about

Golden muse celebrates the free - spirited lifestyle of the Golden Age of Paris.

 

Golden Muse Winery is one of Michigan’s only women-owned wineries. We're situated in the heart of Lake Michigan Shore AVA, where the "lake effect" fosters ideal growing conditions for many varieties of wine grapes. We offer a curated selection of vegan-friendly wines and vegetarian small bites.

Golden Muse Winery celebrates the free-spirited lifestyle of the Golden Age of Paris – when people like La Goulue, queen of the can-can, took to the stage with her ruffled skirts, or Alfred Jarry, the playwright, rode his bicycle around the streets of Paris with his face painted green.  More than a hundred years later, these eccentricities are alive and well at Golden Muse Winery where we fuse delicious wine and inspiring art to offer a unique experience.  Come visit our Steampunk-styled tasting room, peruse our world-class collection of art, and enjoy a glass or two of our selection of fine wines and specialty drinks while relaxing on our patio overlooking scenic Lemon Creek.  When you visit Golden Muse Winery, you’ll be swept back to turn-of-the-century Paris, where you can mingle with the artists, poets and performers whose legacy lives on today.

LEAD STAFF :

Analisa Leppanen
Director & Sommelier (Level I)

Marianne Leppanen
Co-founder

Winnie Guerra
Bar Manager

Bill F Boyce
Affiliate Artist

 
 
 
 
 

Analisa Leppanen, Owner/Director, Level I Sommelier –

Analisa was a flamenco dancer in her early years, performing throughout the United States in a company she founded with her dance partner Nelson Sitton.  She then pursued a career as a scholar.  Analisa holds a master’s in History of Religions from The University of Chicago, a master’s in Art History from University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. in Visual Studies from the University of California, Irvine.  She taught at universities in California and Chicago for 25 years.  Analisa has published numerous books and articles on the New York artist Joseph Cornell and other Modern artists, and has lectured widely throughout the United States and Europe.  Along with her mother Marianne, she founded Gallery E.G.G., Chicago’s first ecological art gallery, in the 1990s – the core of this collection now forming the basis for the art on view at Golden Muse.  After moving to Saint Joseph, MI in 2016, Analisa decided to pursue a career in the wine industry.  She completed nine courses in the wine and viticulture program at Lake Michigan College, and also passed the level one sommelier exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers.  In founding Golden Muse, she is combining her great loves – wine, art, literature and performance.

 
 
 
 

Marianne Leppanen, Co-Founder –

Growing up on a farm in Iowa, Marianne started her first natural history museum at the age of 12.  She taught elementary school in Chicago’s West Side for 20 years before retiring and moving to Saint Joseph, MI.  Marianne now creates art full-time and has many of her ecological artworks on display in the Golden Muse gallery.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Winnie Guerra, Bar Manager —

Winnie’s passion for unique flavors, wine and mixology began during her experience working at a high-end restaurant in Chicago. Winnie hopes to use the delicious wines and creative specialty drinks at Golden Muse to provide a truly unique sensory experience that transports guests on a mini-vacation to Paris.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Laura Morris, Consultant –

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bill F. Boyce, Affiliate Artist –

Bill is a professional artist, having trained in metal fabrication and casting at the Santa Barbara Art Institute. In his early career, he worked in major foundries and metal fabrication studios such as Lippincott, Shidoni, and Renaissance, where he fabricated works for such Internationally renowned artists as Reuben Nakian, Louise Nevelson, Claes Oldenburg, and Donald Judd. After moving to Chicago in 1988, he became an assistant to acclaimed sculptors Barry Tinsley and Richard Hunt. Bill has exhibited his work throughout the United States and Europe. Most recently, his work Go Fly a Kite was installed at Silver Beach in Saint Joseph, MI as part of the Krasl Sculpture Biennial. Bill moved to Southwest Michigan in 2016, where he works out of his studio in Benton Harbor, MI. Many of his artworks are on permanent display in the Golden Muse gallery.