A new winery takes on Old Mission Peninsula

May 11, 2005

The dry Pinot Noir rosé is quite good, says Cornel Olivier, but for the real treat, one must wait until next year. That’s when the 2004 Merlot is ready.
As winemaker for Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery, the newest addition to Michigan’s increasingly famous Traverse City wine region, Olivier knows that waiting is everything in the wine trade.
It’s been four years since Walter and Eileen Brys bought this century-old cherry farm on the Old Mission Peninsula and planted it with eight different varieties of European vinifera grapes. Now all those picturesque rows of Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio are about to start paying their way.
On May 6, Brys Estate opened the carved wooden doors of its tasting room on Blue Water Road for the first time. And in the echoing brick barrel room, with its yeasty aromas of aging wine and wood, Olivier and his employers wait for the verdict of the wine-sampling public.
“We have no idea what to expect, but it’s been a lot of work getting to this point,” says Eileen Brys (it rhymes with “wise”), who’s been scurrying about, putting finishing touches to the handsome red-roofed buildings. “The other wineries out here are telling us to get ready, and we’re not exactly sure what they mean.”
Like its neighbors, Brys Estate has a sublime view of the surrounding landscape. There’s no such thing as second-rate scenery on the Old Mission Peninsula, a narrow strip of land that extends like a long 20-mile finger into the glittering blue water of Grand Traverse Bay.
That water isn’t just pretty – it also has practical uses. In the early 19th century, nearby missionaries discovered that the bay acted as a natural insulator, allowing tender fruit crops like cherries and peaches to be grown far to the north of their normal
range. Over the years, the Traverse Bay region became known as the “cherry capital of the world,” a title celebrated each July when Traverse City hosts the National Cherry Festival.
In the early 1970s, several enterprising winemakers applied the same reasoning to the idea of growing European-style grapes. Today, the lush slopes of the Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas boast a total of 18 vineyard/wineries – five on Old Mission, 13 on the larger Leelanau Peninsula -- and more are on the way. Each area has its own separate appellation, and their crisp fruity wines sell so quickly that they’re virtually impossible to buy outside of the state.
It was that reputation that led Walter and Eileen to choose the old Elzer farm on Blue Water Road as the site of their winery. A pair of former Detroiters who retired from real estate development in Texas, they already knew about the scenic beauty of the Traverse City area – but they researched a half-dozen other areas before turning their eyes back to Michigan.
“We looked in Texas, California, Oregon, the Finger Lakes areas of New York, and none of the places we visited were right for what we wanted to do,” says Eileen. “Lo and behold, the perfect spot was right here in our own backyard.”
The couple renovated the old farmhouse on the property, moved into it, and hired Olivier – a transplanted South African who was already familiar with the area since he’d spent four years at nearby Chateau Grand Traverse. And even competitors think he’s onto something with that 2006 Merlot, which may erase the perception of Traverse City as the home of “wonderful whites and so-so reds.”