The Michigan winery Chateau Grand Traverse has launched a new series of wines in which a portion of the profits go to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to better state parks, trails, and waterways.
"We wanted to produce wines that can pair easily with everyday activities — a reward for a long hike or a complement to the picnic basket," says Eddie O'Keefe, president of Chateau Grand Traverse, located on Old Mission Point, just north of Traverse City.
The wines, named Woods, Water, and Picnic, were created in partnership with Ann Arbor-based Pryor Design Co., which created the packaging and offered marketing design services. Picnic is a semi-dry wine, Waters is a sweet white wine, and Woods is a sweet red wines ($9 per bottle).
Chateau Grand Traverse will donate about 50 percent of the net profits generated from the Wines of the Great Outdoors program.
"This partnership will go a long way toward encouraging residents to get out and enjoy Michigan's woods and water, while helping the Department of Natural Resources share the story about real threats to natural resources and opportunities to improve recreation experiences for everyone, says Maia Turek, recreation programmer for the DNR."
Michigan residents can vote to decide where the funds go by visiting CGTwines.com/mioutdoors. Options include making trails easier to navigate, improving accessibility to water recreation, and replacing trees. To purchase the wines, click here.
