Our winemaking starts in the vineyard

We think of ourselves as fruit growers first and wine and cider makers second. We believe that delicious wines and ciders start with healthy soil and well-cared for plants.

We love navigating the seasonality of Northern Michigan. Deep, snowy winters. Blustery springs. Summers full of lake swims. It’s a challenging and exciting place to farm and the fruit that thrives here is really special.

Our goal is to produce our wines and ciders with 100% estate-grown fruit from our home farm. In the meantime, we’ve had the opportunity to work with some special vineyard sites across Northern Michigan.

Folklor Home Farm, Tip of the Mitt AVA

The Home Farm is located on the south side of Charlevoix, just a couple miles from the shores of Lake Michigan. The Home Farm is situated on 52-rolling acres  at 750 – 800 feet above sea level. The Home Farm is made up of 3 distinct ridges with slope between 2 – 12% grade, facing both southwest and southeast. Our soils consist primarily of Emmet-Onaway sandy loam on top of a clay moraine left here by the glaciers that formed the Great Lakes. The farm is littered with rocks of all shapes, sizes, color, and fossilized sea creatures.

We purchased the Home Farm and planted our first two acres of vines here in 2021. In 2023 we expanded our vineyard plantings with an additional 8,000 vines. We grow cold-hardy hybrid and vinifera grape varieties that are well-suited to our Northern Michigan climate. We are currently pursuing organic certification and use all organic farming practices and are focused on incorporating cover crops and native plant species to increase the biodiversity of our vineyards.

Prior to us arriving here, the Home Farm was a family-owned u-pick apple and cherry farm. We have the honor of restoring the 50-year-old orchards that have largely been abandoned and grown wild over the past decade. To the best of our knowledge, there are 16 varieties of apples growing here including culinary, crab and heirloom varieties and a couple dozen scraggly pears.

Eagle’s Nest Vineyard, Tip of the Mitt AVA

Eagle's Nest Vineyard is located at one of the highest elevation points in Emmet County, just outside of Pellston, MI. It's tucked away along pine forests with primarily sandy loam soil.

Eagle’s Nest was planted in the early 2010’x and grows three cold-hardy hybrid varieties: Leon Millot, Marquette and Frontenac Gris.

The vineyard is conventionally farmed and was leased by Folklor owners, Izabela and Derrick, from 2019 - 2021.  

Altonen Orchards, Antrim County, MI

Altonen Orchards is located in Antrim County on the north end of Torch Lake, just 20 miles southwest of our home farm. We purchased Riesling from this vineyard in 2020 and 2021.