Established 1980
Simpson Family Estates
Creating a thriving Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan community through viticulture and wine industry growth
Vision
Producing World-Class Cool-Climate Wines
Award-winning, and approachable wines everyone can enjoy.
Our company’s mission is to produce world-class, cool-climate wines, with elegance, nuance, and true expression of place. Simpson Family Estates is a family business dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation in vineyard and winemaking practices on the Northern edge of a challenging viticultural growing region. As third-generation fruit farmers, our heritage, combined with an edgy, forward-thinking attitude has helped our wines gain notoriety nationally.
Mission
Commitment to Community
The Leelanau Peninsula is a special place.
We’re grateful to grow not only grapes here, but building community is at the heart of everything we do. Our founding father Bruce Simpson was one of the originators of the oldest-running Leland Wine Festival, and an original member of the Michigan Grape and Wine Council and Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association. We continue his legacy of increasing agriculture-based tourism and helping new wineries get started in the winemaking business with the goal of growing a flourishing Michigan wine industry.
FAMILY HISTORY
The Simpson family first planted their roots on the Leelanau Peninsula in the 1950s when visionary entrepreneur John Simpson grew pears and plums for Gerber’s baby food. In the 1970s, he replaced the trees with cherries when that industry became more marketable. John saw an opportunity for cool-climate wine and sent his son, Bruce, to study grape growing and winemaking at the University of California, Davis.
Upon graduation, Bruce and his wife, Debbie, returned to the farm to start a family, plant vineyards and open a tasting room, slowly converting the cherry trees to grapes over the years as production and demand increased. He was instrumental in driving wine tourism in the Leelanau Peninsula as a founding member of several advocacy groups and associations.
When Bruce died unexpectedly in 2009, his children Sam and Taylor Simpson returned home to advance the family business and growing operations. Together, the brother-sister team carry on the legacy of their father of producing affordable, quality wine; and of their grandfather in continuing to build family focused community and blue-ribbon early education.
The Owners
Building a Legacy
The sibling owners and operators are third-generation farmers, second generation winemakers. But the Simpson family first planted their roots on the Leelanau Peninsula in the 1950s.
Taylor Simpson
Marketing & Sales
Sam Simpson
Viticulture & Production