Experience the essence of sustainability and quality.
VINEYARD VIRTUE
2021 Auxerrois Brut
Notes from the Winemaker:
One of our favorite varietals at Bel Lago, our Auxerrois brut sparkling wine is a savory combination of bright acidity and a creamy texture. Akin to Chardonnay, Auxerrois (pronounced Awk ‐ Sair ‐ Wah) produces an aromatic sparkling wine with scents of bananas, dried figs, cloves and Golden Delicious apples on the nose. Notes of star fruit, redcurrant, gooseberry and jasmine meld with the velvety lees features of sourdough and anise. With plenty of fruit, acidity and structure, this dry sparkling wine is elegant and regal.
Composition:
100% Auxerrois
Production Notes:
We picked our Auxerrois for this wine earlier in the harvest season to retain its acidity and fruit profile, as well as to control its ripeness and final alcohol content. The juice is immediately inoculated with yeast – QA23 in this vintage – and the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the traditional method.
Cherry Wine
Notes from the Winemakers
Fashioned from Montmorency and Balaton tart cherries, our cherry wine is fruity and spicy with plenty of sweetness. Aromas of chocolate covered cherries, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon fill the glass of this Northern Michigan staple. In addition to cherries, flavors of mandarin, blueberry, cherry cola and preserves shine through the wine. With ample residual sugar to balance the tartness of the cherries, Bel Lago’s cherry wine embodies our region’s most iconic produce in a bottle.
Composition:
65% Balaton cherry wine and 35% Montmorency cherry wine
Production Notes:
As one of the major cherry processors for cherry wine in the area, Bel Lago presses between 70 and 150 tons of cherries each year. We press the fruit whole and ferment the juice at low temperatures to retain the fruit profile and unique characteristics of both varieties used in the blend.
2022 Select Harvest Riesling
Notes from the Winemakers:
Silken and sweet, Bel Lago’s Select Harvest Riesling is the quintessence for those who prefer sweet wines but don’t want to sacrifice on complexity. Honeysuckle, mandarin and lychee notes ascend off the glass, while lime zest, papaya and peach flavors mark this Riesling’s satisfyingly sweet identity. This viscous wine is well balanced between bright acidity and sweetness, with a graphite finish.
Composition:
100% Riesling
Production Notes:
By picking our Riesling toward the end of harvest, it allows the fruit to further ripen on the vine and develop a deeper flavor profile and mouthfeel. Fermented and aged in stainless‐steel tanks, our Select Harvest Riesling’s fermentation was stopped before fully completing to retain some of its natural residual sugar.
WINE OF THE MONTH
WINE OF THE MONTH
2018 Blaufränkisch
Notes from the Winemaker:
A medium bodied red, smooth tannins and an earthy complexity make for a food friendly wine that will age well for many years to come. Flavors of red berries and French oak spice.
Composition:
100% Blaufränkisch
Production Notes:
Harvested in late October, this fruit was run through a flash détente machine in order to extract color and grape skin tannins. The wine was aged for 3.5 years in French and American oak. This wine is bottled unfiltered.
Experience the essence of sustainability and quality.
