Thursday, February 6, 2025

Through the Grapevine

Wine aficionados, take note. While you swirl the gleaming fluid inside the glass you grasp so elegantly, pause for a moment between the smelling and sipping and nibbling on cheese to appreciate the work it took to produce that fleeting pleasure. At least, that’s what Jon Treloar does.

Every glass, for Treloar, contains the trials of the nectar— the spring frosts that nip at the buds on his vines, the menacing hornets, the wild turkeys who peck at the grapes. It seems every fluctuation of nature in Michigan presents a risk of destroying the wines of Treloar’s J. Trees Cellars, but he goes on despite it all. The former student of botany credits his dedication to the vineyard in Petersburg, Michigan to the one aspect of the wine-making business science and dollars can’t measure — his unbridled, outright geeky enthusiasm for plants.

Destiny in a nickname
Treloar (pronounced Tree-lore, the apt source of his nickname Jonny Trees) discovered his calling eleven years ago when he earned his Michigan State University bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology. “It sets you up for doing nothing other than going to grad school,” Treloar says. When he returned for a master’s from his alma matter he became interested in the “romantic side” of agriculture, vines and wine making. MSU’s research winery became his training ground, and in 2006 he went from researcher to boutique winery owner, planting the seeds of the business on a plot of land — little used for many years — passed down from his great-grandfather.

Stomping grounds
His labor of love, J. Trees Cellars, is discreet, marked by a nondescript mailbox along a country road in Petersburg. In the distance, tractors till the property’s 40 acres of land, and the house where Treloar’s grandfather was born remains boarded up. (He hopes to eventually move the house closer to the trellises to host tastings right at the source.) A tour of the production facility boasts less rustic scenery — no army of Lucille Ball-types stomping grapes here. “All the principles are the same, but the equipment is different,” he says, standing in front of mammoth fermentation tanks and presses. Not just different in technical ways — the barefoot stompers would’ve been much cheaper. It’s a “capital-heavy” business, perhaps opposite of the glamorous existence strapped-to-office-desk types imagine. What’s it like to look at his life’s work before his eyes? “Well, hopefully my children will get to profit from it,” he sighs. He’s mastered the delayed gratification necessary for a business man whose product lays in wait for years at a time.

Fruits of his labor
Treloar’s got the hard work taken care of. He doesn’t expect you to peer into
the glass and see in those ounces of  complex and intoxicating flavors anything other than potential joy. At his tasting room in Blissfield, far removed from the fields of his labors, he’ll let you try (almost all) the fruits of his toils for free. Swirl, sip, sniff. Focus on the fuji ice cider —he’s one of only a handful who produce it in the country. He’ll even let you nibble on cheese.
J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room, 115 N. Main St., Blissfield, MI. Open Fri. – Sun. from noon to 6 p.m. Contact J. Trees Cellars at 1-877-304-3254 or visit www.treeswines.com. Bottles range from $12 for rose wine to $35 for grape ice wine. J. Trees Cellars vintages will soon be available at local grocery stores in Toledo.

A sideways roadtrip
J. Trees Cellars will debut a new wine for the Summer Solstice Release Party hosted by Pioneer Wine Trail, a network of Southeast Michigan wineries and vineyards who organize self-driven tours of the region. June 23 – 24. Tickets are $25 and are available through www.pioneerwinetrail.com

Wine aficionados, take note. While you swirl the gleaming fluid inside the glass you grasp so elegantly, pause for a moment between the smelling and sipping and nibbling on cheese to appreciate the work it took to produce that fleeting pleasure. At least, that’s what Jon Treloar does.

Every glass, for Treloar, contains the trials of the nectar— the spring frosts that nip at the buds on his vines, the menacing hornets, the wild turkeys who peck at the grapes. It seems every fluctuation of nature in Michigan presents a risk of destroying the wines of Treloar’s J. Trees Cellars, but he goes on despite it all. The former student of botany credits his dedication to the vineyard in Petersburg, Michigan to the one aspect of the wine-making business science and dollars can’t measure — his unbridled, outright geeky enthusiasm for plants.

Destiny in a nickname
Treloar (pronounced Tree-lore, the apt source of his nickname Jonny Trees) discovered his calling eleven years ago when he earned his Michigan State University bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology. “It sets you up for doing nothing other than going to grad school,” Treloar says. When he returned for a master’s from his alma matter he became interested in the “romantic side” of agriculture, vines and wine making. MSU’s research winery became his training ground, and in 2006 he went from researcher to boutique winery owner, planting the seeds of the business on a plot of land — little used for many years — passed down from his great-grandfather.

Stomping grounds
His labor of love, J. Trees Cellars, is discreet, marked by a nondescript mailbox along a country road in Petersburg. In the distance, tractors till the property’s 40 acres of land, and the house where Treloar’s grandfather was born remains boarded up. (He hopes to eventually move the house closer to the trellises to host tastings right at the source.) A tour of the production facility boasts less rustic scenery — no army of Lucille Ball-types stomping grapes here. “All the principles are the same, but the equipment is different,” he says, standing in front of mammoth fermentation tanks and presses. Not just different in technical ways — the barefoot stompers would’ve been much cheaper. It’s a “capital-heavy” business, perhaps opposite of the glamorous existence strapped-to-office-desk types imagine. What’s it like to look at his life’s work before his eyes? “Well, hopefully my children will get to profit from it,” he sighs. He’s mastered the delayed gratification necessary for a business man whose product lays in wait for years at a time.

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Fruits of his labor
Treloar’s got the hard work taken care of. He doesn’t expect you to peer into
the glass and see in those ounces of  complex and intoxicating flavors anything other than potential joy. At his tasting room in Blissfield, far removed from the fields of his labors, he’ll let you try (almost all) the fruits of his toils for free. Swirl, sip, sniff. Focus on the fuji ice cider —he’s one of only a handful who produce it in the country. He’ll even let you nibble on cheese.
J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room, 115 N. Main St., Blissfield, MI. Open Fri. – Sun. from noon to 6 p.m. Contact J. Trees Cellars at 1-877-304-3254 or visit www.treeswines.com. Bottles range from $12 for rose wine to $35 for grape ice wine. J. Trees Cellars vintages will soon be available at local grocery stores in Toledo.

A sideways roadtrip
J. Trees Cellars will debut a new wine for the Summer Solstice Release Party hosted by Pioneer Wine Trail, a network of Southeast Michigan wineries and vineyards who organize self-driven tours of the region. June 23 – 24. Tickets are $25 and are available through www.pioneerwinetrail.com

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