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Editor’s Note: Local writer (and one of my best friends) Kris Hains writes about Susan Kostrzewa, a wine expert with ties to the OMP who is in town for the Traverse City Wine & Food Festival. Check out Kris’ stickers, books and other cool stuff at her website here. -jb
The inaugural Traverse City Food & Wine Festival is happening in town from August 20 – 24, serving as a homecoming of sorts for wine expert Susan Kostrzewa.
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Before launching an extensive career in the wine, travel, and food industry, Kostrzewa grew up in Traverse City and graduated from Traverse City Central High School in 1989.
“I was aware, of course, of there being a wine industry in the area,” she says of her early upbringing in Traverse City. “I was a little young. I moved away basically when I went off to college, and I never moved back full-time.”
Though she hasn’t lived in Traverse City full-time since, her family is firmly rooted here. In the mid-’90s, her father moved to Londolyn Bluff on the Old Mission Peninsula.
“I have spent decades staying with him on the peninsula and watching the changes and growing vineyards,” she says. “I walk the Hawthorne property (on the road) every day at his house, and we used to cross-country ski alongside the vineyards up near his house.”
When she married her husband, Cris, who is also from Traverse City, the couple rooted their lives in the Old Mission Peninsula, where his family has long owned property.
“My rehearsal dinner was at Old Mission Tavern, and my husband and I have property out near Wunsch Farms, which has been in his family since the ’50s,” she says of her strong ties to Old Mission Peninsula.
These days she makes her home just outside New York City. She is the founder of Resplendent Ink, a wine, food, and travel content and education consultancy with clients around the globe. She is a regular editorial contributor to JamesSuckling.com, one of the top sources for wine ratings and perspectives in the world, and is a Director-at-Large for Les Dames d’Escoffier, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage, and hospitality. She is the former editor-in-chief of Wine Enthusiast Media.
Despite her global presence, she always makes time for her hometown — which is why she was excited for the opportunity to be part of the Traverse City Wine & Food Festival.
Her first introduction to TC Tourism, as it turns out, came through a friend on the West Coast. “I was introduced by a friend of mine out of San Francisco, who does wine PR and marketing, and had been talking to the TC Tourism group,” she says. “She remembered that I was from the area and thought it would be good for us all to meet, which we did.”
Kostrzewa ultimately connected with Mike Kent, who handles PR for TC Tourism, and for the last two years, they have been working together. In addition to content creation, she also hosted a wine tasting event for journalists in Chicago.
She was then approached about participating in the upcoming festival, bringing her global perspective and local connection to the event.
For the Traverse City festival, Kostrzewa will host two events. The first, Critics’ Choice: Tasting Traverse City’s Top Wines With a Global Expert, takes place August 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Indigo Hotel.
“That (event) is a comparative tasting of eight wines from the region, from both Old Mission and from Leelanau,” she says. “I’ve chosen four wine varieties that I consider to be the top, most promising right now.”
The wines include Pinot Gris, Gamay, Riesling, and Cabernet Franc.
“I’m asking a few wine makers to come in and talk,” she says. Among those winemakers is her long-time friend and professional colleague, Sean O’Keefe, winemaker at Mari Vineyards.
“I feel like he’s really got a very open mind and a sort of global perspective on things,” Kostrzewa says. That global perspective, she adds, is part of what’s driving Michigan wine forward.
“Whether it’s next generation talent, or newer winemakers who have worked and trained elsewhere, you’re seeing people come back to Traverse City, Leelanau, and Old Mission with experience that’s really valuable,” she says. “It brings good practice, it brings perspective, and it raises the overall quality level.”
Her second event, Icons of Traverse City – An Interactive Food and Wine Pairing Seminar, takes place August 22 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Harbor Brook Hall. The seminar will feature four local foods paired with eight wines, all hand-selected by Kostrzewa.
For this event, she’ll be joined by chef Freeman Gunnell of Grosse Pointe, a long-time collaborator and friend. The two have traveled throughout Europe leading wine tours together, and Kostrzewa says she wanted his perspective at the table.
“It’ll be nice to have a little bit of a culinary perspective,” she says. “Even though I’ve written books on this, I thought it would be great to have him join us.”
And for Kostrzewa, the festival offers the opportunity to reconnect with her roots and enjoy some time in the town she used to brag about to her friends in New York.
“I’ve always sort of felt like (Traverse City) had sort of the best of everything,” she says.
For a full list of events and ticket information, visit https://www.traversecity.com/food-wine/.
– Kristen Hains, local writer and connoisseur of all things good
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