Lake Michigan Shore AVA is an American Viticultural Area

American Viticultural Area

An American Viticultural Area is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau , United States Department of the Treasury....

 located in southwest Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. Located in the state's traditional "fruit belt

Fruit Belt

A Fruit Belt is an area where a microclimate provides ideal conditions for fruit growing.Fruit Belts are prominent around the North American Great Lakes region, notably West Michigan and western Northern Lower Michigan in tandem, and the southern shore of Lake Erie...

", Lake Michigan Shore AVA is the oldest modern commercial grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

 region of the state and home to a majority of Michigan vineyards

Michigan wine

Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2007, there were under wine-grape cultivation and 64 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing 425,000 cases of wine . According to another count there were 112 operating wineries in Michigan in 2007.Wine and...

 and half of the state wine

Michigan wine

Michigan wine refers to any wine that is made in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2007, there were under wine-grape cultivation and 64 commercial wineries in Michigan, producing 425,000 cases of wine . According to another count there were 112 operating wineries in Michigan in 2007.Wine and...

 grape production. Vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s in the region date back to 1867. The AVA boundaries include the smaller Fennville AVA

Fennville AVA

The Fennville AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Allegan County, Michigan. Entirely contained within the larger Lake Michigan Shore AVA, the Fennville AVA borders Lake Michigan on the west, the Kalamazoo River on the north, a game reserve to the east, and the Black River on the south...

 and extend as far as 45 miles (72 km) inland from the lakeshore; however, the climate and glacial moraine soils are relatively similar throughout. The "lake effect" off of Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

 tempers the northern climate. Lake Michigan Shore AVA has a warmer growing season, as much as two weeks longer than the only other Michigan AVAs, Leelanau Peninsula AVA

Leelanau Peninsula AVA

The Leelanau Peninsula AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Leelanau County, Michigan.This Michigan wine region includes all of Leelanau County, which forms a peninsula between Lake Michigan on the west and Grand Traverse Bay on the east. Being surrounded by water helps to moderate the...

, and Old Mission Peninsula AVA

Old Mission Peninsula AVA

The Old Mission Peninsula AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Grand Traverse County, Michigan known for well-regarded Michigan wine. The Old Mission Peninsula extends northward from Traverse City into the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, ending at Old Mission Point. The peninsula...

, both of which are in Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan

Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan , is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan...

.