History
Our last name carries an historic connection to our passion for agriculture and hospitality. Our ancestors from Canada were dedicated to farming for decades before moving to the U.S. Our grandparents, Peter and Augusta (Gusi) Brengman were Detroit area hospitality celebrities.
Pete operated the famous Continental Bowl for three decades. Grandma Gusi served as queen of our large Catholic immediate family. Her daily routine would begin each day with mass and then off for an eight-hour shift to lead the kitchen crew at our family’s ‘Captain’ restaurants. Our love for hospitality and sharing the finer things can surely be traced through our DNA. We were firmly taught that hospitality is both a human virtue and a vocation demanding that people be simultaneously skilled, compelling, and fascinating individuals.
The two brothers, Ed and Robert, began the dream of making great wine in 2003 with the purchase of Crain Hill Vineyard and have experienced growth and success in every year of operation. We owe most of it to our focus and results to deliver delicious, enthusiastic, authentic, interesting, and energetic experiences to our guests.
Our family are people who care about fine wine, local food, and the history and practices of which are all important for Brengman’s focus in creating a five-star experience. 2025 celebrates our 22nd year in this passion program, and we decided to revise our name from Brengman Brothers to Brengman Family Wines. Because, with time, our passion has fermented into our devoted and amazing staff (blood and not-blood) and we wanted to pay tribute to this new chapter in our story. It has become bigger than the two brothers and the new name is part of that recognition. Here’s a toast to the next 22 years!
Founders Robert and Ed Brengman
Operations Manager Evan Burton with furry friend
Truth in Dirt
France’s finest vineyards are often designated ‘Grand Cru.’ We believe the location and work that goes into Brengman vineyards help grapes to ripen as well as the best vineyards on the planet. Our vineyards have a special spirit that express themselves as the vines mature. Dirt does matter! Entering our 22nd season we find ourselves looking at our past and, more importantly, future. We are excited and grateful to be part of Michigan’s contribution to the world wine revolution. It wouldn’t exist if the wonderful flavors of the vineyards were not here. Those flavors are here, and their existence is crucial to our own. We have found this wonderful gift from the unique dirt that we tend and special climate that nurtures it. The aim is to produce value-premium wines that express the terroir of the soil, the sun, and the wind of the sites.
Cellar Practices
Brengman started growing grapes in 2003 and began making estate wines in 2010. Technical Director Robert has guided the winemaking since its beginning and has taken the cellar reins himself with the 2017 vintage. The goal has always been to develop a Leelanau terroir with an old-world spirit that, through time, becomes the benchmark for the region.
The cellar at Brengman has partnered with Ryan Tompke as the Assistant Winemaker for the past four vintages. Ryan is showing the skill and confidence to be a natural at this profession.
The timing of this brain and brawn addition to cellar operations has created an upward shift in the quality of the finished wines as we have seen in the 2020 vintage and every vintage since. According to Robert, the goal of finding greatness in our wines is about having your nose, tongue, eyes and ears open to the process while morphing the way things are done to always elevate the quality. We feel that all the wines have taken a notch up the quality scale, and we’re hearing it from our members, fans and expert wine competition judges.
Believe in the Yeast
At Brengman Brothers, we’ve returned to a centuries-old winemaking practice—allowing naturally occurring yeast from our vineyards to drive fermentation. This wild fermentation process, combined with the unique terroir of Northern Michigan, has led to wines with a distinct sense of place. Curious about how this approach is changing our wines? Click through to learn more about our journey and the results that have winemakers and sommeliers talking.
Distillery
Making grape brandy is like making whiskey, except that it begins with fermented grape juice — a simple wine. The wine from Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Ugni Blanc (Rotgiphler) is grown, produced, and bottled by Brengman Brothers. Our plan is to harvest slightly later than the norm, to produce wines between 10% and 10.5% alcohol. We want a lot of fruit character in the spirit at the end, so for that we need to have plenty of fruit at the beginning.
Another detail that we add to the process is to distill using both the lees of fermentation and the lees left after the settling process prior to fermentation (the bourbes) in the first distillation. This is technically challenging, but it is proven to produce a finer spirit of greater depth and complexity in taste and aroma.
All the spirits aging program takes place in wooden casks. They absorb flavors, color, and scents from the wood. The spirits are aged in both young and middle-aged French oak casks that were used in the winemaking program.
