the people have spoken

and they demand a post. So I shall do an epic one all about the wine tour I went on this past weekend in the Leelanau Peninsula near Traverse City, MI. Aren't you in for a treat? Wine tour was sponsored through the Leelanau Peninsula Vinter's Association. Tickets were $40/person, and included food and wine parings at each of 15 wineries, plus additional free pourings at each location. Eight wineries on Saturday, and the remaining seven on Sunday. That's a lot of booze my friends. But given that I've wanted to do this specific wine tour for almost five years now, I was up for the challenge. Planning early was key. So was eating.
The weekend started off with Stephanie and I driving up to Traverse City on Friday afternoon, by way of a stop in Beulah, MI (had to get in a quick chat with my in-laws). Given that we were hungry for dinner, and in the area, Stephanie was too easily convinced to go to Dinghy's with me. Now there's finally picture evidence of it's awesomeness on my blog!

Dinghy's is up-north cuteFriday Fish Fry at Dinghy's is even better

After dinner, we headed straight to Traverse City, and our hotel, the Bayshore, to await the arrival of Lori and Kristal. We had a nice relaxing girly evening, preparing for the massive amounts of vino we would consume the following morning. So on to the good stuff.
I could post about each winery in order of how we visited them. But that's not very fun. I think I shall instead post in order of my preference, best to worst, and list the food and wine paring at each location. And off we go...

• #1 - Chateau Fontaine - Big Paw Red paired with Cincinnati Chilli

This winery was my (and I believe collective "our") favorite winery hands-down. When we arrived, it was like going to a tail-gate party in someone's gorgeous front yard. The food was delicious, they were generous with the pours (which were all phenominal), and they provided us with house-made wine cheese & crackers. Everyone was friendly and upbeat, and they let us just roam around their vineyard and horse pasture after we finished buying our massive amounts of wine. I felt comfortable here, really comfortable, and think this place reflects what wine drinking is all about. Not the pretentiousness we found a few other places. One other thing of note at Chateau Fontaine was the grapes we all "borrowed" from the vine. This is one of those times where I'm at a loss for words to describe just how wonderful something tasted. Wine grapes are vastly superior to any grapes you can buy at the grocery store, and given this one little morsel of heaven, I recommend that everyone try this at least once in your life.

Eating and drinking in the tail-gate-like atmosphereA group shot in the vineyards of Chateau FontaineA taste of heaven

• #2 - Bel Lago Vineyard & Winery - Chardonnay paired with mini cheese quiches

Bel Lago means "beautiful lake" and were they ever correct. The vineyard and winery sit atop a cliff overlooking Lake Leelanau and Lake Michigan, and it's really a pretty sight in the morning sun. Bel Lago was another comfortable setting, made even more comfortable by our helpful pourer, John. He was the cutest old guy. EVER. He was in awe of serving such four happening babes, was telling us stories galore, and even toasted us as we sampled the Brillante with "To our sweethearts and loved ones. May they never meet." Fabulous.

John uncorks like a champFour ladies enjoying the view

• #3 - Forty-Five North - Table white paired with Macaroni & Cheese

Forty Five North is a newer addition to the wine tour. The current tasting is done in their production facility while they build a tasting room in an old barn to be ready later this year. I actually really liked the industrial feel, and was very impressed with some of the things Forty Five North is doing; peach cremant's, cider's with organic apples, etc. Yum. I will definitely re-visit this winery for purchases as often as I can.

Smiling vino faces

• #4 - L. Mawby - Sparkling wine "Wet" paired with raspberry thai foccacia

I loved L. Mawby. It had the same industrial feel as Forty Five north, but their focus is only on sparkling wines, and every variety has name that excites my inner 12 year old horomones. Wines named Wet, Sex, Consort, Fizz, etc. I could not stop giggling the entire time. Stephanie and I had sex at L. Mawby! Things really got out of control after the lady at the entrance said to Stephanie and I "I noticed you both bought stoppers for you sex, you know that will make it last longer." A lady after my own heart who understood Steph and my giggly humor. Thankfully, we didn't get in much trouble beyond that.

through the Fizz doorSampling SexPost coital

• # 5 - Black Star Farms - Red House White paired with Margarhita Pizza

I should start by saying my memory of Black Star Farms is a little fuzzy. This was the final stop on the wine tour after two days, and I was perhaps a bit inebriated. Overall, the Black Star grounds are jaw-dropping. They're the only winery to also have an Inn, a corral, and a farmers market on-site. Perfect place for a romantic trip for two. Also the perfect place to sip and purchase one of the most delicious Merlots I've tasted in a long time. I heart you 2006 Arcturos Merlot.

Black Star Farms tasting room

• #6 - Longview Winery - 2006 Cabernet Franc paired with Cherry Chocolate Brownie

Not many people understand the marriage of fine red wine and chocolate, but the folks at Longview, they've got it figured out and down to a science. My mouth was happy here. Especially with brownies in it made with real cherry wine! Longview's tasting room was not actually on their vineyard (a bit more urban winery-ish), but it was still a friendly place with friendly pours, and an interesting paid tasting of their specialty wines. I've tried several times, but I just can't seem to like ports. They taste like cough syrup to me. But if that's your bag baby, give Longview a shot.

Tasty specialty wines

• #7 - Good Neighbor Organic - Old English Style Hard Cider paired with chocolate covered strawberries

Despite the hard cider being totally yucky at Good Neighbor, I really liked this place. It was our first official stop on the tour. Besides the strawberries, they had other delicious goodies like caprese sticks, bacon wrapped dates, cheese, crackers, and meatballs. What a great way to start the tour! We also mangaged to find this winery right after we all saw a cute little red fox running down the expressway with us! The orchard itself is all organic, and it was cool to see that they use sprayed clay as a form of pest control. I forsee good things for this winery once it's vines are mature, and they add wines to their current small offering of cider only.

Check out that spread, and me double-fisting!

• #8 - Leelanau Cellars - Gewurztraminer paired with Curried Couscous

Leelanau Cellars is in a beaufiful spot near the town of Omena overlooking West Grand Traverse Bay. The views were spectacular, the wines are suprisingly cheap, and there were plenty of people to serve us! I wasn't thrilled with the curried couscous that they served (although those bites of feta were tasty), but the gewurztraminer was a pretty good wine, and my knowledge of the German language came into play as none of my girls could get it right. Say it with me now. Geh-vertz-tra-me-ner.

The curse of Cous

• #9 - Cherry Republic Winery - Cherry Red paired with Red wine Chicken and Brie scalloped potatoes
  

I already posted here about my first adventure at Cherry Republic, so I'll spare you recounting the details. I think the girls loved the gardens at Cherry Republic though, and I always like all the eating that you can do with all the stuff they make out cherries. Wines, sodas, salsas, candy, even peanut butter! Mad props to Cherry Republic for a very hearty and delicious food pairing for the tour. Just what we needed to end day one. Right before we headed to South Bar Beach in Empire!

Platey GoodCuties on the Beach! (plus apparently my crow's feet)

• #10 - Willow Vineyards - Pinot Gris paired with Maurice Salad

Blech. Other than the view (which was by far the best of wine tour), Willow Vineyards sucked. A lot. It's the first place I didn't even drink all my wine. I had to dump it out I hated it so much. And salad with mayonaise and olives and pickles? Gross. I don't know who this Maurice is, but he needs to check himself into a cooking class.

Peek-a-boo Vineyard

• #11 - Ciccone Vineyard & Winery - 2006 Cabernet Franc paired with veal Ravioli

For those of you who don't already know, Ciccone is Madonna's maiden name. (Yep, THAT Madonna). Her dad owns this vineyard. Now while I love to get down with my bad self to some early 80's "Papa Don't Preach," this place couldn't be further from style ala Madonna. It was very Catholic. And stuffy. And even pretentious. And I found each of the wines rather uninspiring. But they're selling bottles with Madonna's face on them faster than you can say "Like a Virgin." I guess you do what works.

At least the Ravioli was good

• #12 - Shady Lane Cellars - 2005 Pino Noir paired with Mushroom Stroganoff

Attention, attention. Welcome to pretentious central! Shady Lane Cellars wins a prize position on my "Great Wall of Suck." The people here (especially the punk wine kids) thought they were so much better than here, and it was a really cold and unfriendly atmosphere in my humble opinion. The only redeeming quality for this place, saving it from a place lower on the list, was it's surroundings. There's no doubt about it, this place is breathtaking. Nestled into the pines, surrounded by stone buildings, and with ample grounds, it's the perfect place for a wedding or big anniversary party. If only they could get that whole "wine" part right. They did have one good wine, the 2006 Bleu Franc, but at $32/bottle, I just couldn't justify buying something at a place I didn't "love."

Beautiful Shade

• #13 - Gill's Pier - Ankle Biter Rose paired with Macaroni & Cheese

Another fine entry to the world of pretentious, the people at Gill's Pier were really not so friendly. Especially the lady pouring Stephanie's wine. Which was terrible by the way. The macaroni was pretty good, and kinda pink, so we think it was made with wine. But overall, I'd skip this place in favor of other more accommodating vineyards.

Skip to the Mac

• # 14 - Good Harbor Vineyards - Hard Cider paired with Sweet Potato Soup

I got a really bad vibe from Good Harbor. I don't know what my problem was. It seemed nice enough, and the soup was fairly good. But they had the recipe displayed, and it was made with canned sweet potatoes. That annoyed me. So did the bottle labels for some reason. I just couldn't find anything about this place that I loved. I was greatful for the use of their restroom though. ;-)

Would you like some Whine with that soup?

• #15 - Chateau De Leelanau - Chardonnay Sur Lie paired with Bar Cheese & Pretzels

The cheese was good. That's about all I can say about this place. It was like an antique storefront that had wine in the back (sort of like being at your grandma's house drinking wine on her couch full of moth-ball smelling crocheted pillows). Add to that the way too oaky chardonnay, the stale pretzels, and the pour lady who practically threw her tip jar at us, and I don't exactly have a good picture of this winery. Ah well, there's something for everyone.

Chateau De Sucks

So there it is. A complete run-down of the long and awesome trip that was wine tour. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Meet me next year at Old Mission Peninsula??

P.S. MAJOR thanks are in order to Stephanie for all her pictures. I didn't take nearly enough.