On the road and at home, it's always about food and fun!
Grand Rapids: Quality of Life and Affordable, Too https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/realestate/grand-rapids-quality-of-life-and-affordable-too.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
The Michigan Wine Collaborative (MWC) is excited to announce the 2025 Taste Michigan Governor’s Cup Competition results. This event represents Michigan’s only statewide industry driven wine competition and is an opportunity for the Michigan wine industry to unite, engage, compete, and celebrate the premium wines representative of our wine industry.
Partnering with the Beverage Testing Institute (BevTest) for the official third annual Taste Michigan Governor’s Cup Awards in 2025, MWC is thrilled to announce the exciting results from the competition. BevTest spent April and May conducting a series of professional blind tastings to rate and rank a set of Michigan-produced wines, meads, and ciders at the BevTest Chicago testing facility.
The final tasting results with all wine’s scores, medal ranks, constructive criticism, Best of Category, Governor’s Case Winners, and Governor’s Cup winners can be found on the Taste Michigan website now.
The Michigan Governor’s Cup winner for 2025 is Cherry Creek Cellars, of the River Raisin Wine Trail with their 2023 Charamar Collection Pinot Noir. This wine ranked the highest out of 154 entries from 33 wineries submitted to the competition.
We are pleased to announce the following award categories and corresponding ‘Best of Category’ awards:
Governor’s Case Winners (top 5 red, top 5 white, top sparkling, top rosé):
Wineries and wines with their medal ranks are now listed on the Taste Michigan website. In partnership with the Taste Michigan brand, MWC will be coordinating events and promotional opportunities for the winning wines of the competition including a prestigious award ceremony where we will gather to transfer the Taste Michigan Governor’s Cup Trophy from Verterra Winery to Cherry Creek Cellars.
The official trophy will be housed at the 2025 Best in Show winner tasting room for one year. MWC provides personalized plaques to signify each year’s winner. This physical award is becoming an iconic part of tasting rooms around the state for the wine industry and consumers alike.
MWC is excited and honored to be able to market Michigan wine through this event via retail and restaurant marketing projects, Taste Michigan campaigns, media opportunities, and more.
We would like to formally thank our membership for making these events and projects a reality and invite the whole of Michigan wine producers and grape growers to consider joining our organization as well as suppliers and vendors to the industry, educators, members of the trade, and all other industry affiliates and supporters. We have many opportunities available for membership and sponsorship of our organization with each allowing us to continue producing projects to increase and reinforce the Michigan grape and wine industries.
Join or Sponsor the Michigan Wine Collaborative Here!
The Michigan Wine Collaborative is the voice of the Michigan wine industry. Our mission is to enhance the sustainability and profitability of the Michigan wine industry by supporting wineries, growers and other businesses and individuals connected to the industry – today and for future generations.
For more information, contact us by reaching out to info@michiganwinecollaborative.com or send us a message on social media.
Just because August is almost here, doesn’t mean the summer fun needs to slow down. Award-winning Journeyman Distillery is turning up the heat with some can’t-miss events this month, like Island Night at the Featherbone Factory in Three Oaks, MI, and Dirty Boots Night at The American Factory in Valparaiso, IN. Whether you’re drawn to fire dancers and tropical cocktails or steel guitars and line dancing lessons, there’s something worth putting on the calendar.
First Fridays Glow Putt Nights
DATE: Friday, August 1
WHERE: Welter’s Folly, 109 Generations Dr, Three Oaks, MI 49128
TIME: 8:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. ET
ADMISSION: $9 Adult Day Pass, Kids 12 & under golf free | More DetailsDETAILS: Welter’s Folly lights up after dark for Glow Putt Nights ONE LAST TIME this season. From dusk to close, the green becomes a glowing playground for late-night putting with a laid-back vibe. Whether you are aiming for precision or just enjoying the summer air with a stiff drink, it’s a glowing way to spend a summer evening.
Island Night at the Featherbone Factory
DATE: Friday, August 16
WHERE: The Featherbone Factory, 109 Generations Dr, Three Oaks, MI 49128
TIME: 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET
TICKETS: $80 General Admission | All Ages Welcome | Link to Purchase Tix
DETAILS: Island Night is bringing a taste of the island life to Three Oaks. As the sun sets, the Featherbone Factory will glow with tiki torches and tropical flair. Expect a Polynesian-inspired buffet featuring island dishes, including soy-ginger pork shoulder, soba noodle salad, and coconut rice, as well as handcrafted tiki cocktails. The evening will also feature vibrant performances, including live hula dancing and a fire show. It’s a dreamy event that captures the laid-back magic of summer nights in Harbor Country with a fun island twist. Tropical attire encouraged!
Dirty Boots Night at the American Factory
DATE: Friday, August 23
WHERE: The American Factory, 258 S Campbell St, Valparaiso, IN 46385
TIME: Doors at 6:30 p.m. CT | Event: 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
TICKETS: $25 General Admission | 21+ Only | Link to Purchase Tix
DETAILS: Dust off your boots because Dirty Boots Night is back! This high-energy evening kicks off with line dancing lessons from Fred Astaire Dance Studios, followed by live music from Steel Country and plenty of room to two-step. Your ticket includes a welcome cocktail, and the cash bar will be open all night. For a full dinner experience, grab a table at Union Hall before the music starts.
Summer Music Live
DATE: Every Wednesday and Friday
WHERE: The American Factory, 258 S Campbell St, Valparaiso, IN 46385
TIME: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. CT
ADMISSION: Free Event
DETAILS: Back for its second year, Journeyman is continuing to host their free summer music series every Wednesday and Friday night on the courtyard stage at the American Factory in Valpo, IN. Bring the family for the last month of this series for the season, enjoy lawn games, and soak in the live music under the summer sky. Want to make a night of it? Reserve a table for dinner at Union Hall. Check out the lineup HERE.
Annual Awards Program Recognizes the World’s Best Wine Lists—
Special ‘Restaurant Awards’ Issue Highlights Revitalization of Steak Houses, Aged Wines for Today’s Generation
Wine Spectator, the world’s leading authority on wine, has unveiled the winners of the 2025 Restaurant Awards, which honor the world’s best restaurants for wine. This year’s awards program recognizes 3,811 dining destinations from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 80 countries internationally.
“A wine list is a restaurant’s identity in print, and this year’s Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners reflect both deep knowledge and a passion for discovery,” said Marvin R. Shanken, Editor and Publisher, Wine Spectator. “I proudly present the 3,811 restaurants worldwide that earned a Restaurant Award this year—we raise a glass to all our winners.”
Launched in 1981, the Restaurant Awards represent the world’s only program focused exclusively on restaurant wine service. They are assigned on three levels: the Award of Excellence, the Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award, with 2,010; 1,704; and 97 winners this year in each respective category.
This year, Wine Spectator has granted three new Grand Awards: Selby’s in Atherton, CA, Soby’s in Greenville, SC and Le Bon Georges in Paris, France. The Restaurant Awards issue includes exclusive profiles on each winner and the talent behind each of the wine collections that earned them this honor.
Also featured in Wine Spectator’s special Restaurant Awards issue: “What’s Old is New Again,” as restaurants place an emphasis on revisiting and uplifting tried and true classics.
The Restaurant Awards issue, which features a tribute to late Grand Award-winning American chef and restaurateur Charlie Trotter, becomes available to readers July 15th.
Follow Wine Spectator on Instagram (@wine_spectator) and use the hashtag #WSRestaurantAwards for posts about this year’s awards.
WineSpectator.com/Restaurants also features coverage of winners, interviews with leading wine directors, wine picks and pairing tips from sommeliers at award-winning programs. In the Restaurant Search, all winners can be searched by name, location, award level, cuisine, wine specialties and pricing. Winners are also profiled in the free Restaurant Awards app, available for iPhone and iPad users.
About Wine Spectator
Wine Spectator is the world’s leading authority on wine. Anchored by Wine Spectator magazine, a print publication that reaches around 3 million readers worldwide, the brand also encompasses the Web’s most comprehensive wine site (WineSpectator.com), mobile platforms and a series of signature events. Wine Spectator examines the world of wine from the vineyard to the table, exploring wine’s role in contemporary culture and delivering expert reviews. Parent company M. Shanken Communications, Inc., also publishes Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Shanken’s Impact Newsletter.
For winners in the Phoenix area.
For winners in the Chicagoland area.
For winners in Michigan.
For winners in Indiana.
Chicago’s Middle Brow, nationally known for their pizza, beer, sourdough and local native wines, is opening a winery early in 2026. But for those who don’t want to wait, the Logan Square-based fermenters are popping up at PostBoy for an epic patio pour party on Sunday, July 13th, starting at 12 p.m. ET. Join them for an afternoon of sipping, snacking and sun with servings of their bakery’s signature sourdough loaves paired with PostBoy’s Chef James Galbraith’s spreads, along with generous pours of their natural wine.
And, as an added extra, a selection of Middle Brow’s wine will also be available for retail purchase to take home, along with some PostBoy merch perfect for a beachgoing summer uniform.
Middle Brow makes their beer. wine. pizza dough. and bread. entirely from sources in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. According to their website, “given that our beverage program is over 95% made, by us, from produce and other earth’m within 150 miles of home, our menu is likely more ‘local’ than any other restaurant in the country.”
DATE: Sunday, July 13th
TIME: Beginning at noon ET
DETAILS: PostBoy is bringing Chicago’s beloved Middle Brow to New Buffalo for a patio pour party! Snack on signature sourdough loaves paired with PostBoy spreads, pours of their expressive natural wines by the glass, and a selection of bottles available for retail purchase to take home.
RESERVATIONS: Walk-ins welcome on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are optional and available on Tock, although outdoor seating is not promised.
For all but the most avid landscape design devotees, the name Jens Jensen may seem slightly familiar but little more. However his beautifully crafted landscapes in Chicago, Indiana, and Wisconsin endure more than a century after his death.
Jensen left his native Denmark and settled in America in 1884 because of his parents’ disapproval of his wife. Starting as a street sweeper for Chicago’s West Park System, he became one of America’s most significant landscape architects.
From still here to long gone, Jensen’s work can be traced throughout this area that abuts Chicago, known by locals as The Region or, if you’re really from there, Da Region. He landscaped the grounds of the South Bay Hotel, a posh place in Indiana Harbor, popular around the turn of the last century.
It was a place for yachtsmen who sailed from Chicago, docking their boats in a cove of Lake Michigan and spending time having good times at the hotel. Not far away, he designed the very stylish city’s water works park near what is now Jeorse Park Beach.
Jensen was the landscape architect for the original park in Marktown in East Chicago. He also drew up plans for Indiana Harbor’s Washington Park in the 1920s when large homes for Inland Steel’s executives were being built along the park’s perimeters. The neighborhood is now designated as the Washington Park Historic District.
He wrote columns for what was then The Hammond Times and now the Times of Northwest Indiana, offering planting advice and was also involved in a project called the Ideal Section, a 1.5-mile stretch of U.S. Hwy. 30 between Dyer and Schererville, part of the Lincoln Highway designed to showcase what highways could be like in a time of unpaved and gravel roads.
According to George Rogge of Miller Beach, Indiana who served on the Lincoln Highway Association and was a board member of Indiana Landmarks, says that Edsel Ford (Jensen also landscaped their Detroit area home that is open for tours), one of the backers of the highway, authorized a payment of $25,000 for Jensen to design a roadside park area and campground. That never came to fruition.
But the memorial Jensen designed honoring the Ideal Section and also Henry C. Ostermann, an early proponent of the Lincoln Highway remains and is surrounded by the native plants he would have chosen.
A member of the Prairie Club–a group of scientists, early environmentalist and those who enjoyed nature who came from Chicago to enjoy the dunes and waters of Lake Michigan, Jensen was instrumental in the fight to save parts of Gary’s shoreline from the encroachment of the steel mills on land now comprising the state and national dunes parks. A fountain he designed is located at the entrance of the Indiana Dunes State Park.
In Michigan City, Jensen designed the gardens at the stately Barker Mansion, the former home of a wealthy industrialist built in 1857 and now an opulent example of the Gilded Age is filled with original furnishings and art.
The museum hosts numerous garden events showcasing its brick walkways, formal plantings, fountain, a niche with bench and Tiffany globes, urns overflowing with flowers and climbing bushes with pretty blooms.
Dr. David Benson, a biology professor at Marian University in Indianapolis, wanted to revitalize the sprawling grounds of the James Allyson estate where the school is located. But when landscapers started to work, they realized this wasn’t just an overgrown piece of land; it was the work of Jensen. It is among the largest and most intact of his landscapes in the United States.
As an interesting aside, according to the Marian University website, Benson secured the 12th global ranking for identifying an impressive 611 bird species across the lower 48 states during the 2023 calendar year. Reflecting on his monumental feat, Benton described it as “an enormous challenge and a fantastic experience in practical ecology and ornithology.”
According to Deborah Lawrence, Senior Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and General Counsel, who is also involved in the garden project, the 55-acre natural area of native plants, prairie, now the Nina Mason Pulliam EcoLab, is designed to educate through interaction with the environment.
Riverdale, the estate’s formal gardens were also restored. Both contain many of Jensen’s signature elements including a player’s green, and for water features, a series of spring-fed lakes encircling a central clover meadow. The restoration of historic structures include a stone colonnade, fountain, and what Lawrence describes as their version of a council ring.
“The plants are color-coded in purples and blues,” says Lawrence, noting there are walking trails and the grounds are open to visitors. “It’s what Jensen wanted.”
Many of Jensen’s memorable works can be seen in Humboldt Park where he expanded the lagoon into the Prairie River, a cascading and meandering waterway with stepping-stone paths and banks lined with native plants. He also built the Prairie-style boat house there
Columbus Park is the only Chicago park completely designed by Jensen, and it is the only place in the city with one of his famed council rings. Part of his heritage, Jensen attended the Folk School in Denmark, a place for learning Danish traditions and culture, including an appreciation of nature. Council rings were part of the concept, used as a way to bring people together in the outdoors, a place to sit, share, and tell stories.
Jensen incorporated Prairie-style elements in his design of the Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the most popular settings for engagement and wedding photos in Chicago.
After the death of his wife, Jensen, who loved the beauty of Door County, Wisconsin, moved to Ellison Bay, establishing The Clearing Folk School, a place for classes and seminars centering on arts, fine crafts, humanities, and natural sciences. Visitors are welcome to explore the grounds and building and there are also guided hikes.
Jensen also played a part in the preservation of the 1,600-acre Ridges Sanctuary near Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin’s first land trust. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, it’s a wonderful place for hiking.
But its main features are the Upper Range and Lower Range lights dating back to 1870. Set 980 feet apart and aligned on a 340° bearing line, they are the only lighthouses still on range being used as navigational aids.
“Jensen also is credited with having sketched the last mile of Wisconsin 42, north of Ellison Bay leading to the Washington Island Ferry dock,” says Jon Jarosh, Chief Communications Officer at Destination Door County. “The extremely curvy stretch of road is the most photographed stretch of road in Door County.”
In less than a year, one of Marshall’s most historic yet long-vacant buildings has been converted into an elegant, first-class event space called Venue 19 Zero 9. An extension of Schuler’s Restaurant and Pub, is named for the year in which Schuler’s was founded–1909. The public is invited to view the transformation of Venue 19 Zero 9 at an Open House on Thursday, March 20 from 4-7pm.
“We can’t wait to share this newly renovated space with our community and guests,” says Sue Damron, President & CEO of Venue 19 Zero 9 and Schuler’s. “Over the years, we’ve been committed to expanding and enhancing the hospitality experience here in Marshall. The addition of Venue 19 Zero 9 gives us another unique space to create memorable events complete with catering and planning services.”
Housed inside an 1880s historic landmark, known for many years as Dreamers Furniture, Venue 19 Zero 9 sits two blocks from the Marshall’s legendary Schuler’s Restaurant. The restoration of the iconic stone structure aligns with the town’s dedication to its heritage, offering the perfect blend of tradition and modernity while creating a beacon of sophistication and unparalleled experience for weddings, corporate events, and other special occasions.
The multi-use Venue 19 Zero 9 features a large room accommodating up to 300 seated guests, an intimate soft-seating area, two changing quarters for wedding parties to get ready, as well as three stylish boutique hotel rooms, adding a touch of class for those seeking an all-encompassing experience.
To ensure an exceptional culinary offering, Venue 19 Zero 9 features exclusive catering by Schuler’s Restaurant. Known for its impeccable service and delectable cuisine, Schuler’s will bring its signature touch to elevate events held at Venue 19 Zero 9 including unparalleled professional onsite planning services. Drawing upon the extensive hospitality experience of the Schuler’s team, the venue aims to provide full-scale event coordination, ensuring that every detail is meticulously executed.
The Venue 19 Zero 9 project is the latest initiated by Damron, who acquired the legendary restaurant in 2019 and has worked for the company for almost three decades. Over the past five years, she and her team have been responsible for ongoing renovations at the restaurant and pub, but more notably she led the charge to transform former office and storage space (part of the building’s original hotel footprint) into seven new mixed-income units—four of which are reserved for low-to-moderate-income residents—and five boutique guest rooms branded as The Royal Hotel. In 2020, she also developed a picturesque off-site outdoor venue in rural Calhoun County called Hyde Away, which adds diversity to the company’s hospitality portfolio.
Damron says she couldn’t have completed this project without the support of the City of Marshall, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Marshall Area Economic Development Alliance, and Homestead Savings Bank. The project was eligible for a grant coupled with significant investment from Damron and Schuler’s Restaurant.
Founded in 1909, Schuler’s is noted as one of Michigan’s most iconic restaurants. With more than a century of successful years in the industry, Schuler’s remains a hospitality leader not only in Michigan, but throughout the country.
Schuler’s Restaurant & Pub is located at 115 S Eagle St. in Marshall, Michigan. (269) 781-0600; SchulersRestaurant.com
Venue 19 Zero 9 is located at 112 N Eagle St., Marshall, Michigan. https://19zero9.com
Michigan Shines with Two Breweries Named Among Top 10 ‘Must-Visit’ in the U.S. Source: My Magic GR https://share.newsbreak.com/alq2o931
