Hessenland Inn, just north of St. Joseph on Highway 21, will celebrate the official opening of its new Schatz Winery Sunday, June 4.
Inn Manager Kelsi Trotter said they had their first vintages come out in 2020 and now they're excited that their winery building will officially be open to the public.
“The Huron Shores area is growing rapidly with five plus wineries in the area," said Trotter. "We are surrounded by great breweries and wineries. So really, our bread and butter is cool climate varietals that grow really well in this area.”
Trotter says they do grow some vinifera grapes, but most of their wine comes from the cool climate varietals.
“They sometimes grow well in this area but because of our micro-climate here, in the Huron Shores area, we find that the cool climate grows a lot better for us and it produces a lot better wine," she said.
They grow a lot of Marquette and they have some Riesling and Petite Pearl as well.
Trotter said they're also very lucky to have a restaurant and an event space on site, so their winery feeds their event space and restaurant.