Nearly 40 years ago the possession, sale and consumption of alcohol were strictly prohibited in the East Lansing area.  Today the city is home to dozens of bars and restaurants, as well as two of Greater Lansing’s best-stocked wine shops.

Goodrich's Shop-Rite, located on Trowbridge Road, carries over 3,000 wines from all over the world, including California, France, and New Zealand. Goodrich's wide selection ranges in prices from $2 to $200 a bottle, though a majority of their wine sales fall within the $5 to $15 range.

“We carry [wines] from 20 countries, two hundred Michigan labels from at least 20 wineries,” Steve Scheffel, president of Goodrich’s, said. “Everywhere they make wine we probably carry.”

Founded by Scheffel’s grandparents in 1937, Goodrich’s did not always have such an extensive wine selection. During the late 1960s when construction of Highway I-496 forced the Goodrichs to relocate their store from Lansing’s west side to East Lansing, the college city was still a dry town. In 1968 the city charter was modified, revoking the prohibition on alcohol. Goodrich’s then began carrying a small selection of wine. As local curiosity in wine grew over the years, so did Goodrich’s selection.

“Thirty-five years ago there was not as much interest in wine as there is today, by any stretch of the imagination,” Scheffel said, adding that the store’s East Lansing location has also significantly contributed  to the growth of Goodrich’s wine department.

“We are blessed being across the street from MSU that offers a lot of faculty and administrators, people who have traveled around the world. They are much more receptive to a bottle of wine than the general public,” Scheffel said. “It makes all the difference in terms of product selection. We couldn’t carry the depth we do if we were located elsewhere.”

In addition to a wine shop Goodrich’s is a grocery store, a delicatessen and a meat market, carrying a variety of imported items to satisfy the customers the university brings in.  “I think we are the only store around where you can find 60 different types of mustards,” Scheffel joked.

According to Scheffel there is a steady interest in wine throughout the Greater Lansing area. People are beginning to try different grape varieties and wine from different countries. “If you think about [wine] the same way you think about food, for instance, the spectrum of tastes and qualities is incredibly wide and it is fun to try. People forget that wine is an agricultural product, made in different parts of the world. [Wine from] different states taste somewhat different.”

Rich McCarius, owner of Tom’s Beer and Wine, has also noticed local wine trends, such as the popularity of the fighting varietals. Fighting varietals, named for their competition in pricing, are made up of the $10 and under bottles of Cabernet, Chardonnay and Zinfandel.

Another trend McCarius has noticed are local restaurants such as Beggar’s Banquet Restaurant and Saloon and Mitchell’s Fish Market offering wine discounts and specials on designated “wine nights” throughout the week.

“That enables people out having a good time to try different wines that they might not normally try. They find one they like, and they search to see where they can buy it,” McCarius said. “We try to stay in tune with that to see what people are featuring and make sure we have those [bottles] on the shelf.”

Customers can choose from over 1,000 different wine selections found on the shelves at Tom’s, with prices ranging anywhere from $3 to $700 a bottle. Though California is the store’s biggest supplier, Tom’s also has a nice selection of Michigan wines which, according to McCarius, has changed quite a bit over the years.

“It kind of started with Governor Blanchard’s wife when she had the ‘Say Yes To Michigan’ campaign. The wine industry went along with that,” he said. “and they’re making better wines every year, so that helps too.”

McCarius has worked at Tom’s since his father purchased the store in 1965. As he tells it, the store’s East Lansing address and Meridian Township location made Tom’s the first stop outside of East Lansing where liquor could legally be purchased.

“It has certainly changed since the early years. We have always had a good selection of wine, but now it’s a global market. The selection is much more extensive than it used to be,” McCarius said.

According to Scheffel, the extensive global wine market has a tendency to make wine appear much more complicated than it is due to the many wine options and label varieties. So for those looking to become more familiar with wine, he advises them to join a local wine club, enroll in a wine appreciation class or simply find a good wine shop and talk with employees.

McCarius’s advice is a slightly simpler, yet just as important: “Drink what you enjoy.”