Month: July 2022

Shady Lane Pinot Noir, 2017

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Maker: Shady Lane Cellars, Suttons Bay, Michigan, USA

Grape: Pinot Noir (at least 85%)

Place of origin: Shady Lane estate, Leelanau Peninsula AVA, Michigan, USA (at least 85%)

Vintage: 2017

ABV: 12%

Purchased for $20 (Michigan by the Bottle Sipper Club).

Appearance: Dark ruby.

Nose: Fresh strawberry, red currant, blueberry, white pepper.

Palate: Medium bodied. Red raspberry, red currant, clove, French oak.

Finish: A little more tannic but with a lot of fruit still present.

Parting words: We drove past Shady Lane (the road) on our last trip Up North, but we unfortunately didn’t have time to stop in. Thank God for Michigan by the Bottle, then, for carrying Shady Lane wines at their Auburn Hills location.

This is a solid Northwest Michigan Pinot Noir with a bit of spice, and loads of fruit, but not overly ripe fruit. If I have any criticism of this wine it’s that it has a little more tannin than I like in my Pinot, though it’s mostly held in check by the acid.

2017 reds from all over Michigan are drinking well right now, except for the really cheap ones which you should have drank already. Given the strength of the 2017 vintage and the quality of the winemaking at Shady Lane, this wine should be able to take at least another year in the cellar and still taste great. Good thing, too, since I have another bottle of this squirreled away to try next year or the year after that.

2017 Shady Lane Pinot Noir is recommended.

Bear Face

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Maker: Mark Anthony Group, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Distiller(s): Undisclosed.

Style: Single grain (corn) Canadian Whisky.

Cooperage: Ex-bourbon, then finished in French oak wine red wine barrels, then in new Hungarian oak.

Age: 7 y/o

ABV: 42.5% ABV

Michigan state minimum: $33

Appearance: Medium copper (coloring is allowed in Canadian whisky).

Nose: Roasted corn, leather.

Palate: Full-bodied and rich. Corn syrup, leather, Cabernet Franc, dried cayenne chili.

Finish: Silky and a little sweet, with a bite at the end.

Parting words: The Mark Anthony Group has nothing to do with the Roman general or the pop singer, it originated in 1972 as a BC-based wine importer. Its best known product is the (in)famous White Claw sparkling seltzer. Bearface is not Mark Anthony’s only Canadian Whisky. It also owns a brand called Dillon’s, which is not sold in Michigan, and I haven’t seen anywhere else in the US.

“What is elemental aging”? you may ask. As far as I can tell, it’s when they put the finishing casks in unheated storage containers outside and let them sit for a bit. I was a little disappointed to read that. I had hoped that they placed the casks in the woods to encounter actual bears, but alas no.

Bearface smells like a punched up version of Crown Royal (probably because of all the corn) but it’s much more pleasant to drink. Too often finishes are used in an attempt to improve bad whisky. I suspect that’s not the case here, but if it is, the attempt has been successful. $33 is a good price for a Canadian of this age and quality. The packaging is a little corny (oh no a bear attacked the bottle!) but Bearface is recommended.