Tastemakers: Stoney Acres Strawberry Wine/Strawberry Shortcake

June 15, 2008

Stoney Acres
Strawberry Wine
Northern Michigan wineries have been pursuing excellence in traditional vinifera wine varietals (Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir). It is through quality vinifera that a wine region ultimately builds its reputation on. But Northern Michigan, while having many similarities to other great wine regions on the 45th Parallel, also boasts one of the world’s best fruit growing regions. So making “fruit wines” makes sense since we produce some of the best fruit in the world right here. At Stoney Acres Winery in Alpena, they gladly celebrate making wine with fruit from Northern Michigan.
Now, first a point of clarification — yes grapes are a fruit, but when “fruit wine” is referenced, it means wine made with fruits other than grapes. There are a handful of wineries making fruit wines in Northern Michigan (just about every winery has a cherry wine of some sort and Cherry Republic has cherry in all of their wines) but Stoney Acres is totally committed.
At Stoney Acres they use fresh fruits from the region to make apple, blueberry, raspberry, pear, blackberry and strawberry wines. What I like is they make most of their fruit wines in two styles: semi-dry and semi-sweet. The strawberry wine is very fruit-forward, flavorful and refreshing. Enjoy with summer salads and BBQ.
A drive to Alpena is definitely worth it. Stoney Acres is part of the newly-established Sunrise Wine & Hops Trail that includes Fletcher Street Brewery, the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and a few lighthouses in the Alpena area. The Sunrise Side Wine & Hops Trail goes from West Branch along I-75 to Lake Huron, up to Mackinaw City. For info on Stoney Acres, check out stoneyacreswinery.net, and for the wine and hops trail, go to wineandhopstrail.com.

Strawberry Shortcake
Local strawberries are ripening and making appearances at farm markets and groceries. As a kid I spent many a June and early July at Kramer’s U-Pick Strawberry Patch on the Old Mission Peninsula (the patch no longer exists). Our reward after a couple of hours of harvesting was strawberry shortcake.
Now, there are several schools of thought when it comes to making strawberry shortcake. My grandmother liked to make homemade biscuits, pour fresh cream over the berries and biscuits, and top with homemade whipping cream.
I have had strawberry shortcake prepared with angel food cake, sponge cake, Bisquick mix, and pound cake. As for toppings, I have had homemade whipped cream, Cool Whip, whipped topping from a can and vanilla ice cream. To put it simply, I have never met a strawberry shortcake I have not liked. I do believe that when you go out and pick fresh berries, it does taste better and the more homemade accompaniments, the better. Northern Michigan has several u-pick farms and by checking out tastethelocaldifference.org, you will find a complete list of farms, currently offering strawberries.
There is no shortage of strawberry socials in the region either. This Saturday there is a great one near Copemish and Kaleva at the Marilla Museum & Pioneer Place from 1 to 5 p.m. It will feature an open house of all museum spaces, live music, homemade ice cream and strawberries. for more details call (231) 362-3430. On Sunday the Grand Traverse Pavilions will host their 10th Annual Old Fashion Strawberry Social from 1 to 3 p.m. Event organizers encourage you to bring lawn chairs. there will be tours and a variety of outdoor lawn games.
On June 28 the Empire United Methodist Church (231.326.5510) will hold their annual strawberry social, as will Friske Markets in Ellsworth. The Friske Markets event will feature strawberry pancakes and they have a u-pick patch.