Fennville
Fennville in southwestern Michigan was the state’s first AVA — and one of the first in the nation — when it was established in 1981. It’s encompassed within the larger Lake Michigan Shore AVA founded two years later.
Lake Michigan Shore
Like Fennville, the Lake Michigan Shore AVA benefits from Lake Michigan’s “lake effect,” which moderates winter and summer temperature extremes and delays the budding of the vines beyond late spring frosts.
Leelanau Peninsula
The Leelanau Peninsula in northwestern Lower Michigan became the state’s second AVA when it was approved in 1982. Like its southwestern Michigan counterparts, it benefits from lake effect, with Lake Michigan, Grand Traverse Bay, and Lake Leelanau moderating temperatures. Vineyard soils tend to be sandy and loamy and drain well.
Old Mission Peninsula
Across Grand Traverse Bay from the Leelanau Peninsula, the Old Mission Peninsula became an AVA in 1987. Here, too, lake effect plays a major role: Lake Michigan’s surrounding bays have a moderating influence on the growing environment.
Tip of the Mitt
The Tip of the Mitt AVA is Michigan’s newest, approved in July 2016. Spread across Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Antrim, and Alpena counties, it has a longer frost-free growing season, more growing degree-days, and a generally less-extreme climate than the adjacent region to the south.
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