Brewvine: Verterra Winery

With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, a lot of people will be celebrating with a glass of champagne or sparkling wine.

In this week’s Brewvine Whitney Amann and photojournalist Jeremy Erickson take you to in Leelanau County to tell you why you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to open a bottle of bubbly.

“We started with our first sparkling wine in 2013 and here we are today in 2019 and we have four different sparkling wines and next year we’ll release a fifth sparkling wine,” said owner Paul Hamelin.

It’s been six years of sparkle for in Leelanau County.

Even though most people associate the bubbly beverage with a celebration, Verterra says you don’t need a party in order to pop the cork.

“They’re fun, they’re versatile and they virtually go with any food,” he said. “It’s just amazing because the bubbles are just so fun and they all have wonderful crisp acidities which make for perfect food and wine pairings.”

You can enjoy these versatile, vivacious vinos all year long because these blends can complement any season or situation.

“I actually like them all but I like them for different reasons and different situations,” said Paul. “In the summer, I prefer a little bit dryer style sparkling wine so in the summer I tend to reach a lot for the sparkling rose’. At the holiday time of the year or in the winter, I tend to prefer traditional methods and traditional methods gives you a sparkling wine that’s got more depth and more character because you’re sitting it in the bottle with yeast for that two and a half years or maybe even five years and that gives you a more bread like characteristic or a more hearty sparkling wine.”

While the folks at Verterra don’t need a special occasion to crack open a bottle of their sparkling wine, they are celebrating yet another major win from this year’s Michigan Wine Competition.

Taking home the award for the best dry white wine in the state for their pinot Blanc.

Paul said “so for three years in a row, we’ve been very very fortunate having, what judges perceive to be, the best dry white wine in the state.”

If you want to add some glimmer to your holiday party or just celebrate surviving another long work week, a glass of sparkling wine might just do the trick.

“It does not have to be for a special occasion, although having friends or family over or a Friday night having gotten through work all week long that’s a celebration,” he said. “So open a bottle of sparkling wine.”