Light, sweet ... mmmm, that's asparagus!

The Fox Barn's asparagus wine label

In a new televised promotion campaign, the state of Michigan is pushing its status as a major producer of wine grapes and other fruits, and of wine itself. In all the text and images encompassed by the ads, the word "asparagus" doesn't come up.

Perhaps it should.

As part of their ever-widening range of products, Todd and Kellie Fox of the Fox Barn Market & Winery now are offering asparagus wine, a nod to their location in the state's asparagus belt. Last year they introduced their first apple wines.

Todd and Kellie Fox

It came about, Kellie said in an interview, when husband Todd -- a fourth-generation owner of their farm -- "brought home a tub of mashed asparagus and said, 'Do something with this.' So I added water and sugar and yeast, and it started fermenting. It did not smell great."

However, further tinkering wound up producing a light, slightly sweet wine to go with other wines they've been producing since founding a winery on the farm eight years ago.

You can get a detailed look at their operation by checking with the Detroit Free Press online.

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