J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room open for business at Hayden-Ford Mill

It was a long journey for Jon Treloar to bring J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room into the historic Hayden-Ford Mill in Tecumseh, but the doors finally opened on April 26. The location for the tasting room was originally in Blissfield, but the business was ready to grow.“The idea is now we have a lot more space,” Treloar said. “We have plenty of room for people. Our site is fantastic.”Treloar felt the Hayden-Ford Mill was the perfect place for the business to expand and continue to grow, and is happy to finally be in the building. Besides the tasting room, the business will eventually have production space in the 1,500 square foot basement, an outdoor patio, and a still in the garage.Music will be in the mix as well. “Our intention is to have a band every Saturday night,” said Treloar. Having the tasting room open for business couldn’t have come at a better time for Treloar, who can now turn his attention to the vineyards. “Our vineyards in Petersburg are in full production,” he said. “We just finished pruning. It’s kind of a war zone out there.”While the vineyard was buried under snowdrifts, Treloar spent the winter building the bar for the tasting room and making the large gathering table that seats 20 people. Now he is ready to get on the farm to work with the grape vines and to find a spot to plant apple trees.The business is prepared to expand its offerings of hard cider. Right now production is 50 percent wine and 50 percent hard cider, but Treloar anticipates it won’t be long before hard cider production passes wine.Finding the right apple trees are key to producing a perfect hard cider. Before Prohibition, apple trees for hard cider were everywhere, but with Prohibition, growers switched to dessert apples in their orchards.According to Treloar the apples needed for hard cider are very different. “They aren’t particularly enjoyable for eating or desserts,” he said.Treloar’s interest in wine making began at Michigan State University (MSU). After earning a Bachelor’s degree in botany and plant biology, Treloar continued on at MSU to get his Master’s degree, and worked with a professor who happened to be a viticulturalist.Viticulture is the cultivation of grapevines and grape growing. Treloar spent eight years working with the professor as a research enologist. Treloar realized his study of wine, enology, had reached the point where he needed to decide to remain in academics or to go into business.“I made the decision it was time to go commercial,” Treloar said with a smile. Finding a location was not difficult.His father had purchased the farm previously owned by Treloar’s grandfather, but the land was just lying fallow. Treloar planted the first grapevines on the Petersburg property in 2006, and produced the first J. Trees vintage in 2008.By 2010, he was ready to open a tasting room, located in Blissfield across the street from The Main Street Stable & Tavern. Along the way, he began running a vineyard in Ypsilanti.Vintners are not a competitive group. One reason Treloar liked Tecumseh was because other wineries were close by, drawing wine lovers in nearby cities like Detroit and Toledo.“It’s the community,” Treloar said. “It’s really about creating a destination for people.”Vineyards close together also mean it’s possible to share certain costs, mainly skilled laborers to work in the vineyards who need more work than one vineyard can provide. Sharing labor takes balance and patience, but Treloar believes it is worth the occasional inconvenience to have good people working with the grapes.“We can all get our work done and keep people employed,” he said. Although J. Trees Cellars Tasting Room does offer small plates to accompany the wine and hard cider, Treloar has no intention of ever expanding the location to a restaurant. He is very particular about what pairings are offered and focuses on quality rather than quantity.“I want the food we offer here to be rustic and pure,” Treloar said. “It’s simply an accessory to what we do.”Although Treloar has been active in every part of his business, he can’t do it all alone. “I’ve got good people working with me,” he said “and my family is very very supportive.”Because family is important to Treloar, the tasting room is also family friendly, and will soon have drink and food to appeal to all family members.Hours for J. Trees Cellar Tasting Room are currently Thursday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The business is on Facebook and has a website at www.treeswines.com. For more information call 877.304.3254.

Tecumseh Herald

 

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