Every state with a small but growing wine industry needs significant grass roots endorsement. Michigan has it now. Sharon Kegerreis and Lorri Hathaway have the shared experience of being raised in northern Michigan, near what has now become prime wine country. Armed with degrees from Central Michigan University, they both quit corporate careers in favor of family life and raising their young children in southeast Michigan. After a meeting over shared business interests and a desire to promote Michigan wines in their native state, they founded Michigan Vine (www.michiganvine.com) in 2003. Through Michigan Vine promotional efforts, they realized that there was a lack of attractive published information on Michigan's 50 wineries and the personalities behind each.

In their book From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries, Kegerreis and Hathaway correct this lack in spades.

In a conversation with APPELLATION AMERICA, Kegerreis and Hathaway discussed how they came to write a book that has the pictorial beauty of a coffee table book, yet holds the reader's interest during down-to-earth chats with Michigan's vintners and grape farmers. Anyone with an interest in traveling Michigan's beautiful wine country and its well-planned Wine Trails will find this book an invaluable aide, with directions to wineries and high-quality digital base touring maps (courtesy of the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council).

If you're looking for wine reviews, however, you won't find them. The authors wish visitors to make their own discoveries during each winery visit.