Michigan's First Custom-crush Winery opened last fall

Dan Matthis, of French Road Cellars, is helping the local wine industry by opening Michigan’s first custom-crush winery.  The national Wine Industry magazine, Wines & Vines reports:

“I’ve had this idea in my head for a long time,” Doug Matthies told Wines & Vines recently. “There are between two and five start-up wineries in northern Michigan every year, and most produce less than 5,000 gallons. It’s expensive to hire people to work up here—you have to bring people in, pay moving expenses and good salaries. And the necessary winemaking equipment takes a pretty significant investment. I want to help the smaller guys who want to get into the wine industry, and help out the industry by bringing in new people with quality products.”

During the harvest in 2009, the facility produced approximately 5,000 cases of wine. Doug designed the winery, which is 6,000 square feet. Doug works closely with Shawn Walters of One World Winery Consulting. Read more about French Road Cellars and One World Winery Consulting at the Wines & Vines site.

Photo compliments of Wines & Vines.