Wineries Around Detroit Offer the Opportunity to Make and Bottle Your Own Wine

Originally published on May 1, 2018. Updated on May 29, 2019.

Few things measure up to settling in with a glass of vino after an especially troublesome day, or after a wonderful day – or on a day where you did nothing but binge-watch Netflix. Basically, we don’t need an excuse to drink wine. And we Americans drink tons of it – almost a billion gallons in 2016 alone, according to The Wine Institute.

A few places around town are offering the opportunity to do more than just indulge but actually be a part of the winemaking process. And, as May 25 is National Wine Day, it seems the perfect time to partake. It typically starts with a tasting of raw juices and a bit of concocting, followed by a four-to-10-week fermentation process.

Then you’re invited back to bottle and cork your wine. Slap on customized labels and you’re out of there with your very own case. Gift them, bring them to dinner parties or drink them alone without sharing a drop. As you wish. You made it.

Fenton Winery & Brewery

Visit the taproom, open six days a week, or walk the 1.25-acre park-like wine and beer garden.

$180/15 bottles, $300/30 bottles

1370 N. Long Lake Road, Fenton

810-373-4194

Filipo Marc Winery

Started in 1999, the winery now boasts over 70 varieties of wine, including cabernet, chardonnay and white zinfandel.

$195-plus/26 bottles

39085 Garfield Road, Clinton Township

586-226-3990

Unwined Windsor Craft Winery

This Canadian establishment also offers specialty wedding packages.

$103.90-$223.90 (Canadian)/30 bottles

3750 Walker Road, Windsor, Ontario

519-972-9463

Vine 2 Wine Custom Winery

This husband-and-wife team adds a minimum number of sulfites for a smoother taste.

$250-$350/30 bottles

446 S. Main St., Northville

248-465-9463

Vintner’s Canton Winery

WineMaker Magazine has awarded this spot multiple medals over the years in its annual competition.

$210-$295/25 bottles

8515 N. Lilley Road, Canton

734-354-9463

Some ‘Corky’ Facts…

• Approximately 44 million bubbles are in one bottle of sparkling wine.
• California is the fourth-largest wine producer in the world. Only France, Italy and Spain make more.
• Grapes have existed for around 65 million years.
• Michiganders drank nearly 1 million cases of sparkling wine/champagne in 2015. Californians drank the most at over 4 million cases, and Ohio rounded out the top 10 with about 425,000.
• One cluster of grapes equals about one glass of wine
• Research shows that white wines keep lung tissues healthy.
• Some people have a fear of wines. It’s called oenophobia.
• Sweet wines are made by interrupting the fermentation process before all the grape sugars are converted into alcohol.
• The color in red wine comes from the grape skins. A plant pigment called anthocyanin is found in the skin of red grapes.
• The wine industry exploded in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages. Nearing 1400, after the Black Plague took out over half of Europe, wine was considered safer to drink than water.
• The world’s oldest bottle of wine dates to before A.D. 325. It was found near Speyer, Germany and is on display at the town’s historical museum.
• Vineyards cover roughly 18 million acres globally. Spain, China, France, Italy, Turkey and the U.S. are the top grape-growing countries.
• Wine is about 8,000 years old. Its exact origins are oft-debated, but it was probably discovered by accident.
• Wine is fat-free and has no cholesterol. A 4-ounce glass has 80-100 calories.
• U.S. wine sales were nearly $60 billion in 2016, the 24th consecutive growth year.

Originally published on May 1, 2018. Updated on May 29, 2019.

Sources: Forbes, Gooseneck Vineyards, napavalley.com, The Oxford Companion to Wine, Today Magazine, Wine Folly, wineinstitute.org