Folklor Wine & Cider grew from our love of community, of sitting around the table with a full glass and a full plate sharing stories.

At our Home Farm in Charlevoix, we’re growing cold hardy and hybrid grapes and restoring an apple and pear orchard on 52-rolling acres just a couple miles from the shores of Lake Michigan.

Before purchasing our Home Farm in 2021, we leased 5 acres of vineyards in Pellston, MI and managed private and commercial vineyards across the Tip of the Mitt AVA. The more time we spent in the vineyard, the more we developed a vision for the types of wines we wanted to produce, wines that are farmed with care and are true to the place they grow.

We follow a “vineyard first” philosophy in everything we do including our winemaking, tasting offerings and how we manage our business.

Six years in, we are still at the beginning of this project!

Meet the Team

When we met over a decade ago, we were both on the path to healthcare management – Derrick in laboratory science, Iza in grant development. A fortuitous trip to New Zealand to study the healthcare system brought us to the Hawke’s Bay wine region and an epiphany of sorts - although we didn’t realize it until much later - that growing grapes and making wine could satisfy many of our shared interests and passions.

Back home in Michigan, we read, researched and tasted every wine we could, worked in tasting rooms in the Petoskey Wine Region, and volunteered in local vineyards. This eventually led to a winemaking apprenticeship, viticulture and enology courses and full-time vineyard management job for Derrick. In 2019, we started Phenology Vine Care to help take care of privately owned and commercial vineyards in Michigan's Tip of the Mitt AVA. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Izabela Babinska, Grape Grower, Business Manager

Izabela was born in Poland and emigrated to the US with her family when she was in elementary school. Izabela has spent over a decade in the non-profit industry and holds an MBA in Nonprofit Management. She is a writer, project manager and accidental (but enthusiastic) farmer.  

Derrick Vogel, Grape Grower, Winemaker

Derrick grew up milking cows and driving tractors on his family’s dairy farm in the Thumb of Michigan. He has a Bachelors in Laboratory Science and Masters in Health Administration. Derrick spent a decade in the healthcare field before jumping ship to viticulture. He is a graduate of the Viticulture & Enology, Science & Technology Alliance and a Journeyman Winemaker. He has worked as the vineyard manager and assistant winemaker at Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery since 2018.