Chateau Fontaine: Fruit-forward wines, great hospitality

By Linda Beaty
Sun contributor

Dan Matthies, proprietor of Chateau Fontaine in Lake Leelanau (along with wife Lucie), still remembers the day over 30 years ago that he saw a tiny advertisement in the Leelanau Enterprise: “Looking for farmers to grow wine grapes.” Matthies and his wife had been fascinated with wine and the idea of wine making since they’d first tasted the beverage in the 1970s — but they’d never seriously considered the possibility that their land, acres upon acres of steep hills with south-facing slopes, would be an ideal spot for following the lead of wine maker Bernie Rink. Rink, a neighboring farmer who’d planted a test plot of French-American hybrid grapes as well as a few vinifera varieties on 16 acres of rolling Leelanau County land back in the mid 1960s, had debuted his Boskydel winery, the first winery to open in Leelanau County, in 1975.

But Matthies called the number in the ad anyway and described their land to Dr. G. Stanley Howell, professor of horticulture at Michigan State University. Dr. Howell had been actively involved in viticulture research since 1970, and was working to improve grape cultivation and wine production practices in Michigan, a state that at the time was still in its wine industry infancy.

“Nine days later Dr. Howell and his assistant came out to the property,” recalled Matthies. “I took them up the hill and decided to let them be for a bit. After an hour, I went back. There was Dr. Howell standing with his arms crossed, while his assistant was digging holes in the ground. Dr. Howell looked at me and said, ‘I think you might have some of the best property in the state of Michigan to grow vinifera’.”

And that was the beginning of Chateau Fontaine, said Matthies — a beginning that was carefully undertaken, only after a lot of reading and consulting with other area wine makers, like Bruce Simpson, who started Good Harbor Vineyards soon after Boskydel opened. “We had a great mentor in Bruce Simpson,” said Matthies of the winemaker, whose vineyard and winery is now run by his adult children following his death in 2009.

The Matthies began with five acres of Chardonnay grapes, which they sold for the next 10 years to Good Harbor Vineyards, Mawby Vineyards and a few other wineries that had sprung up in the area. “It took ten days on our hands and knees to plant that vineyard — me, Lucie, and our son Doug, with help from Bruce Simpson and Larry Mawby,” said Matthies. “Today, with the help of machinery, it would only take five hours to plant it.”

By 2000, Matthies, a realtor who also owned two local ski shops, was ready for the next step in the wine business. Sugar Loaf ski resort in Cedar had closed, forcing the loss of one of his two businesses, and by that time, he and Lucie had bought another property and had begun to plant a variety of grapes besides Chardonnay — Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Franc, Auxerrois and Gewurztraminer, to name a few — as well as to make their own brand of wine. “We opened the tasting room on September 9, 2000, with 750 cases of wine,” said Matthies. “By November 1, they were all gone.”

Today, Chateau Fontaine, which was named in keeping with the French heritage of the homesteaders who had grown potatoes on the property in the 1800s — and also after Lucie’s middle name — produces just under 10,000 cases of wine a year. “I want to remain small and boutiquey, to concentrate on quality and not quantity,” said Matthies.

And the focus on quality has paid off. The winery has won many awards over the years, but a special honor was a back to back win of the prestigious John Rose Award for best Riesling at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, in 2012 for a dry Riesling and in 2013 for a semi sweet Riesling. No other winery in the 11-year history of this blind tasting competition has won twice — nor two in a row wins.

What to expect at a Chateau Fontaine wine tasting? Most definitely a fruity experience. “Wine is fruit,” said Matthies. “It should smell like fruit and taste like fruit. It should be fruit forward, refreshing, with an extreme complexity.”

You’ll be able to taste Chardonnay, with flavors of light citrus and ripe figs, Pinot Gris, with a crisp, clean apple flavor, the apricot and peach flavor of semi-sweet Riesling, and a spicy floral grape in the Gewurztraminer, as well as a wonderful dry rose made of Pinot Noir, with flavors of strawberries, cherries and raspberries. Two great blends are the Woodland White, with crisp green apple on the palate, honeydew melon midway and a finish of white peach, and Woodland Red, with nuances of blackberry, plum and raspberry.

And you’ll definitely be witness to Dan and Lucie’s hospitality. “We love to share our passion for wine,” said Dan, who maintains that the wine grape industry is one of the brightest spots in Michigan agriculture. “We love to have people experience Michigan wines, to taste wines that compare to wines in California, Washington, and Oregon.”

What’s next for Chateau Fontaine? New wines for one thing, said Matthies. Two new varietals are Viognier, an ancient grape varietal that has garnered increased popularity around the world, producing a wine with a strong floral nose and a nice crisp fruit on the palate, and Gruner Veltliner, a wine that the Matthies tasted in Austria, which has citrus and peach characteristics.

And Matthie’s real estate ventures have branched exclusively into a specialization in acreage suitable for vineyards, one in which he acts as a mentor to those interested in the wine business by painting a realistic (and not romantic) picture of the money and hard work involved in owning and operating a vineyard.

As for where Matthies sees himself in 10 years: sort of the Robert Mondavi of Leelanau County, still working in the business into his 90s. “I want to continue my business and continue making first class wines,” he said. “I love it all, I really do. I can picture myself being the oldest person working in a wine tasting room.”