Mar 4, 2008

Winery Expansion Runs Into a Little Resistance From Neighbors

Black Star Farms’ expansion into a neighboring peninsula was not without controversy, but the company’s growth seems – for the most part – to be proceeding smoothly.

Black Star, a popular winery on Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula, decided to branch out onto the smaller promontory to the east – Old Mission Peninsula – by opening a tasting room there last fall. The controversy started when the municipality that governs Old Mission, Peninsula Township, temporarily allowed the tasting room to sell wine that wasn’t processed on location.

The township’s zoning laws require Old Mission wineries to grow grapes and make wine on the peninsula, but Black Star was granted an exception until the end of 2009, to give the company time to add winemaking facilities to the new tasting room. The exception allows the tasting room to sell wine made from Old Mission grapes, but processed at Black Star’s main winery in Sutton’s Bay, according to news reports.

The zoning laws are meant to protect local wineries from, for example, a large California winery coming in, opening a tasting room and selling wine made from out-of-state grapes. Black Star’s Old Mission facility meets the township requirement that at least 85 percent of the fruit used to make its wine be grown on Old Mission, according to Coryn Briggs, tasting room manager.

Other Old Mission wineries weren’t happy with the township’s decision and filed a lawsuit last fall. They argued that the township exceeded its authority and changed the intent of the zoning laws by granting the exception. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in January, citing a missed filing deadline, according to news reports.

Black Star’s Old Mission facility has already started processing its own white wine and soon will meet all the township’s zoning requirements, Briggs said.

The Old Mission facility rests on 76 acres owned by Bob Mampe, who grows Riesling and Pinot Noir grapes, along with cherries, in partnership with Black Star. State-of-the-art winemaking equipment is housed in the back of the 12,000-square-foot building. The winemakers are Lee Lutes and Vladimir Banov. The tasting room in front has a round bar constructed from nine oak wine barrels, according to Black Star.

Business has been pretty good since the tasting room opened last October, Briggs said.

“We outgrew our winemaking capacity in Sutton’s Bay and saw this as an opportunity to grow in a good way,” she said.

With help from a conservation easement, Black Star’s facility is protecting Old Mission farmland from commercial development, Briggs said.

“We’re a business, but we also make sure what we do doesn’t impact land.”

Tastes of Black Star Farms is another example of the winery’s growth. Part of a large, historic renovation project in Traverse City, Tastes offers wine samples paired with food. The menu, supplied from local artisan eateries, is constantly changing, Briggs said.

Overall, Black Star makes more than 30 wines, with much of the fruit supplied by local growers. The company just built a hoophouse for its Community Supported Agriculture program in Sutton’s Bay. The CSA, established last year, supplies its 20 members with dozens of specialty crops, wine, cheese, preserves, maple syrup and other products, according to Briggs.

For more information, visit www.blackstarfarms.com.