Suttons Bay's Wine Scene Gets A Shake-Up; Other Leelanau Business News

Several new additions to the Suttons Bay wine scene, the impending opening of a brand-new recreational attraction in Glen Arbor, and a significant price drop on one of Leelanau County’s most notable real estate listings. These are a few of the business news highlights in Leelanau right now, as the calendar turns from spring to summer. The Leelanau Ticker has the latest on these and other stories from around the county.

Three Trees Vineyard opens in Suttons Bay

Leelanau County’s newest winery, called Three Trees Vineyard and located at 5200 Elm Valley Road in Suttons Bay, held its grand opening on June 7. That grand opening is the realization of a four-year journey, according to co-owner Lyle Cifuentes. She, her husband Phil, and their business partners, Scott and Laurie Muschong, decided during the pandemic to take a leap of faith by literally putting down roots in northern Michigan.

“My husband and his business partner, they had an automation company in Detroit, and I was a journalist for about 24 years,” Cifuentes tells the Leelanau Ticker. “Then, during COVID, we decided that we were going to do something different. We’ve been coming up [to Leelanau] for many, many years, and I always had the dream of owning a vineyard here. So, we bought the land and the rest was history.”

The Three Trees Vineyard team closed on their Suttons Bay property in early 2021, and quickly planted grapevines, though they waited until they had a few vintages bottled before they set an opening date.

“Now we have 2021 wines, 2022 wines, and 2023 wines, and we’re ready to open,” Cifuentes shares. “And for the most part, we’ve farmed all the property ourselves.”

In terms of wines, Cifuentes points to merlot and cab franc as the “bread and butter” at Three Trees, though the winery also has pinot gris available to start. Other varieties – such as pinot noir and chardonnay – were planted more recently, but will eventually join the wine rotation.

Following a “packed” opening weekend, Cifuentes is excited for a busy summer season at Three Trees. As for the other pats of the year, she says the winery will likely “stay open through the fall” and then take a winter break before reopening in March. That calendar is contingent upon how long the winery’s stock of wine lasts.

“We’re trying to keep our 2021 wines through the fall, and then break into our 2022s when we reopen in March,” Cifuentes says, before adding that she expects the winery will eventually shift to a year-round operational calendar. “We’ll have a winter break this year, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for too long. We just want to make sure that we have enough wine to get through the season!”

Suttons Bay gets a new wine shop

Also new to the Suttons Bay wine scene is Happy Girl Wine Co., a new wine shop located at 405 N St. Joseph Street, right next door to the newly-opened Dalzell Dairy. The owners, husband-and-wife team Ed and Teresa Bosse, see the shop as a cheerful, bright-colored, welcoming alternative to the sometimes-snobby world of wine retail.

“A lot of people, if they’re going to a dinner party, they’ll buy the same wine every time, because they’re afraid that if they try something new and fun, it’ll somehow send the dinner into a spiral,” Ed explains of the Happy Girl Wine concept, noting that many wine drinkers are so focused on what they are “supposed to like” that they never branch out. “I was just talking to a friend of mine, and he said, ‘Man, 20 years ago, the wine industry was so much more fun. People were much more excited about trying new stuff and taking some risks.’”

The goal with Happy Girl Wine, Bosse explains, is to inspire shoppers to try new things again. The business plans to deliver on that mission with wine tastings for customers – “We’ll always have an interesting wine open for people to taste,” Bosse says – and with a $15 “wine wall” (pictured), which is specifically curated to offer less common wines for affordable prices.

Another passion project for the Bosses: Turning customers on to less mass-produced wines. “When you’re putting your wine into every grocery store in the country, you have to put a lot of chemicals in it, because it could sit on that shelf for two years,” he says. “At Happy Girl Wine, we stock clean, healthy wines that taste better because they don’t have all those chemicals and additives in them.”

River Club Glen Arbor sets its opening date

In early May, the Leelanau Ticker shared a sneak peek at River Club Glen Arbor, a new miniature golf course, bar, restaurant, live music venue, and hangout spot on the banks of the Crystal River. At the time, the new Glen Arbor establishment was still only mid-way through its construction process. Come next Monday, though, owners Mike and Gina Sheldon will be ready to welcome the public to their new business for the first time.

“It’s been like willing an entire city into existence, in less than 18 months,” the Sheldons said of the buildout in an email sent to project supporters this week. “We are incredibly excited to be on the doorstep to opening River Club Glen Arbor. Monday the 24th is the date.”

In other Leelanau business news…

>Ciccone Vineyard & Winery, the Suttons Bay winery famously owned by Madonna’s family, hit the market last summer for $4,925,000, but didn’t sell at that price point. Now, the business and property have been re-listed at a reduced asking price. In fact, according to listing agent Blake Bernard, there are now two listings for Ciccone – the first for the business, an on-site home, and 96 acres of land for $4,490,000; and the second for the business, home, and 78.37 acres for $3,990,000.

>Ciccone isn’t the only Suttons Bay winery currently up for sale. Shady Lane Cellars also recently hit the market, for a $5,000,000 asking price. The LoopNet listing includes the 145-acre estate, which is split across three separate properties and encompasses 70 acres of “meticulously crafted grapevines.” According to the listing, the reason for the sale is the 2022 passing of owner Richard Fortune, who bought the winery in March of 2013. The family now desires for the business “to have a more involved owner.”

>Dr. Carrie Sands, a certified chiropractic sports physician, recently opened a practice at 410 S Edwards Avenue in Leland. She specializes in sports chiropractic, including services for helping athletes maximize their performance or rehabilitate injuries, as well as exercise classes, massages, and more.

>One of the longest-running motels in Leelanau County, the Duneswood Inn, has rebranded and reopened as the Dune Climb Inn. The establishment, located on M-109 right in the heart of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, is under new ownership as of April. The new owners, Kevin and Michelle Aucello, gave the property a renovation and are now booking reservations for the summer via the inn’s new website.