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Fenn Valley Vineyards is a family owned and operated vineyard and winery complex established in 1973. Our goal has always been to produce world-class wines from grapes grown along the shore of Lake Michigan.

The Fenn Valley estate is a 240 acre farm located five miles from Lake Michigan just south of Holland, Michigan. The site was chosen after reviewing weather, climate, and soil survey maps. Unlike farmers who already own farm land and then begin to grow grapes, the Welsch family migrated from the Chicago area and were therefore free to select the most desirable site for viticulture based on the available data.

Our land was originally tree fruit farms and all the fruit trees had to be cleared and the soil prepared to receive the vineyards. The first wines that were produced were natural fruit wines. Today we still make Peach, Cherry and Raspberry wines and have received national recognition for these wines. The first grape vines were planted in 1974 and there has been additional plantings set out almost every year since then. When the vineyards were originally started, there was little information available regarding the best varieties and methods of growing the wine grapes. A few people had been experimenting with Vinifera and Hybrid wine grapes, but the bulk of Michigan viticulture was centered around Concord and Niagara which are not suitable for making delicate European style table wines. During the course of time, many varieties were planted and later removed when they could not perform satisfactorily in the vineyard or in the winery. This experimentation process continues to this day as new varieties are tried and evaluated for their potential as suitable wine grapes in our climate.