Wine-tasting rooms add flavor in Saugatuck
SAUGATUCK -- Mike Sheahan and Nicole Rice had been planning to head to Traverse City and the Leelanau Peninsula for some wine-tasting.
But on a weekday afternoon last month, the couple visited Saugatuck after discovering they could sample fermented grapes not far from their Holland home.
"It's nice to have these so close," Sheahan said.
Downtown Saugatuck now offers a trio of wine-tasting shops.
The newest addition in wine-tasting is the Saugatuck Tasting Room for Baroda-based Round Barn Winery, Distillery and Brewery Inc. and Berrien Springs-based Free Run Cellars Inc., which opened last weekend at 439 Butler St., in the former Wilkins Hardware store.
The other tasting rooms are just down the street: Ganges Township-based Fenn Valley Vineyards & Wine Cellar Inc.'s Saugatuck Tasting Room at 310 Butler St. and Buchanan-based Tabor Hill Winery's Wine Port at 214 Butler St.
Established shops
Fenn Valley opened its Saugatuck Tasting Room about four years ago.
Wine server Frank Michaels said Fridays and Saturdays are busy days for the wine-tasting circuit in Saugatuck. That's also when the Chicago resident commutes to his part-time job, one he enjoys.
"It's kind of fun, you meet a lot of people" Michaels said. "Not too many people get upset if you pour them wine."
For the wineries, the tasting rooms are a matter of getting their products to consumers.
Fenn Valley's business has grown steadily since its opening, generating about a third of the privately held winery's sales, said owner and president Doug Welsch, who declined to give specific figures.
The winery's Saugatuck success has Fenn Valley investigating opening a similar location in another Lake Michigan resort town, said Welsch, who lists Holland, South Haven and Grand Haven as communities of interest.
Tabor Hill's Saugatuck location has been open 23 years and generates about 25 percent of its sales. While the winery has operated a champagne cellar in Bridgman since 1981 and recently opened a wine-tasting room and art gallery in Benton Harbor, it generates the bulk of its sales from tours, tastings and its restaurant.
"In this business, we don't see each other as competitors," said Jim Wallace, who manages Tabor Hill's Wine Port.
Latest entry
Round Barn General Manager Chris Moersch said it is more about the atmosphere.
"The more the merrier," he said of Saugatuck.
"We'll just add to (business) by getting people to taste some good Michigan wine," said Moersch, adding he expects Saugatuck to add 10 to 15 percent to Round Barn's and Free Run Cellars' combined bottom line.
Round Barn was started 16 years ago by Moersch's parents, Rick and Sherrie Moersch. Free Run Cellars was started by Chris and his brother, Matt Moersch. Both wineries also operate a Union Pier tasting room.
In Saugatuck, the offerings are about two dozen Round Barn selections and about a dozen Free Run varieties in a 2,400-square-foot space with a large bar, 12-foot-high tin ceilings and antique lights.
While Sheahan said he prefers a beer to a glass of cabernet sauvignon, he admits his appreciation for a glass of Michigan red has grown with Rice's influence.