The 2012 Project

In my last wine review, I stated that there was a blogging project coming up that involved aging and Michigan wines. Well, here it is: the 2012 project.

In the early 2010s, around the time this blog was born, there was a run of excellent vintages in Michigan. 2010, 2011, and 2012 were all hailed as superb at the time. By the time the 2012 wines were released, I finally got the memo I and started collecting them with an eye on seeing how they would develop in my cellar. 2013 was more challenging, with a cooler autumn, but was recognized as a good year for whites at the time. In retrospect, some excellent reds were produced that year as well; they’ve just taken longer to develop than their older siblings.

Two cellars, one alpaca farm, and countless wine shops later (OK, mostly MBTB, Red Wagon, and Holiday Market), the time has come. Starting in January 2023, I will be embarking on a series of reviews of Michigan wines from the 2012 and 2013 vintages with the goal of understanding how they’ve changed in the bottle and what difference factors like terroir, winemaker, and closure make, among other things. The wines are mostly red, but there will be a few whites in the mix. They are all from Michigan AVAs that existed at the time: Lake Michigan Shore, Leelanau Peninsula, and Old Mission Peninsula. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to grab any from Fennville.

Why include 2013s in the 2012 Project? As I mentioned above, 2012 and 2013 were pretty different vintages. A lot can be learned just tasting through the 2012 vintage, but including 2013 opens up the possibilities to explore how the variations in weather from year to year factors into the aging of wine.

Winemakers: It’s not too late to get your wines in on the action! If you have library wines you want me to include in this project, send me an email at sipologyblog@gmail.com . The project is currently weighted toward red Bordeaux variety wines, so any samples of whites or other red varieties you may have are especially welcomed!

I’m looking forward to exploring these bottles with you all in the new year!

Happy Holidays from your internet drinking buddy Josh.