Leelanau Winery Tour

After a pleasant evening/morning in Grand Rapids, we hit the road northbound headed straight to the Leelanau Peninsula Wineries just west of Traverse City.  As we approached the peninsula, I pulled out the Leelanau Peninsula Wineries map to start plotting our course through the 18 wineries in the region.  This was no small feat.  Despite our experience over on the Old Mission Peninsula just across the bay from Leelanau and with the wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada, I tried to pick and choose the appropriate amount of wineries that we could hit up in one day and still be able to cruise into our Inn with some energy left in us!

If you take a look at the map, we started our journey in Cedar, MI at the Longview Winery & Vineyard, which lured me in based on the origins of this family-owned winery plus it had a cute tasting room!  At Longview, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Pinot Noir
• Cabernet Franc
• Cabernet Franc Reserve 
• Cherry

You know this place is a winner when we're splurging on the "reserve" bottle.  Good stuff.

Next stop, directly east, was at Bel Lago Vineyard & Winery, where we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Gewurztraminer
• Riesling Semi Dry
• Pinot Noir
• Bel Lago Red
• Tempesta
• Cherry

Here we found a fantastic view overlooking the peninsula and Lake Leelenau as we snapped some nice scenic shots along the road.

From Bel Lago, we headed North to one of our favorite wineries on the list, Chateau Fontaine, mostly for the friendly chatter from our wine pourer.  He gave us some interesting backgrounds on each wine as well as some pairing advice!

At Chateau Fontaine, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Pinot Gris
  
• Chardonnay
  
• Woodland White
• Dry Riesling
• Semi-Sweet Riesling
• Pinot Noir
• Woodland Red
• Cherry (which we noted should be paired with the Dark Chocolate!)

Heading Northwest, we stopped in at Good Harbor Vineyards, which probably had the cutest signage of the lot (well, there was one other winery that took the prize in terms of signage, but that was simply due to their location!).  At this point in the day, we started hitting the crowds of tasters, so we squeezed our way up to the tasting counter at this place only to find this was the first winery that actually charged us a tasting fee.  Then again, we did enjoy free glassware with the fee, so we couldn't complain. 

At Good Harbor, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Pinot Grigio Reserve
• Fishtown White
• Manitou
• White Riesling
• Late Harvest
• Harbor Red
• Cherry

We skipped Gill's Pier Vineyard and Winery as well as Good Neighbor Organic Vineyard & Winery for Circa Estate Winery, which appears to have been a mistake on our part.   Although, we'll have to wait and see the next time we get up there, but as far as Circa goes, we were not impressed.  This was the first commercial looking establishment on the peninsula, also charging a nominal fee, but only to taste four wines (no free glassware either).  Since we're not white wine fans, perhaps we were a little harsh with our review; however, for the price tags on these wines, we decided that this would be the one place where we didn't buy a bottle.  But if you do visit this place and hopefully find a wine that you like, take a glass out on their terrace for a nice atmosphere in terms of view, chatter, and a live, mellow guitarist strumming away.

At Circa, we tried the following wines (bolded ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Pinot Grigio
• Chardonnay
• Improvisation
• Requisite

We quickly hopped back in the car, and moved on from here to one of the two top wineries on the peninsula, at least as far we were concerned, Forty-Five North Vineyard & Winery (which also had some pretty spiffy signage!).  Opting to take our tasting outdoors allowed us to soak in some of the atmosphere around this recently renovated tasting room, but also meet some fellow tasters that frequented this area often. They gave us some helpful tips for the remainder of our self-guided tour!

At Forty-Five North, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Semi Dry Riesling
• Harvest Riesling
  
• Pinot Noir
• Cabernet Franc
• Blanc de Pinot Noir
• Peach / Apricot Mead
• 45 Red
• Apple

Obviously, a good recovery from Circa!

While we did hear great things about Tandem Ciders and Silver Leaf Vineyard & Winery, we were running short on time before most of the 6pm closing time arrived for most of the tasting rooms.  Instead, we opted for Leelanau Cellars, which was recommended by the folks we met at the previous winery, for not only their wine, but the view from their tasting room of Suttons Bay.

At Leelanau Cellars, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Pinot Noir
• Baco Noir
• Merlot
• Meritage

And then it was off to our inn for the evening at the Black Star Farms Winery, courtesy of Bode and Cindy!  While we arrived too late to make their tasting hours, we did have ample time during their "happy hour" to taste the wines that were opened for their guests (hooray!).  We also took advantage of our free tasting on Monday before heading back home. 

At Black Star Farms Winery, we tried the following wines (bold ones received a check and a fist pump, red ones we purchased!):

• Arcturos Pinot Noir
• Choice Pinot Noir
  
• Choice Terrace Red
  
• Big House Red
• Cabernet Franc
  
• Merlot Cabernet Franc

Whew, what a day!  But after we enjoyed our free snacks and wine at Black Star Farms, we headed into Leland for some dinner at the Bluebird and a little strolling around small town America!

More pictures in my photo album.