What’s our deal?
Hi! We’re Iza & Derrick the team and couple behind Folklor Wine & Cider.
When we met over a decade ago, we were both on the path to healthcare management – Derrick in laboratory science, Iza in grant development. A fortuitous trip to New Zealand to study the healthcare system brought us to the Hawke’s Bay wine region and an epiphany of sorts - although we didn’t realize it until much later - that growing grapes and making wine could satisfy many of our shared interests and passions.
Drinking Brunello in Italy on our honeymoon.
Back home in Michigan, we read, researched and tasted every wine we could, worked in tasting rooms in the Petoskey Wine Region, and volunteered in local vineyards. This eventually led to a winemaking apprenticeship, viticulture and enology courses and full-time vineyard management job for Derrick.
In 2019, we started Phenology Vine Care to help take care of privately owned and commercial vineyards in Michigan's Tip of the Mitt AVA. We named our vineyard management company "phenology" after the study of cyclic and seasonal changes in plants. Phenology marks the passage of time from dormant shoots, to the first buds, to bloom, fruit set, veraison and harvest. It's inevitable, it's part of the earth's changing seasons and, to us, phenology is the vineyard's instructions for when and how we help the vines succeed.
Harvest on Drummond Island in 2020.
We picked this as both a name and a sort of guiding principle because we believe that beautiful, quality wine starts in the vineyard with ripe fruit grown in healthy soil using a holistic, proactive vineyard management strategy. We love the challenge of navigating northern Michigan's seasons and want to make wines that express the climate, geography and people who make up this place.
Through our vineyard management work we realized we have a clear vision for how we want to farm and make wine and cider - starting in the vineyard and the orchard. We’re bringing the spirit and intention of phenology to Folklor Wine & Cider.
In 2021 we bought our home farm in Charlevoix – 52 rolling acres just a couple miles from the shores of Lake Michigan. Here, we’re growing cold hardy and hybrid grapes and restoring our 50-year-old apple and pear orchard. We’re a winery in the making! Construction on our wine production space and tasting room will begin in the Spring of 2022.
We can’t wait to make tasty beverages and welcome you to the farm! Check back often and follow us on Instagram for updates.
✌️💚🍇 Iza & Derrick
