'The Right People:' Popular Dune Bird Winery Changes Hands

A popular Leelanau County winery has changed hands and will form a "triple crown" of sorts for its new owner. 

Dune Bird Winery, which sits between Leland and Northport, opened in 2021 on what was earlier the site of Gill’s Pier Vineyard and Winery. With a full coffee bar, expanded food menu and other items not typical of its fellow wineries, Dune Bird gained a considerable following in the few years since.

Now, founding owners Nicole and Bo White announced the sale of Dune Bird to Harmony Estate Wineries of Leelanau, a group that also owns Bel Lago and French Valley vineyards. Despite the change at the top and a few new faces, guests to the winery needn’t brace for major changes.

“Why change something that’s not broken?” Harmony Estate owner and CEO John Heekin tells The Ticker. “You can really feel the energy here, and why risk that? We want to continue the momentum.”

Heekin is a Cincinnati native who spent a lifetime of summers in Leelanau County, as three prior generations of his family had. He purchased Bel Lago in 2018 and French Valley in 2019, forming Harmony Estate as the ownership group. After selling and retiring from an Ohio company that manufactured forestry equipment, Heekin and his wife Lynn moved to Leelanau full time last year.

As far as Heekin (and a few others The Ticker checked with) knows, he's now the first owner of three Leelanau wineries. When asked about the feat, he deferred to his staff and their dedication to demonstrating the "world class potential" of Leelanau wine. 

"I'm honored to have three great teams who are extremely passionate about providing memorable wines, atmospheres and experiences for our guests," he says. 

The Whites spoke with a few parties before inking the deal with Harmony Estate, which they strongly feel is the best group to carry Dune Bird forward.

“For our customer base, our community, our club members – all those people who know and love Dune Bird – there’s an innate (worry) with something like this,” Nicole White tells The Ticker. “But our desire is to tell people that this is a good thing. This is an exciting thing. All of the elements of Dune Bird that you know and love are going to continue. John and his team are the right people.”

Dune Bird wasn’t actively listed for sale, but the Whites started putting feelers out after a divorce led to the decision to part with their business. Heekin is the “right person to carry the torch,” Nicole says, easing the bittersweet decision to step away.  

“Part of what made John and his team such exceptional buyers – and the right buyers – was the shared vision and the shared heart for community,” Nicole says. “That’s why I’m excited for them and excited to hand the baton off.”

Heekin is also part of the Leelanau and local wine community, Nicole says, something that greatly adds to his appeal as a buyer.

“I didn’t want some big California person who doesn’t know Leelanau coming in,” she says. “John knows the community, he knows the wine trail, he knows the people.”

In an email newsletter to Dune Bird club members and other followers, Nicole says she’ll be on site for the time being to ease with the transition and thanked everyone who supported Dune Bird since its inception.

“As I exit over the coming months, I want to acknowledge the gut-level gratitude I feel to each of you for being a part of our time here,” she wrote. “You, our guests and supporters, along with my incredible staff, have made this journey one of the most defining chapters of my life.” 

After operating as Gill’s Pier Vineyard and Winery for more than a decade, the property transitioned in 2015 to a yak and alpaca farm called Gill’s Pier Ranch before the Whites (with zero experience in the industry) dove head-first into launching a new winery. They sold their house and moved into an RV on the property for 18 months with two young children as they worked to open Dune Bird.

The Whites had a “carpe diem” mentality, Nicole tells The Ticker, especially after their young son had a multi-year battle with cancer (he is now-cancer free) and the COVID-19 pandemic had Bo ready to quit traveling for work. Their lack of winery experience was a good thing (Bo doesn’t even like wine, Nicole said) that led directly to some of the “outside the box” items that subsequently made Dune Bird so endearing.

“We used (our inexperience) as an asset instead of as a liability,” she says. “So instead of what we were supposed to do, it was asking what makes sense? What do we actually want here? What's an environment, a menu, a culture that we want?”

They wanted a true community gathering place that was open later than other wineries and provided plenty for people who might not like wine all that much (even though their wine has garnered rave reviews).

“What was really important to us was creating more than something that was just centered on wine,” she says. “We wanted something centered on hospitality, something that created a gathering place. And what was more important than ever during that period of time than ever was the face-to-face. How do we help this community develop relationship? How do we get people off their couch and out of their house where they've been stuck for two years of COVID?”

An intense focus on the right staff was also key to the Dune Bird success, Nicole says.

“I didn't care that you have zero experience in hospitality or wine. That's easy to teach,” she says. “Do you have a heart for people? Are you innately hospitable? Are you innately warm and affable? I want someone coming through those doors to feel like this is an extension of my living room.”

For now, Nicole wants to focus on being the best mom she can be. As for Heekin, he says he's not interested in purchasing any more wineries. 

Photo (from left to right) Bo White, John Heekin, Channing Sutton (Harmony Estate events manager) Nicole White, Sarah Peschel (Harmony Estate marketing and business development manager and new Dune Bird general manager) and Blake Lougheed (head winemaker for Harmony Estate).