The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Local winery teams up with Dexter Cider Mill
By Sheila Pursglove, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: October 30, 2008
Concerto and Rhapsody in Red - not musical works, but wines from Sandhill Crane Vineyards, a small family owned winery on the eastern edge of the Waterloo Recreation Area that teams up each year with the Dexter Cider Mill.
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A prime example of a "hobby run amok," the vineyard was started by retired Detroit police officer Norman Moffatt who enjoyed making small amounts of wine for decades before opening a commercial vineyard and winery.
Moffatt oversees the vineyard operations. His daughter Holly Balansag serves as vintner and daughter Heather Price - who hosted two recent wine-tasting Business After Hours events at the Waterloo Farm Museum for the Chelsea and Stockbridge Chambers of Commerce — serves as executive director.
Other family members work in the winery, staff the tasting room/gift shop, and help out at special events the winery holds throughout the year.
The vineyard has a Dexter Tasting Room inside the Dexter Cider Mill through late November, and the mill's sweet apple cider is a component of the winery's Apple Mead.
"The Dexter Cider Mill is one of the nicest smelling places on earth," Price said. "Apples, fresh donuts, oak, historic building.
"We're located in the oldest part of the building. We built a little tasting room, using old apple crates for wine storage, and carry the entire wine list for tasting and purchase."
There are lots of summertime chores in the vineyard, such as spraying up the vines, and cluster thinning. Fall harvesting is also a hectic time and once the grapes are picked it gets busy in the cellar where, at the peak of harvest season, there are many batches of wine fermenting.
"Holly goes for weeks and weeks without a break, sometimes working late into the night to process newly harvested grapes," Price said.
While bottling season is less hectic, it requires ordering thousands of labels and bottles, and every Sunday during the peak of bottling season — plus some other days - is scheduled for bottling of various vintages.
Balansag and Price visit other wineries and also attend conventions and classes, including classes in wine tasting at the University of California Davis campus, where in one day they tasted about 50 wines for various aspects such as acids, sugars, tannins, flaws, and varietal character.
They also have attended a wine marketing conference in eastern Ohio; Wineries Unlimited, a large conference and trade show in the Philadelphia area; the New Mexico Vine & Wine conference; and the Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council annual meeting at Crystal Mountain.
"This is always a great conference — you get to see winery folks from around the state to touch base, share triumphs and frustrations, that sort of thing," said Price, who was appointed to the Wine Council, after working for several years on its promotions committee and strategic planning task force.
The vineyard found a unique way to give back to the community, by producing wines for local nonprofit organizations and donating part of the proceeds from sales of the wine.
The first venture was A Thousand Cranes, a blend of white wine and apple wine that benefited Hospice of Michigan. CraneBerry benefited the Michigan Audubon Society and Blushing Crane helps the nearby Haehnle Bird Sanctuary where Sandhill cranes gather each Fall before flying south.
The vineyard is currently working with the Washtenaw Land Trust on a wine to benefit land conservation efforts in Waterloo Recreation Area.
A portion of the sale of their red wine Abrazo, (Spanish for "hug") is being donated to the Cascades Humane Society in Jackson. The label features Rusty, Balansag's puppy rescued from the county pound by the Humane Society on his last day.
The vineyard's Sassy RosČ wine is named for the winery's canine "hostess" Rosie that became a celebrity when she was featured in the book, "Wine Dogs USA."
When Price came on board full time, she made a commitment to enter more competitions and Sandhill Crane Vineyards has won medals at the National Women's Wine Competition, Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, Indy International Wine Competition, Great Lakes Wine Judging, Jefferson Cup, Taster's Guild International Competition, and the Michigan Wine & Spirits Competition.
"Competitions are great marketing tools and a lot of folks enjoy seeing their favorites win recognition," she said.
"One wine can get completely different results from one day to the next, depending on the judges who taste it, their experience, and the other wines they're tasting."
Sheila Pursglove is a freelance writer. She can be reached at bingley51@yahoo.com.
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