Michigan Made: The Legacy of Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery

There's, sacrifices that have to be made

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when you're a manager of a business.

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This time of year, I

work seven days a week.

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So we're open Sunday to Saturday, from

Labor Day through uh, the end of October,

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So I'd say that's one of the challenges,

is the, the time commitment it takes.

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That's part of being a farm, but

also part of managing a business.

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Cliff Duvernois: Hello, everyone, and

welcome back to Total Michigan, where

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we interview ordinary Michiganders

doing some pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host Cliff DuVernois.

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It's cider time in Michigan, that

magical two month period between the

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end of September and October where

everybody's thoughts are turning to fall.

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The leaves are going to be turning colors

here shortly, and all we can think about

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is having some really nice cider time.

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hot apple cider and cider donuts.

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And today I'm actually sitting at

Robinette's Apple Haus and Winery

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located just outside of Grand Rapids.

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And I have to give a shout out to

our friends at Pure Michigan for

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identifying Robinette's as one of

the top cider places in Michigan.

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To talk to us today about all things

Robinette's is actually Allan Robinette.

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Allan, how are you?

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I am doing awesome.

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Thank you for asking.

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Why don't you tell us where are you from?

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Where'd you grow up?

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Allan Robinette: So I'm from

right here in Grand Rapids, so I

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grew up right here on the farm.

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I worked on the farm throughout

school for a brief time I,

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tried the whole college thing.

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I was studying business management,

the Grand Rapids Community College.

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But, part way through I decided,

you know, I was already working full

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time and going to school part time.

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And I decided to just really focus my

efforts on working here on the farm.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now why

did you decide to go into

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Allan Robinette: Well, I wanted

to, really expand my capabilities.

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I knew that I, I really wanted

to stay on the farm here.

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I mean, there was some brief, hesitation

that everyone has when they're 18, 19

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saying, what do I really want to do?

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Cliff Duvernois: I know there's

a whole world out there.

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Yep.

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Allan Robinette: but, uh,

yeah, shortly after that, I, I,

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there wasn't really a moment.

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I just stopped.

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And I just started doing and,

so I stayed here on the farm.

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I farmed with my dad and my two uncles.

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And there was a moment I was taking

a small business management class

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and I realized what I was doing.

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On the farm every day

managing a small business.

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I was kind of learning more than I was

learning in the class So I decided, you

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know, i'm paying tuition for a degree

that i'm i'm not really going to use.

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I already have my career.

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So college is always there if I want to go

back but uh for right now I'm a farmer and

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that's my plan for the foreseeable future

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Cliff Duvernois: want to go back but uh

for right now I'm a farmer and that's

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my plan for the foreseeable future

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Allan Robinette: Yeah, so in

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Barzilla Robinette, bought the farm.

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So he was a 65 year old

farmer from Bedford,

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I have to double

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Allan Robinette: And I have to double

check, I think that was around the

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Right around there.

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You know, people didn't live

too much older than that.

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I mean, there's a reason, nobody goes

and buys businesses at 65 even now.

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But, so I'd love to know what

was going through his mind.

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They were general farmers.

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They had, you know, livestock and

some corn and wheat down in Ohio.

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He decided to become a fruit farmer.

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Up in Michigan.

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So he visited Grand Rapids and decided

to move the family up here and the

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interesting story is my great grandfather,

uh, was out west threshing wheat.

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That was where the work was.

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So he had hopped a train and went out west

to, uh, work out that way and, when he

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got home, the farm wasn't there anymore.

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So that, you know, there's

no way to get word to him.

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So when he got home, the neighbors

said, oh, they're up in Grand Rapids.

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So he, uh, he came up here and took over

the farm from my great great grandfather.

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my great great grandfather, Barzila,

as I mentioned, uh, he always said

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that, never feel like you have

to name any children after me.

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It's a very unique name, but, uh, uh,

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Cliff Duvernois: I've

never heard of it before

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Allan Robinette: Yeah.

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So we, we incorporated that

into our hard cider brand.

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Barzilla's Brew is the

name of our hard cider.

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Cliff Duvernois: nice, So at the time

was it, was it apples, purely apples?

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Or was it like a working farm?

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Like was there, was there corn?

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Was there a mix of crops?

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Allan Robinette: Almost

entirely peaches at the time.

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So, there's a fascinating

story there too, yeah.

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So, uh, Harvey Brayman, who

owned the farm originally, they

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And it wasn't a farm

then, it was just trees.

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So they cleared off the trees.

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And this is pretty prime

land for growing peaches.

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So a lot of people don't think about

Michigan when they think of peaches.

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They think of down south or California.

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They don't really think of Michigan,

but we have really good climate for it.

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We, you know, we have more mild winters

and we have summer climates that aren't so

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brutally hot as they are down in Georgia.

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So we get we have a very good climate

for it and we had good soil here on

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the farm, so peaches like sandy soil.

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So that's something a lot of people don't

understand is that, you know, before

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mobile refrigeration, before you would

have refrigerated shipping containers and,

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So now you can go to the grocery store and

get peaches from anywhere, but back in the

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day you had to live relatively close by.

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So all the peaches that would be

purchased in Chicago would come from

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Southwest Michigan or West Michigan.

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So peaches were big money back in the day.

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family purchased the farm and so he was a

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tree salesman and he said, well this would

be the perfect spot for growing peaches.

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And so I never really

put two and two together.

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We've got a big farmhouse here on the

property that was my grandparents house.

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And I was living in it for about

six months while my house was

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being built here on the farm.

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And I never really put

two and two together.

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This is a big house.

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It's huge.

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And I asked my dad, how did the Brayman

family afford to build such a big house?

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And he said, peaches.

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And I said, well, yeah,

but we got some peaches.

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And he goes, no, no, you don't understand.

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equivalent of today, like 90 to 100

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per bushel wholesale to grow peaches.

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So peaches were big money.

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It was one of the You know, the highest

returns you could get on a crop.

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Exactly.

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Yeah, so we had, the barn was

built by the time we came here.

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The house was built by

the time we came here.

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And it was all peaches

primarily when we got here.

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mobile refrigeration, you know,

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refrigerated boxcars had been invented.

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So, you could get peaches from down south.

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You could get peaches from anywhere.

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So that, That high dollar you could

get for peaches had gone away by then.

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So the Braman family was

looking to sell the farm.

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My great great grandfather bought it.

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And, we really, not long after

that we diversified into apples.

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Apples are our primary crop

now and what we're known for.

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But, uh, we still sell peaches.

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We're still proud of the

quality of peach that we sell.

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And we sell, sweet cherries.

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We sell, nectarines, apricots,

a little bit of everything.

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Cliff Duvernois: this really is a farm.

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let's talk a little bit about that.

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Because you're talking before

about, and I can just see

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many people doing this, right?

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You're literally talking about,

you know, money growing on trees.

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peaches, your, houses, I don't

know, maybe a Ben's, who knows?

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But all of a sudden now, it's like,

let's grow something else, right?

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That I'm going to assume probably isn't.

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like the money generating

revenue like peaches were.

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Why not just go all in on peaches?

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Why, like you said, diversify?

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Allan Robinette: Well, so that's,

uh, one thing, we talked about

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our wonderful Michigan climate,

which sometimes isn't so wonderful.

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here behind me on the tree, you

can see all the apples below

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my shoulder level are gone.

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And that was from the frost damage.

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So, peaches are very notorious for

if you have a winter that's too cold,

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before there's even peach blossoms on

the tree, the peaches will just die.

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So, uh, you'll see a lot of dead limbs.

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So, if you've got negative

temperatures, you're going to

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start to see, uh, you know, severe

negative temperatures like this.

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Talking like negative 10,

which is severe for Michigan.

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You know, if it's Minnesota,

that's not severe, but they

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don't grow peaches in Minnesota.

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So, that's, one challenge with peaches

that, you know, we do have a good climate

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for growing them, once it's, warm weather.

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But, that extreme cold we

can reach sometimes, that can

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really do some, some damage.

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So, uh, Yeah, diversification was

really key for a farm of our size.

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We've really got only 35

acres we can work with.

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That includes our parking

lots, our buildings.

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So really, in terms of other

farms, we're very quite small.

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We've got a small footprint.

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And if we wanted to, survive, we

had to really change our business.

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And that's why we are

a retail only business.

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That was a change my

grandfather made in the 70s.

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he saw that if we'd stayed a wholesale

farm, we wouldn't make enough to survive.

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So he said, we're gonna

change it all to retail.

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We're gonna add a cider mill and

a bakery, and we're gonna sell

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everything directly to the consumer.

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And because of that, that's

why we're still here.

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Cliff Duvernois: directly to the

consumer, and because of that,

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that's why we're still doing it.

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You kind of had to pivot your

business and not do so much

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wholesale and focus more on retail.

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Do you happen to know where

this idea came from to do that?

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Allan Robinette: for my grandfather, he

visited, farms out on the East Coast.

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everyone piled in the car for a road trip

and he said, you know, if we're gonna

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change something, we gotta learn from

other people who are already doing it.

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they went out to Massachusetts and down

You know, down the coast, Maryland,

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Virginia, and they were touring other

farms, and they were seeing cider mills,

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they were seeing bakeries, and people

that are selling direct to the customer

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as their primary means of business.

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So, that was, really an idea that

he got from looking at other people.

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There's, one big influence on us was,

Catoctin Mountain Orchard, in Maryland,

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and, um, They had a market, they had

a bakery, and they had a cider mill.

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So we said, hey that's that's

something we need to do here

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if we want to stick around.

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And so my great grandfather, he'd carried

the farm through the Great Depression,

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so the farm looked different then.

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We had cows back then because you didn't

have your own milk, You, we had chickens

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and cows back during World War II because

how else would you get your your food.

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when everyone's rationing,

you had to supply yourself.

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after the war was over,

we sold all the cows.

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We had chickens until, the late seventies.

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And by then we didn't need them anymore.

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You know, they were, that

wasn't how we were making money.

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That was just how my

grandparents got eggs.

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So, yeah, so the business really

changed in, and especially to answer

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your question, I know I drifted a

bit, We were looking at, you know,

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the money that was returning from

selling wholesale just wasn't there.

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And, especially with our footprint,

if we had a farm three times the

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size, that would be different.

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it'd be much more doable.

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But we had, we've really only got a

small footprint in an area that's, uh,

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now we're surrounded by the suburbs.

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it's to our benefit now.

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Back, uh, this whole area was

all farms back in the day.

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now that, There was a lot of that

pressure of, uh, suburban expansion here.

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And now it's actually a benefit to

us because we're entirely retail.

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All of our customers live around us.

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So we don't have to really

work all that hard to reach the

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consumer when we're amongst them.

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Cliff Duvernois: it's interesting you

say that because one of the things that

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I noticed when I was walking around

before this interview was a big ol sign

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up front that says, Open Year Round.

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Allan Robinette: Mm hmm.

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That's one of our biggest, hurdles

to get through is you know right now.

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It's it's go time for fall It's

everyone's thinking about cider mills

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and corn mazes But all of our income

comes directly from customers walking

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in the door So that is really our I

wouldn't say our struggle But it's our

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main goal is to remind people that we

are here open year round our bakery.

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We've got fruit We'll have apples in our

cold storage through the month of May And

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we we have our winery open year round.

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So that is our primary objective, uh,

really to, to remind people that we're

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here because, if they don't come the rest

of the year, you know, we're hurting.

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Cliff Duvernois: Now with, with the

retail side of your business like

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established, and you're starting to

sell cider, you're starting to sell

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baked goods to the public, I'd to

circle back to your story a little bit.

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Because you said that when you went

off to college and you're like,

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I just want to work on the farm.

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I gotta ask the question, why?

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Allan Robinette: there's a pride in what

I do that, uh, one of my favorite parts

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of the business is working with customers.

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not every farmer's like that.

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You know, I, we're

special here, I suppose.

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But, we've got customers that come to us

and they say, hey, do you have, you know,

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a recipe for anything to do with apples?

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And I say, well, yeah, actually

my, my grandmother's recipe for,

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apple cake, we've got it right here.

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that's always a special thing is people

come to us and they have a connection

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right to the source of their food that

you wouldn't get at a grocery store.

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And so I, I really take a lot of pride

in being able to connect people with

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that and give them some history and

background on the food they're eating.

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Uh, there's all these new apple varieties

that people have questions about.

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They say, I've never seen this one before.

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And I can say, well, that one is a

cross between Honeycrisp it's created

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this brand new apple called Evercrisp.

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And it's, uh.

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Beautiful, sweet, crunchy apple.

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personal touch people don't

really get at the grocery store.

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And I, I can see the difference

that that makes, to the consumer.

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Cliff Duvernois: Well, I also

think too, that for people

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coming in here, you're proud Yes.

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Of your produce and what

it is that you've grown.

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And also too, your knowledge is

encyclopedic versus, like somebody

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who's just stocking the shelf

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Allan Robinette: Right.

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Cliff Duvernois: store.

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Allan Robinette: they can't

possibly be expected to know,

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uh, what the farmer knows.

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that's always the, the struggle,

uh, in farming organizations,

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we're always talking about how do

we reach the consumer, how do we

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connect, and I said, well, it's

easy, they come in the front door.

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So, it's easier for me than I, than

other farmers have it, certainly.

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Cliff Duvernois: connect?

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And I said, well, it's easier

to come in the front door.

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So it's easier for me than other

farmers have it, certainly.

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That you had become, versus, being just

like a kid playing around the farm, maybe

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helping out when you can, versus all of

a sudden now assuming a management role,

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Allan Robinette: Sure.

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Making sure

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Cliff Duvernois: that the wheels

don't come off the cart, so to speak.

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Allan Robinette: it's similar to anyone

else who manages a business in that,

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there's, sacrifices that have to be made

when you're a manager of a business.

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So, this time of year, I

work seven days a week.

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So we're open Sunday to Saturday, from

Labor Day through the end of October,

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used to be we'd do it through Christmas,

but that was getting to be a bit much.

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So, That was quite a, quite a stretch

there, working seven days a week.

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So I'd say that's one of the challenges,

is the, the time commitment it takes.

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That's part of being a farm, but

also part of managing a business.

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And a lot of other managers would

probably understand the, the struggle

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there, that, there's a lot of personal

sacrifices that have to be made in

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life, that, growing up, I, I had a lot

of friends that I couldn't do a lot of

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stuff with on, you know, on Saturdays.

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They'd say, hey, we're going

to the Michigan State game.

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And I'd say, well, I can't join you.

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Yeah, let me know how that goes.

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Yeah, I got, I got work to do.

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So I, I'd listen to it on

the radio while I work.

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But, um, yeah, so there's

some challenges there.

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A lot of environmental challenges, too.

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bit about the frost damage

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you can see behind me here.

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And, there's some scarring from,

frost you'll see on these apples.

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And, hail damage we got this year.

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stands out in recent memory.

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So that was the year that most of

Michigan lost all of its fruit.

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So we had, uh, that was the year we were

in, we had 80 degree weather in March.

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And we all knew right away, well, this,

it's not going to happen for us this year.

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Everything was in bloom in March

and then we swung back into winter.

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All the flowers froze right on the

tree and we didn't have any fruit.

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So, that's a year we lost,

apples, peaches, cherries.

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And that, there's a lot of that

diversification we talk about.

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Uh, sweet cherries are a

lot more tender than apples.

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So we could have kind of a frosty

year and lose some cherries.

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But hey, we still got apples.

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But that was a year where we lost it all.

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so that was a, a hard year.

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We had, You know, we said, we'll be,

we'll work later, make more donuts.

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I mean, that's all we really got to sell.

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So we sold more donuts.

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We stayed open in the winery

later to try and sell more wine.

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And, we had our corn maze, of

course, so that, that was a tough

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year that you got to get through.

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And, there's moments like that in farming

where, you're throwing a curve ball I

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would say that's probably the biggest

challenges, uh, the unpredictability,

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stuff you can't prepare for.

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Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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And you brought up an interesting

point before when you're talking

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about, you know, it's the same

for every business owner, but I

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think it's something completely

different when the business owner.

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Is also a farmer because like you said

you you have to be on it the weather

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changes or whatever you have to you're

constantly Monitoring your crops.

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Is it going to rain?

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We're going to have frost

and things like that.

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That's gotta that's gotta sometimes

keep you awake at night at night.

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Allan Robinette: Sure.

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Yeah, so that's one thing, uh, with, this

year we've had, because of that early

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spring that we had where, everything

was really early, that meant all of our

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fruit is about two weeks early this year.

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So that includes

cherries, peaches, apples.

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And so there's Again, that, challenge.

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So I was signed up on a trip

through my church to go hiking out

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in Montana, at the end of June.

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And I thought, well, I might

miss one day of cherry picking.

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So that'll work out pretty well.

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I missed half of cherry picking.

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Most of cherry picking, in fact,

because, we picked all of our

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cherries by the end of June this year.

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Which I've never done.

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that's, that's never happened.

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It's just such a weird year.

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This year, we hadn't really

staffed up for fall yet and

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here I am picking all the fruit.

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You know, normally I do a lot of picking

myself anyway, but not in August.

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So I was getting the corn maze all

set up and then going to pick fruit.

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So we're picking peaches, picking apples.

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And I said, you know, Gala, I don't

pick that till September usually,

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but we were picking it in August.

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So, this week, this year's felt like

a little bit like we're on turbo mode.

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there's a lot of stuff that I, I

did half the work back in last month

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and I still feel like I'm behind.

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Cliff Duvernois: Right.

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For take a quick break and thank

our sponsors when we come back.

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Allan's going to take some time to

talk to us about what you can expect

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when you come here to Robinette's.

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we'll see you after the break.

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today.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to

Total Michigan, where we interview

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ordinary Michiganders doing some

pretty extraordinary things.

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I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.

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Today, we're at Robinette's

Apple Haus and Winery, located

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just outside of Grand Rapids.

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Sitting with me today is Allan.

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And Allan, before the break,

uh, we were talking about,

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actually, a lot of the struggles.

390

That it has being a farm even if

you diversify that's not always a

391

guarantee You're going to have product

what I would like to do is I'd like

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to change gears and start talking

about What it is that robinette's?

393

Offers because you mentioned

before about how you're offering

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wine you now have hard cider.

395

So when did you start adding these

things to your store your retail

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that was when we decided to add

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the winery to our business here.

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up until that point, we'd still

had a lot of, uh, our winery

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was called the Gift Barn.

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Because we did a lot of gift sales.

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We did Department 56, Villages,

figurines, that sort of thing.

402

That was one part of the business

that, did quite well in the 90s.

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But, The internet came along.

404

Suddenly, gift sales are

way down in the basement.

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They're, they're nothing

compared to what they used to be.

406

And so we said, well, that was a big

part of our business that is just gone.

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we need to reinvent a little

bit and try and use our space

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to the best of its ability.

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And, my uncle Bill is, uh, our winemaker.

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So that was, Passion project he had

on the side just for himself that

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he would do and so we said well,

let's try hard cider So we started

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Robinette sellers in the barn where?

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Where all those gift sales used to be

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the first product up until that point

You know when my grandfather changed

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the business in the 70s, you know, very

early 70s We got the cider mill and

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then it was You We added the donuts.

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And that was, then people wanted

somewhere to sit to eat their

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donuts, so we added the dining room.

419

And then someone said, now that you've

got a dining room, you should do lunches.

420

So we added lunches.

421

And then, we should, so a lot of the, uh,

changes to our business were a reaction

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to consumer desire or consumer wants.

423

And so that was really the first thing

where we said, let's just try it.

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no one had been saying,

where's your hard cider?

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I'm surprised you don't have any.

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We just decided to try it.

427

And so that, that's been a,

huge part of our business.

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That was, uh, we started that before

the Great Recession, and I would

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say that helped get us through that.

430

if we'd just been relying on fresh fruit

sales, it would have been very different.

431

And so that's, same with our corn mazes

432

And so we'd had hayrides on the farm

433

to the farm for an experience wasn't

really something we had gone fully into

434

435

So after the corn maze and we really

focused on, people don't want to just come

436

to the farm to buy apples and go home.

437

They'd like to spend some time outside in

438

Exactly.

439

So we added our, uh, inflatable

440

we started doing U Pick apples.

441

We'd always done U Pick

cherries since World War II.

442

But, U Pick apples was

something we'd never done.

443

We've, we picked them

and sold them inside.

444

Well, people were, that was

something people said, we'd

445

like to pick our own apples.

446

And we hadn't seen,

demand for that before.

447

So that was really a shift.

448

So now, a huge part of our business is

the experience around coming to the farm,

449

rather than just what you can buy there.

450

Cliff Duvernois: buy there.

451

And I like this idea about YouPick.

452

I like that.

453

Where did that come from?

454

Allan Robinette: On this farm, in the

455

farm to, you know, we had local help to

pick all of our cherries before then.

456

We'd, they'd be picked and then brought

457

Well, my great grandfather was

running the farm, During World War

458

II, all the young, working age men

were off fighting a war overseas.

459

So, all of a sudden, we

didn't have any labor.

460

And he said, well, let's have the

customers come and pick it themselves.

461

And that's how we've done

it, primarily, ever since.

462

So we'll, I'll still pick cherries,

enough to sell by the pound.

463

my dad, my uncles, and I will pick

cherries to sell by the pound.

464

But primarily, the way we sell

our cherries is, you pick.

465

So people come right to us, they

get a bucket and a ladder, and they

466

pick as much as they want to pick.

467

That was the start for that, and so,

it was a natural shift for apples.

468

Now, I do that a little bit differently.

469

we decided early on that I wanted

to sell, the bag ahead of time.

470

So I have a, a peck bag that I

sell, and then they fill the bag.

471

And if they want more than one bag,

they can, but, that was, Really for

472

the ease of, when we're in cherry

season, we're early July typically.

473

we're not, yeah, we're busy for cherry

season, but we're not fall busy.

474

And so if we were going to be weighing

with scales and how much did you have?

475

And, oh, wait, let me start over.

476

That wouldn't work in a fall setting.

477

So it was, early on, we said,

okay, we'll sell the bag.

478

They fill the bag and

then they go on their way.

479

We don't have to interact with

the customer a second time.

480

that was primarily out of necessity for

labor and for, just the flow of business.

481

So, with U Pick Apples, that's been a

huge part now, and, that's, what we're

482

sitting in right now is my U Pick Orchard.

483

We'll be, moving our U Pick

operation right here this Saturday.

484

so we've got Empire, Golden

Delicious, Fuji, Gala, Jonagold,

485

uh, all the, all the fall favorites.

486

and that was, that's one thing that,

you know, we found that, when we

487

got rid of Red Delicious, we used to

offer Red Delicious for you to pick.

488

Because that was all that

was available at that time.

489

That was the only apple we

had that was ready right then.

490

And people would show up and say,

Oh, we'd love to pick apples.

491

And I'd say, Yeah, I've got

Red Delicious right over here.

492

And they'd go Oh.

493

Cliff Duvernois: we'd hung on

494

Allan Robinette: you know, we hung on

to them because it cost money to replace

495

trees and we hadn't, we were focusing

on, adding more Honeycrisp in other

496

parts of the farm and adding other

varieties, replacing some, and, finally

497

it was time to get rid of those trees.

498

And, right now I'm in the process of

growing, Ludicrisp and, Crimsoncrisp

499

that ripen around the same time.

500

They're two years in the ground now.

501

Next year they'll have a

decent crop on them and we can

502

Cliff Duvernois: we can

offer them next year.

503

That's amazing.

504

So I grab one of these bags.

505

Yes.

506

I

507

walk over here.

508

Can I grab, like?

509

Some of the empires and some of the

galas and stuff, or is the bag like

510

just strictly one type of apple?

511

Allan Robinette: Oh, I always encourage

people to try some of everything,

512

especially, uh, Empire, uh, because we've

got Empire here, which is a great, uh,

513

it's one of my favorite eating apples.

514

that's pretty unusual.

515

it's a very old apple.

516

no one really seeks it out, but

it's a good baking apple too.

517

So it's, good for that one.

518

We got Golden Delicious here.

519

It's one of my favorite.

520

Tasting apples right off the tree.

521

And of course, we've got Ida Red

and we've got Jonagold and Gala.

522

Jonagold and Gala are

favorites for eating.

523

but Ida Red's a good baking apple.

524

So I've got a little bit of

everything here, and so that's

525

where that comes in again.

526

People have questions about, hey,

what do I, what's the best for a pie?

527

And that's one of the

number one questions we get.

528

And I can say, Ida Red,

we have Northern Spy.

529

We don't offer that for you, Pet,

because it's quite a bit later.

530

but, We sell a lot of Northern Spy,

and that's one you don't see at the

531

grocery store anymore, but that one's

famous for its use in apple pies.

532

And so, uh, Macintosh, we have a lot of.

533

That's, great for applesauce.

534

Cooks down to a nice, fine sauce.

535

So, I always encourage people

to take some of everything, and

536

if they're going to make a pie,

you should use some of this one.

537

Cliff Duvernois: Oh, that's great.

538

So, let's explore that a little bit

more, because if somebody is coming

539

here, they've never been here before.

540

What would be, some of the

things that they would try?

541

Some of the baked goods would they try?

542

Would you recommend they come

out here and do the U Pick?

543

Talk to us, what would you recommend?

544

Allan Robinette: Corn maze is

always something we highlight here.

545

That's one I'd love for people to try.

546

We've got a six and a half acre corn maze.

547

It's in the shape of, uh, Charlie

Brown and the Great Pumpkin this year.

548

U Pick apples is, uh, this year we're a

little bit light, while I do encourage

549

you to come pick apples, uh, I, you

know, whenever whoever's listening,

550

when you hear this, we may not have

you pick apples right at that moment.

551

Right now we're waiting for

these varieties to ripen.

552

So there's people asking right now.

553

I will say this weekend we

will have you pick apples.

554

Definitely come and try that.

555

But, uh, we've also got wine tasting.

556

We've got hay rides on the

weekends, uh, on Sundays, we

557

have a petting zoo brought in.

558

so we've got, uh, wine

tasting is year round.

559

We've got our bounce pillow.

560

there's something for everybody here.

561

Cliff Duvernois: And what

would be like, cause you've got

562

quite an extensive collection

563

Allan Robinette: of,

564

Cliff Duvernois: wines, what

is there, particular ones that

565

you would recommend people try?

566

Allan Robinette: Passionate Peach

Spumante is our number one seller.

567

So that one's, uh, very sweet.

568

It tastes like peach pop.

569

It's, er, sorry, peach soda for the

non Michiganders who are listening.

570

So, it's, a sparkling peach, beverage

that's, it's very sweet and very good.

571

I'm a, the hard cider is my favorite.

572

so that's more of a drier taste.

573

So it's not, not like, if you were

to have, like, Angry Orchard, Angry

574

Orchard's quite sweet, and it, if you

were to just go from Angry Orchard

575

to ours, you might be a little

bit surprised at how dry it is.

576

so it's, but you can drink more than

one bottle without getting sick to

577

your stomach because it's so sweet.

578

I'm partial to our hard cider.

579

I like our cherry wine as well.

580

That one's a very good one.

581

Uh, but peach is the number one.

582

And we've also got a chocolate wine

that's, nipping on the heels of peach.

583

It's, uh, very close behind it in sales.

584

Yes, so it's, it's more

similar to a chocolate liqueur.

585

But it's in, in terms of, uh, percentage

of alcohol, it's more in line with wine.

586

So it's, but it, that

one's a, a very good one.

587

That one, that's one I, I can't

have too much of in one sitting.

588

It's so sweet.

589

but it's one that would go

really well in a milkshake.

590

If you were to mix it into a milkshake,

it goes really well with that,

591

Cliff Duvernois: well with that.

592

Ooh, I feel a lot of people drooling.

593

Yes.

594

While they're watching this,

because I definitely am.

595

So you talk about how, you talk

about how, you know, you're

596

basically open year round.

597

Now is it just primarily the

tasting room and the gift

598

shops that are open year round?

599

I mean, could somebody come here like

earlier in the season if they wanted to,

600

like in the late spring or something like

that, and you would have all this set up?

601

How does that work?

602

Allan Robinette: So, yeah,

primarily we've got our bakery

603

and our winery open year round.

604

all the buildings are open

to the public year round.

605

After Christmas, we'll be five days

a week up through next Labor Day.

606

that's Tuesday through Saturday.

607

This time of year we've got extended

hours and we're open seven days a week.

608

So we will, um, Cherry season, early

July or late June, that's when we

609

really start picking back up again

and offering more fresh fruit.

610

So we, that's part of our business model

is having cherries, between cherries

611

and apricots and nectarines and pears.

612

We want something to sell for

as much of the year as possible.

613

I mean, being a retail fruit farm,

if we went through all summer

614

without having anything to offer,

it'd be a big fail on our part.

615

Cliff Duvernois: Sure.

616

And I can imagine too, that you have

so many people that come through here.

617

Has anybody ever done anything

around here, like completely

618

unexpected that made you go, Whoa, I

619

Allan Robinette: didn't see that coming,

620

you know, it's pretty tame

in this part of Grand Rapids.

621

We're in the north part of Grand

Rapids and, we're in the suburbs.

622

I, I call myself a suburban farmer, so

being in the suburbs, it's nothing crazy.

623

But, uh, we have had, I've had to.

624

Tell people no, they can't

bring their own alcohol.

625

And, uh, nothing, uh, absurd

or anything like that though,

626

Cliff Duvernois: Right.

627

If somebody did want to come here

and check the place out, what

628

would be the best way for them

to find you, find you online?

629

What's that?

630

Allan Robinette: Robinettes Apple Haus

that's, uh, H A U S, that's German

631

spelling, but that's our Instagram.

632

Robinettes.

633

com is our, website, and

Robinettes on Facebook.

634

those are our three primary, but

yeah, we're right on the corner of

635

Four Mile and East Beltline, just

ten minutes outside of Grand Rapids,

636

two miles from the city limits.

637

We're here and we're,

we're ready for fall.

638

We're, we're in the middle of it now.

639

Cliff Duvernois: Allan, thank you so much

for taking time to chat with us today.

640

Really do appreciate it.

641

Allan Robinette: Thank you Cliff.

642

I really appreciate the time.

643

Cliff Duvernois: And for our audience, you

can always roll on over to TotalMichigan.

644

com and click on Allan's interview and get

all the links that you mentioned above.

645

We'll see you next time when we

talk to another Michigander doing

646

some pretty extraordinary things.

647

We'll see you then.