Stranger Wine Company is dedicated to the implementation of regenerative viticultural practices on their estate. Great wine starts with healthy grapes and healthy grapes start with healthy vines. As such, enhancing and maintaining vine health is of paramount importance to us in all of our viticultural practices. To learn more about our viticultural practices please visit the “Our Vineyard” page.

THE FACTS

Location: Buchanan Michigan, Lake Michigan Shore AVA

Acreage: 15.2 Acres

Initial Planting: Cabernet Sauvignon, 1989

Most Recent Planting: Chardonnay, 2021

 

Soil Profile: The soils of Avonlea can be broadly characterized as Riddle’s Loam. However, Avonlea is positioned in the middle of some of the most intense glacial events seen in Berrien County, MI. Because of this, our soils are extremely diverse and change drastically between each block on our 15 acres. The top of the vineyard where our Chardonnay, Three Row Pinot, and future Gamay Noir live, consists mainly of iron rich clay and sand soils. This block is also covered with granite, chert and ancient Pennsylvanian seabed deposits. The grapes grown on this soil produce wines of great tension and length.

The oldest block on Avonlea was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in 1989 and has soils that are resemblant of those in the Graves region in Bordeaux. Fist-sized granite and chert pebbles litter the vine rows and help to retain heat throughout the day aiding the vines in their ripening. The wines from this block are powerful, dense, and long-lived.

The middle hill on Avonlea is where our Riesling thrives. The soils on this hill are particularly special. Beneath a 10-16” layer of sandy clay loam, exists a 3-5 foot vein of pebbly blue clay. When the soil was studied, a five-gallon bucket of this blue clay would have roughly a 50:1 ratio of pebbles to soil. The presence of these pebbles allows the vines to successfully penetrate the heavy, rich blue clay and benefit from all it has to offer. The resulting wines are powerful examples of this terroir and only reveal themselves after 5-10 years in bottle. 

The front hill, where Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon are planted, is the most textbook example of a classic Riddle’s Loam. This hill consists of very deep, well-drained soils formed in loamy and sandy soil. The resulting wine from this block is lighter in style due to the much lower clay content, but rich in phenolic power and acid structure.

Climate: Avonlea resides in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. Considered a zone 6 on the USDA climate hardiness map, the AVA averages over 2900 growing degree days a year. We benefit from the warming and protective effects of Lake Michigan to the west. Summers here are warm but not hot enough for vines to shut down production. In the late summer and fall, Lake Michigan retains the summer heat and extends our growing season by almost a full month. The winters are moderated by the lake’s heat retaining properties, allowing vinifera varieties to thrive here. Our little microclimate is perfect for growing world-class vinifera, and we believe in its untapped potential and exciting future.

Varietals Planted: Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot

https://www.strangerwineco.com/our-vineyard