Art Lee Consultations

"The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism
when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine."

Thucydides, Greek Historian, 5th Century BC

Some modern historians agree with Thucydides. They see a parallel in the development of the Western world and the growth of winemaking.

The wine timeline indicates winemaking first appeared in Mesopotamia around 6,000 BC, spread to Egypt and Phoenicia by 3,000 BC and made it to Europe’s monasteries after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Emperor Charlemagne advanced the art of winemaking in the 8^th century. No wonder he’s a French hero. In 1224, the king of France declared “The Battle of the Wines.” Artifacts and historic records indicate various religions used wine in their ceremonies throughout these centuries.

But it was the scarcity of clean drinking water in the 14^th-16^th centuries that made wine part of the daily diet. Wine consumption gained influence in the health, political and religious beliefs of many civilizations.

By the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the rolling hills of California, Australia and South America assumed the appearance of European wine country. The immigration of European vintners into the United States eventually brought international acclaim to the New World’s vineyards, Michigan included.

That’s where Bill and Pat Schnute enter local winemaking history with their modern, unique squeeze to the prehistoric fruit.

Honeyflow Farm began with an adult education class the Schnutes took in the early 70’s when they were first married. “My upholstery class was canceled, so I went to the winemaking class with Bill,” recalls Pat with a smile. “We were hooked.”

They planted twelve vines in the backyard of their Clawson home in 1973 and enjoyed the life of small-scale vintners, particularly drinking their wine after a day’s work and dinner.

Pat, a nurse on a “grandkid sabbatical”, smiles at her husband and says, “It took us a while to figure out why we weren’t getting much work done around the house.”

Bill laughs and adds, “We celebrated once with Boonesfarm. I measured the gravity, sugar content and acidity of the wine.”

The sanguine couple seems to thrive on the seasons and reproduction of their vineyards. “Our vineyard grew to an acre in 1976 when we moved to Troy where we added the honey farm. We brought many of the plants here to Dryden in 1985,” Bill says with a sweep of his hand.

Since then, the Schnutes have developed their vineyard into eighty graceful rows, now sunning on eight rolling acres, abundant with clumps of juicy white and red grapes. “We’ve plenty room for expansion,” says Bill of their twenty acre property.

After thirty years as a vintner and employee of Detroit Edison, Bill shows no sign of winemaking fatigue. He walks the rows of the vineyard, the only U-Pick vineyard in southeast Michigan, and inspects the grapes.

“We opened our picking season last weekend,” says Bill. “We have the newer French hybrid grapes like the DeChaunac and many of the Native American varieties. The French-Hybrids have been developed by grape breeders over the years by crossing European varieties with native Eastern types.”

Honeyflow Farms has a total of twenty different grape varieties loosely classified as “seedless”, “jelly grapes” and “wine grapes.” The St. Pepin and Cayuga White grapes are derivatives of Germanic influence upon North American vineyards.

“Because Germany and Michigan have similar cool climate conditions, these grape varieties have a tendency to evolve to the desired sugar and alcohol levels that provide soft, fruity and extremely palatable wines for all consumers,” says Bill.

The many varieties of grapes attract a diverse mix of customers to the Schnute’s vineyard. “We meet some of the most interesting people,” says Pat. “We have repeat customers who bring their own bottles and use their own decorative labels. There’s a couple from Albania who said ‘It’s just like home’ when they first saw the farm. We hear that quite often from emigrants when they first visit us,” Pat says.

The Schnutes personify the hardy work ethic of the European vintner. They identify with their love of wine and winemaking. “Wine makers can make many types of wine,” says Bill. And passionate vintners experiment with grapes to produce a signature wine to celebrate the fruit of their labor with family and friends.

Bill and Pat have learned the risks and intricacies of viticulture, that the slightest aberration in the weather and soil can destroy an entire grape harvest. Too much sun can cause the grapes to ripen too quickly. Too much rain can make it difficult to tend the vines and hinder growth and ripening. The degree of the vineyard’s slope affects rain drainage and the reflection of sunlight and absorption of heat. Different grapes thrive in different types of soil. Some varieties are more disease and weather resistant.

The Schnutes have propagated their own vines by taking clippings with two sets of eyes on the stem and plant. They plant one set of eyes in the earth and keep one set above the earth. Then they mark the clipping with a stick to identify it from the weeds. Spacing the vines eight feet apart, they guide them in a tree form on wires strung between posts. Then they wait for the new vines to yield their first harvest in three years.

Bill points to a new section of the vineyard. “We put grow tubes around new vines to protect them from the deer until they’re established.”

Plants thrive best in full exposure to the sun, preferably on the south side of a hill for water drainage. The best vineyards are on hills exposing each row of vines to equal sunlight. The southwest side of a hill is also good. In wine country, you’ll see every inch of a good side of a hill covered with vineyards.

The Schnute’s farm is the closest thing to Californian or European wine country. “Production has been poor the past three to four years because of the harsh winters and late springs,” Bill says. “We’ve had more customers than crop.”

“It’s very frustrating,” adds Pat, who seldom speaks a discouraging word and doesn’t like disappointing her customers. “But this year we have a good crop.”

Bill finds a bunch of small green Concord grapes. “These will ripen by the end of the month. They’re a good Michigan grape. They’re not specifically for wine, but for jelly,” he says.

Dr. Thomas Welch introduced the Concord grape to Michigan when he used it for the first "unfermented wine," as it was originally called, in his church's communion service. It quickly caught on with the public and became a grape used by the wine industry by 1900.

“We sell juice too,” says Pat. “Our customers can use the juice for drinking or fermenting for wine. We sell the basic materials and instructions to get started with winemaking.”

“Winemaking is easy to do,” says Bill. “It’s more interesting than canned food. You can use a simple or sophisticated method.”

The Schnutes advocate simple winemaking. And Bill, ever the entrepreneur, is offering an inexpensive wine making kit on Honeyflow Farm’s extensive website, www.honeyflowfarm.com. The kit includes everything a beginner needs to make their first batch of wine, including definitions of winemaking terms and a sugar conversion chart.

In his spare time, Bill also produces the Honeyflow Farm Resource Book and mails his Honeyflow Tattler newsletter to customers. Both publications include winemaking recommendations and U-Pick grape prices and lists, indicating the rows where they can be found in the vineyard and the type of wine they produce.

“I’ve been asked to make mead,” smiles Bill with a twinkle in his eyes. Is it a reflection of the harvest sun?

No, it’s the spirit of Thucydides, calling from his ancient cup of mead, that manly drink made with honey, yeast and water. And it just so happens the Schnutes own 150 colonies of bees.

But that’s another story.

Note: Honeyflow Farm is open to mid October every Friday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Call the hotline at 810-796-2344 for information, or visit www.honeyflowfarm.com for weekly ripening conditions and activities.