Two Michigan Wine Trails Join International Alliance to Safeguard Wine Region Names

The Wine Origins Alliance has recently declared that two Michigan wine areas, the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail and the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail, along with the Virginia Wineries Association, are becoming part of the alliance.

Speaking on behalf of roughly 90,000 wineries spanning 36 regions, the Wine Origins Alliance has been dedicated to preserving wine place names as well as removing all tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in the wine industry.

The Wine Origins Alliance emphasizes the importance of location in the wine industry. So much so that in 2005, the Alliance formulated a Joint Declaration to Protect Wine Place and Origin, aimed at educating consumers about the importance of location in winemaking.

Charles Goemaere, the director general of the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne and co-chair and founding member of the Wine Origins Alliance, declared joyfully, “The Alliance is thrilled to become even stronger with the joining of Leelanau Peninsula, Old Mission Peninsula and Virginia. We are looking forward to collaborate with these organizations and their exceptional wines to achieve our objectives.”

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The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail encompasses 19 wineries in the peninsula northwest of Traverse City. The region is known for its quaint towns, crystal clear lakes and streams, and rolling terrain, said board president of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail Geoff Hamelin, offering wines like no other.

“We look forward to a long and successful partnership with the Wine Origins Alliance and supporting its mission to protect the integrity of wine region names worldwide,” said Hamelin.

“Old Mission Peninsula has a distinctive and cool microclimate that allows for the production of a variety of whites, reds, sparkling and dessert wines that cannot be replicated elsewhere,” said Marie-Chantal Dalese, president and CEO of Chateau Chantal and secretary of the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail, which includes 10 wineries directly north of Traverse City. “We are excited to join the Alliance and its efforts to make clear that when it comes to wine, location matters.”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2 Michigan wine trails joining Wine Origin Alliance

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