It’s a journey that began in 2007 when Crane’s reached out to Eric Heavilin. In 2013, Crane’s readdressed the idea and brought Heavilin in to consult on the process.
Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant and Winery recently won two awards at the 2017 World Cider Awards.
The Fennville restaurant and winery won in the World’s Best Flavoured Cider category for its Crane’s Apple Cherry Hard Cider and took home the top prize in the Best Specialty Cider for Crane’s Nepotist.
It’s a journey that began in 2007 when Crane’s reached out to Eric Heavilin. At the time, there was too much going on at the business to take on the wine and cider project so it was put on the back burner. In 2013, Crane’s readdressed the idea and brought Heavilin in to consult on the process.
Then, in Nov. 2014, after wrapping up the consulting project, both Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant and Winery and Heavilin agreed that they were a good fit for each other and Crane’s took Heavilin on full time.
It is a decision that has paid off.
“The match has been outstanding,” Heavilin said. “It has integrated really well into Crane’s portfolio. We do everything with the pies and desserts, we try to do farm-to-table with local products and the addition of the cider and the wine has been seamless.”
For Heavilin, learning the craft of winemaking started 20 years ago. He went to school for criminal justice and fish and wildlife management but in the late 1990’s started in an entry level position at Fenn Valley Winery. He worked his way through a number of positions at the company gaining a well-rounded education in all things wine.
“Winemaking is really truly a lifestyle,” he said. “In the fall when all the fruit is coming in, you are essentially married to the job. It is not a nine to five gig where you shut off the lights and pick back up in the morning. Fruit is perishable so when it is ready, you have to process it. When the wine is ready to handle, you need to handle it.”
Rebecca Crane is one of the owners of Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant and Winery and to her, none of the awards would have been won and none of the progress would have been made without Heavilin.
“There is no way we could have done this without Eric,” Crane said. “There isn’t any possible way… You have to recognize talent when you see it and the timing was really good for Eric and Crane’s to do this.”
Although Crane’s only began the process in 2013, it has now grown into a 12,000 to 15,000 gallon a year operation that includes nine ciders and nine wines all using locally grown premium fruit with no artificial flavors, colors or concentrates.
Heavilin said Crane’s had originally submitted their ciders at the national level and had received favorable results. Then, a few weeks later, they found out about the world’s best awards.
“It was very much an honor and it also spoke volumes to me about on the world stage, what we could do as a wine growing region here in the Lake Michigan shore Appalachian,” Heavilin said. “Being on the world stage, we are up against all these different growing regions all around the globe and while we really like what we do here, it was up to an international panel of judges to determine world’s best.”
Along with winning the awards, Crane said the addition of the winery has increased the flow of traffic as guests are now visiting different wineries and then coming to Crane’s and buying other products.
“It is crazy how people follow this kind of thing and will go from one winery and cidery and back around and then they are coming in and they are buying pie,” Crane said. “Then our customers are coming in and seeing we have cider and wine. It has just been a win-win for everything.”
Going forward, Heavilin and Crane said the plan is to continue to work hard at Crane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant and Winery to make the best wines and ciders possible while growing at a clip that makes sense for the business.
“We want to stay regional and just do what we do best and be us here in Fennville… and represent our area of the world the best that we can.”
— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelAustin or @BizHolland.
