Southwest Michigan Wine Portal
Project Overview
The Southwest Michigan Wine Portal is a comprehensive web application dedicated to showcasing the Lake Michigan Shore and Fennville American Viticultural Areas (AVA) in Southwest Michigan. Built for wine enthusiasts and tourists, it offers a one-stop location to explore the region's AVAs, history, wineries, and grape varieties.
With a deep family history in Van Buren County, this project is a personal tribute to the region's rich viticultural heritage. The portal includes multiple data visualizations on the region's common grape varieties and suitability for quality wine growing, alongside an interactive chatbot for personalized wine recommendations and tourism information.
Key Features
- •Interactive AVA map visualization
- •Comprehensive winery database
- •AI-powered wine recommendation chatbot
- •Detailed grape variety encyclopedia
- •Regional wine history timeline
Application Showcase
Features & Technologies
Interactive AVA Map
A detailed interactive map showing the Lake Michigan Shore and Fennville AVAs with vineyard locations, allowing users to explore the geographical features that make this region ideal for viticulture.
Custom AI Chatbot
An intelligent chatbot powered by OpenAI API and enhanced with Fuse.js fuzzy search that matches user queries against a curated database of regional wineries and grape varieties for personalized recommendations.
Grape Variety Database
A comprehensive encyclopedia of hybrid and vinifera grape varieties grown in the region, with detailed information on characteristics, flavor profiles, and wine styles produced from each variety.
Winery Profiles
Detailed information on local wineries including location, hours, specialty wines, and history, with integrated mapping to help visitors plan their wine tour routes efficiently.
Technical Implementation
The Southwest Michigan Wine Portal was built using React for the frontend interface, with custom CSS for the distinct purple and white color scheme that reflects the region's grape heritage. The interactive map utilizes the Google Maps API with custom styling to highlight the AVA boundaries.
The chatbot component integrates OpenAI's API for natural language processing, enhanced with Fuse.js for fuzzy search capabilities. This allows the system to match user queries with the most relevant winery information from a custom-built database, even when queries contain misspellings or partial information.
Data visualizations throughout the site were created using D3.js, providing interactive representations of grape varieties, climate data, and historical information that allows users to explore the rich viticultural heritage of Southwest Michigan.
Explore the Michigan Wine Region Today
Visit the Southwest Michigan Wine Portal to discover the region's unique wine culture, plan your next tasting tour, or learn about local grape varieties.