St Julian Winery – Paw Paw, Michigan
Nestled in the southern shore of Lake Michigan the St. Julian Winery is the oldest and largest winery in Michigan.
The winery is a family owned business, started by Mriano Meconi in 1921. Being Italian certainly helps in the wine industry, good wines and Italian heritage seem to go hand in hand. He emigrated from Italy to Canada at the age of 13 and in 1936 moved his wine business from Canada to Paw Paw to be closer to Lake Michigan Shore grape-growing region.
Family tradition keeps this winery producing quality wines for your enjoyment.
The main winery in Paw Paw offers free tours on a year round basis. Monday thru Saturday beginning at 9:30 AM, there is no tour at noon, and the last tour starts at 4 PM. Sundays the tours run every half hour beginning at 12:30 PM and the last tour is at 4 PM (all times are Eastern Standard Time).
The winery is handicap accessible and all ages are welcome to come and visit the winery.
The winery has 5 tasting rooms at their retail outlets and you can taste the wines to find the one you enjoy most, for free. There are two in Paw Paw, one in Frankenmuth, one in Dundee and one in Union Pier so wherever you are in the area there is a wine tasting room close to you.
There are grape varieties used to produce their wines. The vinifera varieties from Europe, hybrid varieties from Europe which are then cross bred with native American and French grapes and the native American varieties. Hybridization produces varieties that can withstand the cold Michigan winters and in turn produce high quality wine.
The grapes are purchased from 100 growers in the region of SW Michigan and come from an area within a 45 mile radius of Paw Paw.
The winery has a banquet hall called the Apollo which is available for rent for parties and corporate functions. They also host special events throughout the year so be sure to check with them to find out if there is anything special going on when you are going to be in the area.
Location: 716 S. Kalamazoo St, Paw Paw, Michigan 49079
Phone: 269-657-5568 or 800-732-6002
Email: wines@stjulian.com