Bryan Ulbrich—nicknamed Left Foot Charley as a clumsy kid with an inward-leaning stride—never set out to make wine. While pursuing a master’s degree in American Indian Law and Policy at the University of Arizona, he stumbled into winemaking and found his true calling. Memories of Northern Michigan summers and the allure of crisp white wines drew him back home in 1995, where he started as a humble “cellar rat” on Old Mission Peninsula. His natural talent quickly made him one of the region’s rising winemakers.
In 2004, when Bryan learned he could no longer work with the small local vineyards he loved—tiny, one- or two-acre plots tended by passionate growers—he decided to build something new. Instead of letting those farmers lose their place in the industry, he brought them together under a shared label: Left Foot Charley. By 2007, Bryan and his wife Jen had turned the idea into reality, opening their winery in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a converted state hospital that soon became a hub of community and creativity.
Today, the Left Foot Charley collective includes 18 small growers, each farming under two acres in Northern Michigan’s glacier-carved peninsulas. The Old Mission Peninsula appellation features glacial till—granite, clay, fossilized coral, silt, and sandy loam—shaped by glacial activity that transported materials from Canada and the Mississippi basin. Vineyards often have a mix of sandy loam over clay and gravel, with some sites dominated by clay sediments. Glaciers also disturbed ancient seabeds, leaving behind fossilized coral, like Petoskey stones, scattered across the vineyards. Every vineyard tells its own story—shaped by soil, lake breezes, and the hands that tend it. Bryan’s mission is to bottle those stories through cool-climate varietals like Riesling, Kerner, Pinot Blanc, Gewürztraminer, and Blaufränkisch, as well as sparkling wines made in both traditional and charmat styles.
The wines have earned national praise—from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Times—and Bryan himself has been recognized among America’s top white wine producers.
As for the name Left Foot Charley—it began as a family joke about a boy who couldn’t stop tripping over his own enthusiasm. Today, that same energy drives a winemaker whose love of “dirt” has simply evolved—into a deep respect for the land and the flavors it yields.