Petoskey: A Wine Tour

You know when you’ve just had enough of the same old vacations you take every year?  I know I was.  Back in 2018, some friends and I went wine tasting in Traverse City.  We did the Old Mission Peninsula and had a blast.  We hit about 7 wineries and experienced something new.  After, we were all buzzing about how we needed to do this again and maybe in the summer for one friend’s fortieth birthday.  However, she turned forty in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic and consequential shutdown.

This year we decided to go.  After some research, we decided to do the Old Mission Peninsula again.  As fate would have it, the weekend we wanted to go, all lodging options were full.  We then decide that staying in Petoskey was an option.  Once we secured a room, we changed our minds and thought we should try something new.  See, because one of our group is from Canada and just had a baby this year, she was unable to go.  The other gal and I had been to Traverse City thought it would be even better if we went to wineries in the Petoskey area instead.  This way the other two girls would experience new things with us rather than us telling them about all this cool stuff the Traverse City wineries were about.

It was decided that Petoskey would be our girl's tour this year.  I put myself in charge of winery research and a quick Google search, I stumbled upon https://petoskey.wine/.  I took it upon myself to gather as much information on each winery and present it to our group.  I did have to e-mail each winery to see if their website reflected their current guidelines and such.  Luckily, most restrictions had been lifted by the time we decided to go.  This past weekend, we were off.  Four girls and a mom who had volunteered to be our designated driver on this adventure.  We were able to hit seven wineries on Saturday and our last one on Sunday.  

Mackinaw Brewing Company

This was the first winery on our list.  It is right on US-131 and about five to ten minutes from our hotel.  They open at 10am on Saturdays which logically made them our first stop of the day.  You get a flight of 5 wines or beers for $14, unfortunately, we were not allowed to mix between the two.  However, they usually have a cider on tap so you can substitute a beer or wine for a hard cider.  Contrary to our experience in Traverse City, staff did not offer any grape or wine flavor education nor did they offer tasting suggestions.  However, the staff was very friendly considering we were their first customers of the day.  This place was a nice to way get us into a groove for our future tastings and flights.  Had we gone here later in the day, I believe we would have been disappointed.  Their tasting room was beautiful, but a little dark.  And they offered not only wine to purchase but souvenir glasses, wine tumblers, napkins, and apparel.
 

Top Picks:

 1.  2018 Unrestricted Late Harvest Reisling:

This is a sweet white and was the top pick by me and another group member.  I have a special place in my heart for late harvest Riesling and this is the best I have had in quite some time.

2. Kinky Pink Sweet Rosato:

If you like Pink Moscato, this one is for you.  It was a top pick of 2 members of our group and myself.

3.  2018 Select Harvest La Crescent

This one tastes like a really good nonalcoholic sparkling grape juice and was the favorite of our group member who prefers dry, red wine.

4.  2018 Marquette Rosé:

This one is a semi-dry rosé and was a top pick of 2 members in our group.

Pros:  Pretty tasting rooms, souvenirs
Cons: No “WOW” factor

Boyne Valley Vineyards

This one was next on our list to hit.  There is a cute old truck on their US 131 entrance.  You take a short drive through the vines to their tasting room.  It is beautifully styled as a modern farmhouse room and has an open concept that flows freely outdoors and onto the property.  They normally offer four tastes for $10.  Unfortunately, we were unable to do a tasting as they have live music on Saturdays starting at 2.  However, they did off wine by the glass (for $8) and the lovely co-owner said she would let us taste before committing to a full glass.  She gave us a brief history of the winery including that her and her twin sister own it.

She recommended the Sunset Rosé.  Of course, we all decided we would have a glass of that.  In retrospect, we probably should have all gotten something different so we could try it.  She, also, recommended checking out the treehouse seating.  You guys!  If you ever decide to go to this winery, you HAVE to sit in the treehouse!

There were two bachelorette parties there, which made me think that wine tasting or at least hanging out at a winery would be a great idea for that.  Another plus is the owner’s dog Izzy.  She was super cute, super friendly, and super soft.  This place had a wonderful aesthetic and we would have gladly spent a great portion of the afternoon sitting and sipping had we not had a tasting list to hit.

Top Pick:

No tasting was done, but we all had the Sunset Rosé, had we been smart, we all would have gotten something different to share.  Great porch sipper.

Pros:  Informative, pretty, plenty of seating
Cons: No real tasting done

Resort Pike Farms

Our next stop was Resort Pike Farms.  This tasting room is small and nothing special, but it looked fairly new.  Outside there were a few picnic tables, two goats, and a chicken.  Inside there was nothing to really “wow” you visually, however, it did have more of a casual farm (not house) feel along with a distinct distillery feel with all the taps for their cider.  They had this wonderful poster on the wall that you could write on if you wanted to.

Resort Pike is known for their ciders rather than their wines.  They had about 20 ciders on tap and probably about 5 or 6 wines to try.  That was fine, hard cider has less alcohol than wine so it was worth the trip.  You can get a flight of 5 (and you can mix it with wine if you so desire) for $14.  If you find a flavor that you absolutely love, they have popular flavors in a pack of 4 bottles for $14.  However, if your flavor is not available as a four pack, you can get a can (20oz, maybe?) for about $8.  I would love to see them offer flavors that are not as popular in larger sizes like a growler as an option.  And it is important to note that groups over 6 are not offered tastings as it would get a little hectic as we witnessed, but the staff was willing to accommodate.  For example, there was a group of 7 (bachelorette party) that came in and were told this, the group of 5 that was there when we walked in offered to take one (after the bride offered to “be by herself”), staff made magic happen.

On the topic of staff, Paige was the only server on staff.  She was wonderful.  She was very busy but did not get overwhelmed.  There was a group of 5 inside, 2 or 3 people outside, our group of 4, plus the bridal party that came in with 7.  She kept checking on the group of 5 that was originally there and us, all while making tasting flights and pint pours for additional customers.  She made every customer feel very special and as though they were her only customer.  She was not hesitant to upsell in a way that didn’t feel like upselling (ie you like this, it comes in a 4 pack for $14).  We were debating between 2 ciders to taste, and she told us she thought was better which was helpful.

Top Picks:

1. Holy Grail Cider (tastes like a stout, has a slight coffee taste)
2. Pink Frizzante (like a fizzy Moscato)
3. The Mulligan Cider (has a nice juniper kick)
4.Beets Me (smells like a root vegetable, very interesting but good taste)
5. Caramel Apple Cider (tastes like a caramel apple)
6. Sea Salt and Lime Cider (perfect mixture of salty, tart, and sweet)
7. Sweet Cameo (sweet cider)
8. Marquette 17 (dry)

Pros:  Extremely welcoming and helpful staff, cider, probably the most favorites we all had
Cons: Small, groups of over 6 are not supposed to do tasting flights, small, not a lot of “to-go” options

Walloon Lake Winery

Walloon Lake Winery has such a pretty outdoorsy feel.  For seating, there is the choice of the back patio or the pavilion.  Because it was sunny and extremely warm out, we opted to sit in the covered pavilion, which was the superior choice.  They offered a flight of 4 tastes for $10.  We initially didn’t think they had many options to choose from, but there was a fair few.  You have the choice of 5 whites, 5 reds, 2 rosé, and 3 sparkling.  So the only thing we would have wanted to see was maybe one more rosé.  The tasting sheet also provided bottle prices and flavor descriptions (i.e. sweet, s/sweet, s/dry, dry) and type of grape that was used to create the wine. 

The tasting sheet also showed the discounts available for bulk and Wine Club members.  When the flight was brought, it had numbers on it which corresponded top to bottom with the tasting sheet.  This made it super easy to decipher which wines you chose.  Jeff and Kate were our servers, and they were extremely friendly and helpful during the whole tasting experience.

Another thing worth mentioning was that there was a water station.  At it, the glasses were stemless wine glasses which we felt made the designated drivers and nondrinkers of groups feel included in the tasting experience.  There was a sign that basically said please don’t judge people for wearing masks or not masks and respect other guests.

Top Picks:
1.      Boathouse Marquette (sweet red)
2.      Sparkling Peach (sweet fruit sparkling)
3.      Blackberry (Sweet fruit)
4.      Between Buoys (Semi-sweet) 

Pros: Water Station, Pavilion, Scenery
Cons: Not a lot of Rosé choices

Rubeckia Farms Winery and Burnt Marshmallow Brewstillery

This place was the only place to offer contact less ordering for flights and others.  Seating was all outdoors, and you had your choice of beer and cider or wine and cider for your flight.  Flights were four pours for $15 which we found pretty reasonable and on the price point of the other locations we went to.  You did get to choose your flavors from a large enough list and when you got your flights, they were set up in recommended tasting order.

However, tasting in this way felt a bit impersonal at first, but if you like contactless ordering and minimal server contact this is the place to go.  While we were there, they were fairly busy but still manage to check up on us after our flights were brought to our table.  Even still, it felt a little impersonal, but their drinks were creative, and they offered non-alcohol options and small snacks.

Top Picks:

1. Lemon Lavender Shandy (very refreshing mix of citrus and floral)
2. Amber Ale (tastes like an Irish red beer)
3. Maybe I’ll Catch Fire Ghost Pepper (Tastes like an IPA, spicy after taste, the spiciness gets less of an after taste more of a first as you drink)
4. Pecan Smoked Apple Cider (Smoky flavor, slight nut taste)
5. Scrumptious Sweet Red (Sweet)

Pros: Creative drink flavors
Cons: A bit impersonal

Gabriel Farms Winery/Four Labs Beer and Cider

This was a gem that is not on the PetoskeyWine Trail map.  We stumbled upon it during a Google Search.  Not only is this place and winery, but you can also stay on-site as it is an AirBNB.  The area, scenery and buildings themselves are all visually appealing.  They have dogs running around, so if you are not a dog fan, you may not like this place.  We all are and were super excited to see furry friends.  We met a silver lab who really was only interested in us if we had treats….  Not cool dog, not cool (lol just kidding).  They do supply the treats though.

Once we were seated with our flights, the servers (Mackenzie and Amanda) brought us each popcorn.  They were also extremely friendly and helpful and did not mind answering questions about the drinks, souvenirs, and of course the dogs.

Flights are priced by the product you choose for a total 4 options per flight.  You have your choice of Beers/Cider which ranged from $3-$4/flight glass and Wines at $4/flight glass.  They had some unique flavors, and your flight came with a unique presentation.  They wrote your name and the flavor of each on the bottom.

Top Picks:

1. Mr. Golf (tastes like an Arnold Palmer)
2. Spilzner (tastes like an IPA and a red ale at the same time)
3. Birthday Cake Cider (literally tastes like birthday cake)
4. Strawberry Lemonade Cider (very crisp and refreshing)
5. Sweet Gabby (sweet wine, would be a great dinner wine, named after a dog)
6. Goldie Girl (dry white, named after a dog on the property)

Pros: DOGS!  Unique flavors
Cons: Dogs only hung around if you had treats, no set flight price

Pond Hill Farms

We ended our Saturday here because I had seen they offered food.  They have pizza between 2 and 9, but they stop serving their regular menu then.  This place is so much more than a winery, it is a family and community area.  In the fall, they turn into a pumpkin patch complete with hayrides and gourds. 

The flights were lightweight, and they used plastic cups instead of glass.  Your get 4 pours for $10 in a flight.  They offer beer, cider and wine, which you can mix and match.  They had a fair number of options not only for drinks, but for seating.  The scenery was pretty, and their staff was very friendly and down-to-earth.   The staff treated you more like friends than customer and I really appreciated that.  It shows they care about their work.

Top Picks:
 
1.      2017 Northern Lights Peach Sparkler
2.      Somerset Rosé
3.      Tin Cup Coffee Stout Beer
4.      Schoolhouse Red
 
Pros: Friendly staff, lots of seating, pretty scenery
Cons:  Not many food choices if they are doing pizza.

Crooked Vine Winery

On Sunday I told our group that we HAD to stop at this one on our way home.  I said that when I e-mailed them, they promptly replied and sign the e-mail “We look forward to seeing you ladies.”  And I think we are all glad we did.

Geoff and Gail Frey not only start Crooked Vine and run it today, but they also helped create and market the Petoskey Wine Trail Map.  Overall, they provided us with the best experience including a real tasting experience that none of the others provided us with.  I was glad because I had wished that the other places had provided us education on the grapes, area, and different wine types.  Geoff went down their tasting list with us and provided quality education on the different flavors and why some wines are dry and some are sweet and how they get their flavor.

To top it off, the grounds are just lovely.  Tastes are 5 pours for $8 and if you buy 3 bottles you get a free tasting.  It is well worth the little out of the way drive to see this winery.  You also can purchase a stemmed or stemless souvenir winery glass, t-shirts, and quaint wine themed jewelry.  Even though they have small tasting room, Geoff and Gail’s passion for the wine and education made this our best experience of the weekend.

Top Picks

1. Lakeview Red (dry, and I don’t enjoy dry wines, but I bought a bottle)
2. Hard Cider (I think it was called the Raz, they may have different ones on tap at different times.
3. Blackberry (were given an initial taste and then another after eating a bit of dark chocolate, would make a dessert wine)
4. Just Peachy Sangria (deliciously light peachy summer wine, great porch sipper)

Pros:  Provided a real tasting experience, Geoff and Gail were very attentive
Cons:  They don’t ship.

I hope all you wine lovers out there decide to take a trip to one or a few of the wineries we visited.  We all had a blast and highly recommend this region!

 Stay Tuned!