Two Fresh Bubblies

Click image to enlarge

“This ain’t no weak-ass shit.”

There are two sparkling wines worthy of note that have become available in the last few weeks at our friendly neighborhood Costco. The first is from our own Michigan bubbly specialists, Mawby. As previously reported, these folks are celebrating the winery’s 50th Anniversary, and they have made a special cuveé in that regard. I’m a big Mawby fan, so as soon as I saw this, I picked one up and brought it right home.
Continue reading

Two Michigan Sparklers

“I love the intensity, and must confess; when I might have stopped at two glasses, I had a third, and found it just as satisfying as the first.”

Click image to enlarge

While not exactly a “hot bed” of sparkling wine production, there has been more and more good bubbly coming out of Michigan for quite a while now. One need look no further than the dean of Michigan sparkling wine producers, Larry Mawby, whose L. Mawby winery, rebranded simply as Mawby in 2019, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Larry has stepped back from leadership, promoting longtime team members Michael and Peter Laing to head up the operations.

The Laing brothers also have their own label, bigLITTLE, which they describe as “Big wines from our Little Leelanau Peninsula.” They source their grapes from their parents’ ten-acre vineyard in Lake Leelanau, and while they make several still wines, it’s the Tire Swing Brut that first caught this bubblehead’s attention back in 2015. So, when I found a current bottling at Ferndale’s Western Market recently, it was an easy choice to try again, and a rewarding one at that.
Continue reading