chateau Grand Traverse Riesling (Whole Cluster), '04 Peninsula Cellars Semi-Dry Riesling, '05 Peninsula Cellars Manigold Vineyard Gewurztraminer, '05 Domaine Berrien Pinot Noir, '05 Domaine Berrien Viognier, '03 Lemon Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, and '03 St. Julian Meritage Braganini Reserve."

"The Michigan wines were a big hit. The Peninsula Cellars Gewurztraminer was the overall favorite with the CGT Riesling a close second. Several people remarked that the $18 average price was high. We felt the same when visiting the wineries."

Dan, are these prices what you paid at the winery? It seems to me I have seen much lower prices for the wines of Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula in retail stores, than at the wineries. I'm not sure why that is - a desire not to undercut retailers perhaps - but it's a fact.
As for the quality of CGT wines - add another voice to the chorus. In fact, I think I'll run out and get a couple to bring to semi-cool this weekend.
Thanks, geo, for the reviews of the new crop. Looking forward to it.

O. W. wrote:

Dan, are these prices what you paid at the winery?

Yep, except the Left Foot Charley Riesling bought at the ?Blue Boat? in Traverse City.

O. W. wrote:

Dan, are these prices what you paid at the winery?

Yep, except the Left Foot Charley Riesling bought at the ?Blue Boat? in Traverse City.

Blue Goat, same place I got my 1st batch of Bryan's wines. I think that the prices are quite fair for what's in the bottle.

Just my 2 oz.,

geo

After replying to O. W. that almost all my purchases were made at Michigan wineries, it occurred to me that I had assumed that the prices geo. t. quoted for the CGT wines also were from the winery. True?

After replying to O. W. that almost all my purchases were made at Michigan wineries, it occurred to me that I had assumed that the prices geo. t. quoted for the CGT wines also were from the winery. True?

Actually, the prices listed in my notes are those that I sell them for in the wine department that I manage. Most are about a buck more than those at the winery; the Dry Riesling is a buck less.

I know this is an older thread - but replied because my DH and I vacationed in Traverse City this past September. We did a small wine tasting at Chateau Chantal (after having driven past it several times and commenting on the appearance we decided we had to stop )

We sampled their dry Reisling, semi-dry Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir & Malbec

All were good - I prefer a dry Gewurz for with food (often serve with Chinese or grilled/smoked fish). DH (not much of a wine drinker) liked the Malbec - purchased a bottle to serve with a good, garlicky steak.

I have to say - the views were beautiful - can see both the east and west arms of the Grand Traverse Bay. We're hoping to go back this fall and do an expanded tour of this and other Old Mission wineries.

I know this is an older thread - but replied because my DH and I vacationed in Traverse City this past September. We did a small wine tasting at Chateau Chantal (after having driven past it several times and commenting on the appearance we decided we had to stop )

We sampled their dry Reisling, semi-dry Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir & Malbec

All were good - I prefer a dry Gewurz for with food (often serve with Chinese or grilled/smoked fish). DH (not much of a wine drinker) liked the Malbec - purchased a bottle to serve with a good, garlicky steak.

I have to say - the views were beautiful - can see both the east and west arms of the Grand Traverse Bay. We're hoping to go back this fall and do an expanded tour of this and other Old Mission wineries.

Edie, if there is a prettier place on earth that the TVC area, I don't know where it is. and while I prefer the white wines from around there, I really really like the Ch. Grand Traverse reserve gamay noir. Try it if you get the chance.

Edie, if there is a prettier place on earth that the TVC area, I don't know where it is. and while I prefer the white wines from around there, I really really like the Ch. Grand Traverse reserve gamay noir. Try it if you get the chance.

I haven't found a prettier place either - health and finances allowing - we hope to retire there.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Gamay Noir - will be sure and check it out this coming September.

edie

here's a view of a vineyard we passed - overlooks the west arm of the bay