In this week’s Northern Express — sister publication of The Ticker — wine is front and center as local winery teams head into the vineyards to harvest this year's crop. Blizzards, floods, wildfire smoke, and changing drinking habits have made 2026 another year of adaptation for northern Michigan’s wine industry. 

Growing wine grapes in Michigan’s unpredictable climate, especially in years like this, takes precise, manual labor. Lee Lutes, head winemaker at Black Star Farms of Suttons Bay, says any good winery owes its quality to the farmers handling the vines. “A lot of good wines are made in the vineyard,” Lutes says. “As long as the winery can get quality fruit, making a good wine from it is considerably easier than when you have compromised fruit coming in.”

As for the quality of wine this year, Lutes is optimistic. “We’ll have a little less wine this year, but the quality at this point should be good, if not very good.”

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Pick up a free copy of this week’s Northern Express, available to read online or at one of nearly 650 spots in 13 counties across northern Michigan.