THEWINEMONOLOGUES.COM: Silver Leaf Winery. . . on Tweet and Taste Michigan!

Silver Leaf Winery. . . on Tweet and Taste Michigan!

Tonight 45 'tweeps' participated in Tweet & Taste Michigan featuring Silver Leaf Vineyard and Winery. Founded in 2005 by Mark and Patti Carlson, this vineyard, located in Suttons Bay on the Leelenau Peninsula came through tonight with some good wine! www.silverleafvineyard.com/index.html

We had the pleasure this evening to sample and discuss three wines from Silver Leaf: their Pinot Gris, their 2009 Dry Riesling and their "Purple Foot" red wine.

The Silver Leaf Pinot Gris has a light straw color in the glass. On the nose I got hints of pineapple, grapefruit, muted banana and some lemon zest. On the palate, the pineapple and grapefruit followed through from the nose with good acid and minerality. I am not usually a Pinot Gris "follower" but I have to say, Silver Leaf's "PG" is a good effort.

The Silver Leaf 2009 Dry Riesling has a crystal clear golden color. On the nose I got lots of apples, peaches and kiwi. These flavors followed through to the palate, bolstered by great acid that makes this a real "food friend" of a wine. I did not finish the bottle of this though, as my wife absconded with the rest of the bottle muttering something about "we gotta get some more of this. . ."

The Silver Leaf "Purple Foot" is 100% Lemberger. To me it had a very purple "pinot noir-like" appearance in the glass, in that, I could see through the wine in the glass to my fingers. I got some dark cherries and smokiness on the nose (the Purple Foot spends 10 months in oak). The palate was initially filled with tart, tart, tart cherries, raspberries and blueberries. But, as the wine evolved a bit with time, the tartness left and turned more to a pleasant taste of plums for me.

I had never had the pleasure of trying any of the Silver Leaf wines in the past, but glad that I had the opportunity tonight to do so. I was truly pleasantly surprised and look forward to a visit to Sutton's Bay and Silver Leaf Vineyards!

I want to say a big "thanks" to Shannon and Cortney Casey for putting these great Tweet & Taste Michigan events together— you guys do a truly fantastic job. Would also like to thank Mark and Patti Carlson for providing me the wine tonight. I enjoyed all of your wines and hope to get to visit you soon at the vineyard. Cheers!