Category Archives: Michigan

Shannon Walters: A Friend with Weed Is a Friend Indeed

Posted on January 29, 2017 by intoxreport

My old pal Shannon Walters is perhaps the most charismatic winemaker in Northern Michigan. At least, he used to be. At any tasting or press junket, he stands heads above the crowd with his rock star persona, Fabio fringes, signature … Continue reading →

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Michigan by the Storefront: MBTB Does it Again

Posted on August 7, 2016 by intoxreport

Two things I’ll say about Cortney Casey that will defy challenge by any rational mortal:  First, she has a smile of such ebullient candor that it lights up an already well-lit tasting room, and second, she knows how to pour … Continue reading →

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Mari By Any Other Name Still Has a Kick-Ash Tasting Room

Posted on July 23, 2016 by intoxreport

When I first wrote about Villa Mari in 2014, it was just beginning to take shape, emerging from a pretty hillside along Highway 37 and forming itself from the living stones like one of the Nephilim in Genesis 6. Meanwhile, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Michigan, Old Mission Peninsula | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Regina Gaines: Pure Vinspiration

Posted on May 30, 2016 by intoxreport

If you are old enough to remember the sitcom ‘Cheers’, you’ll recall it as a neighborhood bar where everybody knew your name.  Then as now, that seemed like a cool little destination joint to have in your hip pocket when … Continue reading →

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Participation Trophies at the 2015 Michigan Wine Competition

Posted on August 22, 2015 by intoxreport

Over the past couple years, Michigan wine country has been whumped in the nads by Mother Nature, and it’s fair to say that deadbeat Father Nature has missed a few support payments too. The winter of ’13-’14 was desperately long, … Continue reading →

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Buy My Book Or God Will Destroy You

Posted on August 6, 2015 by intoxreport

Let’s not equivocate here, kay kay?  Even stone-cold atheists recognize that I am one of God’s favorites. My mother recognized it at birth when she noticed that my pupils were horizontal rather than round; my father recognized it during my … Continue reading →

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Dishonest Non-Fiction is an Oxymoron

Posted on July 3, 2015 by intoxreport

Gather ‘round, wiglets—let me tell you an honest story: Since accidentally checking ‘Wine Writer’ instead of ‘Unemployed Drunk’ on the back of the career-path matchbook, I have discovered that the two pastimes are interchangeable. Well, that’s not completely honest.  Actually, … Continue reading →

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Hybrids on the Down Low

Posted on June 23, 2015 by intoxreport

The vines to Tony’s Ciccone’s left are producing some flop sweat, but not many grapes.  The rows are showing unmistakable signs of desperation.  The trellises are in DEFCON 3, as though the hassles, deadlines and frustrations of producing commercial quantities of … Continue reading →

Posted in Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Bowers Harbor: The House That Jack Built

Posted on May 29, 2015 by intoxreport

The yellow brick road that led to  Michigan’s top selling Pinot grigio began inside a stockbroker’s office, and the story gets stranger from there. Start with the winemaker and proprietor, Spencer Stegenga.  A lot of local agriculture families have made … Continue reading →

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Dan Matthies and Chateau Fontaine: Please Exit Through The Gift Shop

Posted on May 21, 2015 by intoxreport

I want you to take the following statement with a grain of salt, and then I want to sell you a desalination plant: Salesmen are born, not made—and Don Matthies was born to be a salesman. Whether he is hawking … Continue reading →

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