Five of the eight wines named Best of Class winners at this year’s Michigan Wine Competition were from wineries in northwestern lower Michigan. They were among the 380 tasted by wine experts from around the country who gathered in East Lansing July 18 for the 40th annual competition. The 29-person panel sampled wines from 58 of the state's 130 wineries. The winners were:

Sparkling: L. Mawby (Suttons Bay) Grace
Dry White: Verterra Winery (Leland) 2016 Dry Riesling
Dry Red: Walloon Lake Winery (Petoskey) North Arm Noir
Semi-dry White: Tabor Hill Winery (Buchanan) 2016 Gewurztraminer
Semi-dry Red: Lemon Creek Winery (Berrien Springs) Pheasant Run Red
Dessert: St. Julian Wine Company (Paw Paw) Solera Cream Sherry
Fruit: Mackinaw Trail Winery (Petoskey) Blueberry
Rosé: Chateau Fontaine (Lake Leelanau) 2016 Laughing Waters Dry Rosé

The competition is open only to wine produced from Michigan grapes and other fruit. All told, the competition produced 71 gold medal winners and 19 double gold. “I was very impressed with the quality of the wines, and know that Michigan has a very bright future,” said Jim Trezise, president of WineAmerica and president of the International Riesling Foundation. 

The Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing will host a Gold Medal Wine Reception featuring the best wines from the competition on Thursday, July 27. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door, and can be purchased here. Visit michiganwines.com for a complete list of the medal-winning wines.