Red, White, and Local: Why Drinking Local Wine is Patriotic
Welcome back to Her Cellar at Veritas Estate Winery!
As the calendar turns to July and Americans make plans to celebrate the 4th of July, I can’t help but think about how we can support our country and what it means to be patriotic. I am thinking about a different kind of independence. This year, I want to challenge the way we think about celebrating our country. True patriotism isn't just about waving a flag or watching fireworks—it’s about investing in the soil beneath our feet and the people that tend to it.
If you want to make a deeply patriotic statement this Independence Day, look no further than your dinner table and your wine glass. Choosing to drink local wine and eat local food is the ultimate love letter to our country.
Let's break down the reasons behind why buying local matters so much this July.
💸 The Economics of Your Backyard
When you purchase a bottle of mass-produced wine shipped from overseas or a massive commercial factory across the country, your hard-earned money gets split among global distributors, massive shipping conglomerates, and corporate retail chains.
When you buy a bottle from a local winery, the economic narrative completely changes:
The Multiplier Effect: Every dollar spent at a local winery stays in the community. It pays the wages of the vineyard and cellar crew, funds local equipment repairs, and flows to neighboring businesses like local print shops for labels or regional marketing firms.
Preserving Agricultural Heritage: Supporting local wine ensures that multi-generational family farms can afford to keep their land as pristine green space rather than selling it off to commercial real estate developers. You are directly voting to keep America's rural landscapes beautiful and productive.
🌍 The Carbon Footprint of a Wine
From an environmental science perspective, global wine and food logistics are staggering. Shipping heavy glass bottles across oceans and continents burning fossil fuels releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Interesting Note:Glass packaging and transportation represent the single largest contributors to the global wine industry’s overall carbon footprint.
By drinking and eating local products, you drastically shorten the supply chain. A bottle of wine grown, fermented, and bottled right here in Southwest Michigan travels a few miles to reach your table instead of thousands. Pair that with fresh, locally grown summer produce and some grass-fed beef from a neighborhood farm stand, and you have a low-emission, highly sustainable feast that respects the land we call home.
The Science of Lake Michigan Shore Wine
We don't just make wine here because it’s a nice idea. We do it because Southwest Michigan possesses a truly world-class, unique environment for viticulture. When you sip a local glass this July, you are tasting the results of two spectacular geographic phenomena.
1. The 42nd Parallel
Southwest Michigan sits on the 42nd parallel north. If you trace that exact line of latitude across the globe, you will find yourself running right through world-renowned wine regions like Rioja Alta in Spain and Orvieto in Central Italy!
Because of this southerly latitude relative to the rest of our state, our region receives a generous amount of solar radiation and a growing season that is roughly two weeks longer than our northern neighbors. This extra sunlight gives our grapes, especially those that ripen later in the fall, the thermal energy required to develop complex sugars and beautiful flavor profiles.
2. The Lake-Effect "Thermostat"
We wouldn't be able to grow delicate Vitis vinifera (European grape varieties) like Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, or Cabernet Franc without Lake Michigan. The lake acts as an enormous, natural climate moderator.
In the Winter: The water retains summer heat, softening the brutal Midwest freezes and providing a blanket of lake-effect snow that acts as a natural insulator for the vine roots.
In the Spring: The chilly lake breeze delays bud break just long enough to protect vulnerable new growth from devastating late-spring frosts.
In the Autumn: As temperature drops elsewhere, the warm lake air extends our growing season well into late October, allowing red varieties the time they need to mature on the vine.
🍇 Every Local Area Creates Unique Wine
There are many American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) in our beautiful United States of America. Each produces wine that is influenced by the region’s climate, but also by their culinary traditions and history. Missouri is one of the oldest American AVAs and is known for producing Norton, a unique red French-American hybrid grape. Oregon and New Mexico produce excellent sparkling wines while both Arizona and Texas are growing drought and heat loving varieties from Spain and Italy with great success. Try these local wines and the foods that the locals pair with them if you travel to these locations!
Here in Michigan, our wines are celebrated for their cool-climate elegance. Our trademark feature is a vibrant, mouthwatering natural acidity paired with clean, lean minerality, moderate alcohol, and pristine varietal character.
Our white wines, like Riesling and Pinot Gris, are electric and bright. Our red wines, like Blaufränkisch, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, are complex and showcase crisp fruit profiles and structured tannins rather than overly ripe, high-alcohol wines that are often produced in warmer regions.
Because of their complex structure, Michigan wines are arguably some of the most food-friendly wines on the planet. They slice beautifully through the rich, smoky, and savory profiles of classic backyard summer foods. Pair our 2024 Veritas Estate Tannat with grilled steak and you will see exactly what I mean!
Celebrate the Land This Summer
This Independence Day, let's honor our country by celebrating the incredible bounty it provides right in our own backyards.
So as the parades and fireworks commence this July, I invite you to grab a bottle of local Michigan wine, put some local produce and meat on the grill, and tell your fellow Americans what a patriot you are!
Happy July, everyone. Keep your glasses full of local flavor!
In Vino Veritas,
Dr. Sherry Seston