Sandhill Crane Vineyards 2005 Proprietor's Reserve Chancellor

Sandhill Crane Vineyards is a great Jackson, Michigan, winery with an expansive range of wines in their tasting room. It’s a great location for a day trip and an opportunity to sample some offbeat grapes such as Traminette, Vignoles, Seyval Blanc, Chardonel, and Vidal Blanc. During our last visit, we sampled and loved the 2005 Proprietor's Reserve Chancellor.

Chancellor, a French-American hybrid with origins in the Rhone area of France, is now found mostly in the eastern US. The grape can produce rich wines with strong tannins and berry flavors. The Chancellor grape was developed in the mid-1800s.

The 2005 Proprietor's Reserve has robust tannins that knocked us back a bit when we uncorked this baby. After the wine (and us) settled down a bit, the dark cherry flavors rolled out. The wine has a medium to full body with twinges of chocolate mocha, almost Italian in style. It is velvety smooth.

The wine has 12.5% alcohol and cost $23. For the adventurous wine explorer, this is well worth checking out.

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