Frontenac Gris

Imagine going to a place where it's cold and humid and going there to drink wine. That's what we're doing today. By request from last night, we're headed to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That's right/ We're not just going to one of the colder states in the country, we're going to the peninsula of Michaigan separated from the rest of the state by Lake Michigan.

Sitting off the northern part of Lake Michigan, we can find Little Bay de Noc and on its shores, we find the city of Escanaba, apparently known as Esky by the locals. Esky is one of the largest cities on the UP, but that doesn't exactly make it a monster checking in with about 13,000 brave souls.

Our trip to get there is not bad at all. Leaving from our home base in Atlanta, trips to Detroit are plentiful thanks to the hometown airline. Then, it's just a 1 hour flight to get from Detroit up to little Delta County Airport just outside the city limits. It's cold this time of year and we have dressed for it. 

Picked up at the airport in 4-wheel drive vehicle, we're heading to the east right off the bay to taste a grape known as Frontenac Gris. It's a mutation of Frontenac Noir and will itself soon have a mutation known as Frontenac Blanc, but for the time being, the gray version is the one we'll be checking out today.

Thinking back on many of our wine adventures and knowing that most of the grapes that we have enjoyed have been vitis vinifera, we know that they tend to like warmer weather (or at least not long-lasting freezing temperatures) and for the most part, little rainfall during growing season. That's not happening here.

With the lake effects and the northern location, the weather here is anything but desirable for vinifera grapes. But, researchers have come to the rescue. By crossing two non-vinifera, particularly cold-loving species of grapes, they've created Frontenac.

We've chosen Frontenac Gris of the choices today because we find it the most interesting. As is necessary in this weather, the clusters are exceptionally loose (tight clusters easily develop mold in humid climates) and the grapes are extremely acidic and loaded with natural sugars. This is the perfect combination for producing a pleasantly sweet dessert wine.

The world does not have much history with Fronenac Gris. In fact, the grape was first created around the turn of this century and not released for other than research growth until a few years later. 

The grape is highly aromatic. On the nose, it's much like Gewirtzraminer albeit missing the signature lychee of that spicy grape. We get loads of stone fruit, particularly apricot and peach, as well as citrus and mango. On the palate, the late harvest version of Frontenac Gris is viscous and naturally sweet. Drink it quite cool (about 3-5C/37-41F).

Today, we're trying several pairings with our Frontenac Gris. We've chosen an orange pound cake, apricot panna cotta, and peach ice cream. All pair quite well with this wine. And, while I prefer to drink my wine rather than eating it, I would not be entirely resistant to taking some of this wine and pouring it over any of these desserts.