Wine, spirits and the sky: Inside Michigan's Chateau Aeronautique Winery
Jackson — Michigan vintner and pilot Lorenzo Lizarralde sees a lot of parallels between flying planes and making wines, besides both being a lot of fun.
The owner and founder of Chateau Aeronautique Winery in Jackson — where wine fans can sip chardonnay and pinot noir while getting a close-up look at two vintage planes that overlook a large, grassy runway — Lizarralde says in both cases it's about attention to detail.
"And staying focused, laser-focused, and never letting down your guard," he said. "Staying attentive. Although flying is very forgiving, it's very callous when it comes to carelessness or hard mistakes. So is wine."
Lizarralde and his team, which includes his wife, Amanda Lizarralde, has a collection of fun Michigan destinations for grown-ups that incorporate not only the Chateau Aeronautique Winery but also the Mile High Distillery and Blue Skies Brewing craft brewery.
The wine-centric Jackson airpark houses a 1940 Boeing Stearman and a 1956 Cessna 172. That's where wine fans can enjoy a glass or two in the intimate, round gazebo room or the newer, larger bar area that can seat about two dozen people around a U-shaped bar made of glass and wine barrels. There's also a private tasting room and wine cellar. If you don't see the Lizarralde's two friendly shih tzu dogs Bacchus and Arianna in person, you'll notice them on the painted mural near the main bar.
"This is very personal service, quiet, calm, art on the walls," he says of the Jackson location. "Irish Hills is chaos."
That location, about 30 miles south of the airpark in Onsted, Michigan, is built to entertain 300 people. That's where the grapes are grown, the pizza is slung and the classic rock cover bands crank it up every weekend. Both locations can be rented out for private events like weddings.
"We couldn't possibly do the kind of personal service down there that we do here," he said. "I tell people, this is Mackinac Island, (and Irish Hills) is Put-in-Bay. This is Paris, and that's Amsterdam. I like both ... I wanted two completely different experiences and that's what we've got."
The majority of the calendar at the Irish Hills property is filled with classic rock tribute acts, but they also host other entertainment like dueling pianos and stand-up comedy. Comedian Ken Witzgall, who performed there in December, describes it was "a beautiful, ambitious oasis."
"Driving that winding road as it twists around these relatively rural lake communities, especially after dark, you don't really know what you're in for. Then walking in, all of a sudden there's a pretty big crowd on the back patio, and you're wondering where they came from, until you see the big brewery and distillery tanks in the back and see this place was made to party," said Witzgall. "The aviation theme is all over the place, including the bar itself, converted from an old airplane wing — it's not terribly convenient for food or drink service, but it's memorable, and the great food, booze and staff leave a lasting impression."
The Chateau Aeronautique Winery's line is sold in the Metro Detroit area at Michigan By the Bottle tasting rooms, which have locations in Royal Oak, Auburn Hills and Shelby Township. As the name of the winery implies, Lizarralde is interested in French-style wines. They make cabernet franc and chardonnay, plus riesling, ice wine and sparkling wines.
The wine was originally made at the airpark, but Lizarralde expanded to the Irish Hills location a few years ago to found the Laurent Vineyard, named after the glacier that formed the Irish Hills.
"The reason I targeted the Irish Hills is because for grape growing we want slopes," he said. "We want good soil drainage, sandy soil and we want south-facing slopes, because we're turning sunlight into wine. I looked for two years down there before I found this property."
This was just after the pandemic, which is when he founded the Blue Skies Brewery. Under that umbrella, they produce a huge variety of beverages, from New England-style IPAs to amber ale, Belgian triple, Oktoberfest, bourbon barrel-aged stout and more, including some non-beers like hard seltzer and hard cider. The distillery arm of Lizarralde followed in 2023, makes a variety of whiskey.
The beer, liquor and wine all feature airplanes on their labels, naturally. Lizarralde's blue and yellow Boeing Stearman from 1940 is the one shown on the Chateau Aeronautique Winery logo and on every bottle of wine.
"The plane was originally designed by Lloyd Stearman in 1933. He started building them and then he sold his company to Boeing," said Lizarralde. "Boeing ended up building like 10,600 of them. They were trainers in World War II. This one was stationed at an Army airfield outside of Oakland, California. So we'll never know how many pilots learned to fly on this airplane and went on to fly in Europe and Asia."
Lizarralde said after the war the two-seat plane was decommissioned, became a crop duster and was artfully restored in the 2000s, including its wooden wings that are covered in fabric.
"It's the most challenging airplane I've ever flown and the most fun airplane I've ever flown," he said.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
Chateau Aeronautique Winery, Blue Skies Brewery and Mile High Distillery
Irish Hills venue and pizzeria
12000 Pentecost Hwy., Onsted
(517) 446-4052
Hours: 3-9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 3-11 p.m. Fri., noon-11 p.m. Sat. and noon-6 p.m. Sun.
Airpark and Tasting Room
1849 Rives Eaton, Jackson
(517) 569-2132
Hours: 3-9 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-9 p.m. Sat. and noon-6 p.m. Sun.
chateauaeronautiquewinery.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wine, spirits and the sky: Inside Michigan's Chateau Aeronautique Winery
