Business Profile: Leigh’s Garden Winery has developed a following in the area
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ESCANABA -- Two years ago this August, Julie and Tony Lambert bought Leigh's Garden Winery from Leigh Schmidt, who had founded the business in 2008 after time as a home winemaker.
Julie had first met Leigh while teaching painting classes at the winery. After getting to know the owners and staff, she offered to pick up a few shifts behind the bar and loved it. Her role evolved, and she became the tasting room manager, a position she held for about five years before taking over the business.
"We had made a bunch of changes before we bought, and slowly changed it into what it's becoming. We're doing more wines, different wines; we brought in live music. But as far as aesthetics, we love what it is."
Every Friday night, the winery hosts a pianist -- they have several rotating musicians -- who perform live at the grand piano, which was donated by Kevin Chown. It had belonged to his late mother, Ruth Chown, a piano teacher and composer.
The favorite wine at Leigh's Garden winery, said Julie, is "Yooper Juice." It's a sweet concord wine. "Old Escanaba," a dry red, comes in second. But they all have their market, she says, and the winemakers continue to try new things. All of the wines at Leigh's -- usually at least 25 at any given time -- are made on-site.
"We make a new one, and we'll start with a small batch, see how it goes; the year after, we do a big one. We just did a strawberry rhubarb for the first time and it was gone in two weeks!" Such popularity means a larger supply is in the works.
They do a "Red Hat Rhubarb" which always comes out in November. Julie says that it has a following: people await its release eagerly, and many call to ask for the date it will become available as autumn nears.
Everything at Leigh's Garden Winery is made from cold-climate grapes sourced in the area -- the Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin, and a few from downstate.
"Up here in the U.P., there are a ton of vineyards, believe it or not," said Julie. "It's a great climate for grape growing. There are all these grapes that we use that were hybridized at the University of Minnesota, so they were made to grow here. And they make a darn good wine."
The flavour profiles are different, Julie was quick to divulge, from wines made from warm-climate grapes. Not to be confused with ice wine, cold-climate varieties tend to be sweeter, she said. If someone asks for a wine they're familiar with from California or France, they will be pointed to something that might be similar but will not be drinking Merlot or Chardonnay.