Its ideal location near the now-popular resort town of Saugatuck, Michigan, along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the Fennville AVA, has recently brought Fenn Valley Vineyards an enthusiastic consumer base. Yet, since its founding in 1973 by the William Welsch family, formerly from the Chicago area, it remains the sole winery in the AVA.

Today, 56 year-old Doug Welsch, who once thought he'd teach high school science after graduating from Illinois State University in 1972, has been Fenn Valley's guiding winemaking influence.

Grapes are sourced from about 60 planted acres on the 230-acre estate, a site chosen because of favorable weather patterns, climate and an infertile soil profile atop a large sand ridge extending inland from Lake Michigan, between the Black River and the Kalamazoo River valleys.

Proximity to Lake Michigan and its "lake effect" profoundly affects both winter and growing season climate. There's abundant snow, about 100 inches annually, and temperatures dip to an average low of 0 degrees F, yet chosen varietals have proven winter hardy. Although low, a temperature comparison during the February 2007 cold snap shed light on the "warmth" of Fenn Valley estate. When it was -5 degrees F in Detroit in southeast Michigan, the thermometer at Fenn Valley was +3 degrees F. Several feet of new snow acted as an insulating blanket for the vines.

Summer temperatures are warm enough to ripen selected grape varieties, but lake effect cooling ensures retention of bright acidity.

Wines retain a constant temperature after fermentation in a 23,000 square foot winery cellar, built into the side of a hill which draws the advantages of natural temperature and earth stability.

We talked with Doug Welsch to find out how the lake effect works its magic on his vineyards and about other benefits derived from his location in the AVA.