A Note from the Editor

I’m a blusher, and whenever I drink wine especially, my cheeks get incredibly rosy and flushed. (Why is that, by the way?)

So I might enjoy sipping a glass here and there, but I’ve never personally gotten too excited about wine. There are a good number of local residents, though, who know the ins and outs of the wine  world, the difference between makers and regions and grapes — and they even laugh at a joke about the Cask of Amontillado being down their hallway.

These residents have wine cellars hidden in big beautiful homes all around the north, storing their private collections. A couple hundred bottles here, a few thousand there; it’s become a hobby for many of them.

We got a chance to step inside a few of these homes to look over some amazing collections and learn about what makes a great wine. Behind the doors of local wine cellars, these collectors take pride in knowing the difference between a Charmes-Chambertin and Chateau d Y’Quem (I didn’t before writing these articles).

While their tastes in wine preference were varied, they all shared a common admiration for Ron Edwards of Charlevoix, one of just three Master Sommeliers in Michigan. Edwards has helped area restaurants and homeowners build quality collections based on his vast knowledge of wine history, tastes and seemingly everything else there is to know about wine. Ron helped us with our articles in this issue as well.

At our house in Petoskey, we have a wet bar in the kitchen that has become a catch-all by the end of the day, with mail, spare change and baskets of just random stuff. There’s also a small wine refrigerator under the counter, though ours isn’t stocked with grand cru anything. Right now it has a collection of Gatorade flavors and juice boxes  and has become our 20-month-old twins’ personal refrigerator because it’s easy for them to open here in our own Nap-a valley.

Up above it is where we keep the rum.
 
That’s a look at our HomeLife for this issue. We hope you’re enjoying yours. Cheers!

Beth Anne Piehl, HomeLife Editor

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