Grapes like warm temperatures and sunny skies, just like people do.

That’s the observation of winemaker Bruce Simpson, who wrapped up the harvest at Good Harbor Vineyard and Winery Monday.

“They’re in the tank and were already starting to rack some,” Simpson said. “We’re done about a week early because of this summer’s warm temperatures.”

Unseasonably warm and dry weather over the summer hastened the development of all county fruit crops, including cherries, apples and grapes. And while drought conditions had a negative effect on grape size, quality was reported to be good to excellent.

“Quality is unparalleled this year. The grape crop is high in sugar and just the right acid balance,” he said. “It makes for lazy wine making because you don’t have to add anything to them. Just smash them and let them do their thing.”

Alan Eaker, owner of Longview Winery, wrapped up harvest of his 10 acres of grapes Tuesday.

“We harvested the last of our Cabernet Franc yesterday,” said Eaker Wednesday morning of the variety that produces Longview’s “signature” wines. “The juice is in the bins and we’re going to inoculate it this morning.”
Encouraged by the growing enthusiasm for the wine made under the direction of Shawn Walters, Eaker said he has prepared to plant six more acres on his Gill’s Pier area farm in Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

“We’ve won gold medals for our Pinot Gris wines. We have some Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Blanc will be a nice addition to the viable list of varietal grapes which grow here on the peninsula,” Eaker said.

Eaker’s vineyard is located separate from Longview’s tasting room, which sits at the “fork in the road” on the north end of Cedar, where County Road 645 splits with County Road 651. The tasting room is in the same building that houses the Cedar Rustic Inn.

“We’re located at Main and Main here and have had plenty of traffic this fall,” he said. “We’ve sold out of four different wines we made in 2006 … I’m optimistic about the future.”

Although a good number of the county’s wine is produced (and tasted) along the M-22 corridor, Eaker notes there is a growing number of wineries going in west of the highway and west of the 20-mile long Lake Leelanau that bisects the peninsula.

“With Good Harbor, Fontaine, Bel Lago, Longview and now 45th North… we are starting to build a loop,” he said. “It should be good for everybody.”
Like the state’s grape production, which is expected to come in 5 percent higher than the Michigan Department of Agriculture’s forecast and three times higher than the state’s frost-devastated crop of 2006, apple production in northern Michigan is also good.

“It was a very big crop for us,” said Elmer Hohnke, whose family farm includes 15 acres of apples in Centerville Township. He and other farmers were concerned that drought conditions would dwarf fruit size. That didn’t happen this year. “I don’t know how it happened, but when does, you just accept it.”

There was another exception to the rule this year. During a typical harvest, Hohnke said there’s one variety that doesn’t produce.

“Every variety had a crop,” he said.