Women in Wine: Kasey Wierzba of Shady Lane Cellars

Kasey, could you please kick things off by telling us a little about yourself? Give us a little background on how you became interested in wine and eventually a winemaker for Shady Lane.
I’m pretty sure I was born a foodie. When I was young I would watch Jaques Pepin, Julia Child and Rick Bayless on PBS. Frantically, I would take notes and ingredient lists in hopes to recreate something slightly similar. I loved gardening just as much as cooking and my grandmother taught me how to preserve and can. That love of food and plants drew me to a plant science degree at Michigan State University, where I made a slight turn and landed in the Horticulture Department. There I found the Viticulture and Enology Lab where I put my chemistry skills to work with research wine analysis. I also harvested and fermented my first grapes at MSU’s Spartan Cellars. I loved the idea of growing something beautiful and taking it further to create a whole new expression that was even more beautiful. For me this vocation is the perfect balance of science, craft and creativity. Ok, I shouldn’t forget problem solving. It’s not all sipping and discussing wine under a magical rainbow, it’s a whole lot of hard work and dedication. Worth it though.

After graduating with a bachelors and masters in Horticulture both from Michigan State University, I headed to Napa CA. During my seven years in Napa I worked as a Vineyard Manager for Frog’s Leap, a Viticulturist for Far Niente and a cellar worker at Rudd Winery. The vineyards and fruit I worked with were those one would read about. Adjacent to the Bay Area and a stone’s throw from some of the best cuisine in the world, it was heaven on earth. I became a “real” adult in CA; expanding my knowledge of food, cooking and hosting dinners for friends. I would not have traded this experience for anything!

After moving back to Michigan, I spent a year as a career mom, I had a newborn and a 4 year old. My first job back in the wine scene was a harvest winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars in 2013. I loved the all-estate property and enjoyed working with the vineyard manager and crew. I was invited to stay on as an assistant winemaker after harvest and did so. In 2016 I was promoted to head winemaker. That year I started our Reserve Red program and added 3 new varietal wines to our portfolio.

Napa, where you started your wine career, and Michigan have very different terroirs. What do you find the most fun and the most challenging part of working with grapes from Leelanau and the difficult Michigan climate? Did you always know you wanted to return to Michigan to make wine?
Even though there are great differences in terroir between Leelanau peninsula and Napa I had a pretty large lense of how different wineries and vineyards operate. I also carried an arsenal of problem solving experience and I continue to have a vision for sustainable viticulture that was impressed upon me during my time in Napa. Here we have agricultural challenges that California does not have; like dealing with high disease pressure due to our more humid climate. In California they have irrigation and drought issues; we do not. I’ve come to learn that every region has its own set of challenges.

One of the most challenging situations is when I’m faced with unripe red grapes. Usually this is because we had a cool growing season and the red grape skins are not ripe or the acidity is way too high for a red wine. It pains me to go a year without making a Cabernet Franc, but at times it’s the best decision. In years when I choose not to make a red, I will make a beautiful rose’. This decision is inline with my winemaking approach. My intention is to make the most beautiful expression of the grape variety, representing the vintage and the place. I’m making wines that are a true expression of the variety, the season and Leelanau county. In some years that wine might be an aromatically expressive rose’ as opposed to a red.

I have always been drawn to drink dry aromatic white wines; seeking out Alsace and cool climate Italian wines. Coming home to Northern Michigan I knew there would be an opportunity to make this style of wine. I’m also a “water person” and coming home to live near all the freshwater was the icing on the cake.