From the day Amoritas Vineyards opened on Dec. 6, 2017, the owners and staff have enjoyed the ever-changing adventure of making and selling award-winning wines on the Leelanau Peninsula.
Amoritas has been a family business from the start. Father Michael Goodell, along with brother and sister duo Emily and Matthew head the operations at the local winery.
“It’s been great running a family business with my kids and learning a lot about the community, about the wine business, and having the gratification of producing new and exciting wines,” Michael said. “It’s very gratifying to work with my kids as equals. They have their strength, and their expertise, which I don’t have ... My kids are telling me what to do, and it tickles me so much that we have that kind of relationship. The relationship between Matthew and Emily is gratifying to see them working together as a team,” Michael said. “Any time you have a family dynamic, there’s always room for misunderstandings.
We can work through those, and we have very successfully. It’s a very, very positive thing, I feel.”
Matthew and Emily admit being in the wine business has been exciting.
The local winery has survived constant rising costs without lowering its standards.
“The climate seems to be trending in a good direction for positive growing seasons. This past year has been probably the best growing season conditions that we’ve seen since we started,” Matthew said. “It’s wonderful to be able to work closely with my sister and my dad. We all bring different managerial skills and thought processes, and functioning business attributes to the table.”
Wines of 2024 will sell in high demand once it’s available starting in late spring 2025 through 2026.
“The fun part about farming is it’s never the same from one season to the next,” Emily said. “I feel blessed to be able to work with my dad and brother and we can share more of our lives and massively improve our communication skills. “
Amoritas will celebrate its seventh anniversary with a series of exciting events.
The festivities start with participation in the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners’ Association’s Taste the Season trail event, currently underway, followed by an annual wine dinner at Little Traverse Inn (LTI).
“LTI owner Graeme Laesk’s talented family and staff always go out of their way to make this one of the most successful events of the year,” Michael said.
This six-course dinner, paired with six different Amoritas wines costs $80 per person. Amoritas Wine Club members can buy their tickets for $70. Call Amoritas or Little Traverse Inn to reserve a seat.
Also, every Sunday on which the Detroit Lions play a 1 p.m. football game, Amoritas features the ‘Lions Lounge’ with wine specials and free snacks.
After a Thanksgiving Day break, the Lake Leelanau winery will host a ‘Boss Mouse cheese’ making class on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m. The tasting room has been open since 2017 and they first planted in 2013.
The class will include handson training in the preparation of mozzarella cheese. A glass of Amoritas wine is included in the $50 price.
