Hickory Creek Winery

Hickory Creek Winery in Buchanan, Michigan, sits in the Lake Michigan Shore AVA and leans hard into small-batch, European-style wines from locally grown grapes. Founded in 2006 by a partnership of grape farmers, the winery built its reputation on dry to off-dry bottlings made from vitis vinifera fruit at a time when Southwest Michigan was still changing how people thought about the region. Since purchasing the winery in 2017, owner and winemaker Adam McBride has kept that focus in place, with a distinctly hands-on approach he sums up as bucket-by-bucket work.

The current range is broad without feeling scattershot: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, Grüner Veltliner, Chambourcin, and a five-grape Bordeaux-style Mélange built from Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. There is also room here for more experimental bottles, including skin-fermented orange wines like Dry Traminette and Test Pilot. Visiting feels relaxed rather than ceremonious. Tastings run $15 for either a guided five-wine tasting or a five-wine flight board, with indoor seating, a patio, picnic and firepit areas, and a barrel room used for some tastings. Reservations matter most on weekends and for groups, while smaller parties can often walk in. The overall draw is simple: serious wine without the performance.