Wine Touring on the Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City, Michigan

During our June 2009 trip to Glen Arbor, Michigan, I was very interested in trying out a wine tour. I had never been to a winery, nor had I ever done a wine tour, so I almost talked myself out of it thinking it was too difficult to plan. After getting some help and tips from some friends at TripAdvisor.com, I found out a wine tour doesn't have to be as difficult as I was making it. After completing my first wine tour, I hope that our tour guide will help other first timers to give it a try!

Leelanau County Wine Tour vs Old Mission Wine Tour
Even though we were staying closer to Leelanau County, advice from TripAdvisor convinced me that we should instead drive further to tour Old Mission Peninsula. One of the main reasons for this was the number of wineries. While there are only 7 wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula, the Leelanau County one has 17 wineries to choose from. I was worried it would be hard to narrow down those 17 wineries to just a handful. How would I know which ones were the best? After all, everyone online has different opinions about that.

The thing that sold me on the Old Mission Peninsula was the fact that it is basically just one long windy road. The wineries are literally within minutes of each other whereas the Leelanau County wineries are more spread out and not as easy to find. For a first timer, it's best to go with the small Old Mission Peninsula so you are not overwhelmed by maps and directions.

Our Tour Guide
This guide will take you to 4 wineries. We had intended to visit 5 but ended up only doing 4 after a long day. This schedule is based on the current hours of these wineries. Please check their websites though, because their hours will change throughout the seasons. If anything, this tour guide can give you a general idea of how you can hit 4 wineries, 2 wine tours and still have lunch!

Skipped: Black Star Farms: We skipped Black Star Farms because I was told it is only a tasting room on this peninsula and nothing really to see.

Stop 1: Peninsula Cellars: Arriving at Peninsula Cellars around 10:45 AM, this small winery was a great first stop. It's a converted school house that looks very cute on the outside and very nice on the inside. We told them this was our first wine tour, and they were very friendly with helping us through it. We were allowed to taste any 6 wines, with the recommendation to be from dry to sweet. We would soon learn that all the wineries stick to this same philosophy. After tasting the 6 wines, any and all their wines are available for immediate purchase. We purchased a bottle of Homework: Rosé of Pinot Noir which they actually said was flying off the shelves. For those of you who are interested, here is a quick description:

"Produced in the sweet style. Strawberry and watermelon flavors with nice acid structure, to balance the sweetness. A refreshing summer picnic wine that is great by the glass."

Stop 2: Chateau Grand Traverse: This is definitely a larger winery and you can see it coming from a mile away. We aimed to get to this one by 11:30 so we could make the 12:00 Winery Tour. Since the first one was so quick, we got here closer to 11:15. After doing our wine tasting, we still had a good 30 minutes or so before the tour. Luckily they actually have a pretty large store! We shopped around and enjoyed tasting some of the jellies and other items they had available. Then we waited around in their outside patio until the tour. The 12:00 tour was nice and started with an overlook of the grape fields while the ladies detailed their grape growing process. The tour continued with a look inside the various rooms to show where the grape juice goes and how the grapes become wine. I learned a lot of facts on this 30 minute tour - most of which I don't remember! But it was very interesting and I'd say it's worth it for the first timer to really learn about the wine making process. We ended up buying a bottle of Cherry Wine Sangria from this winery.

Stop 3: Lunch at Peninsula Grill: I knew we wouldn't make it very far without lunch, so I scheduled in a lunch break from 12:30-1:30. This was done so we could have time to make the 2:00 Wine Tour at another winery. I researched all the restaurants on the Old Mission Peninsula and the Peninsula Grill was the one that appealed to me the most. This was a nice grill with a variety of food choices ranging from sandwiches, to pizza, to fish, to pasta. My husband really enjoyed his Philly steak sandwich, and I loved my huge home-made ravioli. The service was good and the atmosphere relaxing.

Stop 4: Chateau Chantal: We headed up to near the end of the peninsula for this winery, which offered a tour at 2 PM. Arriving at around 1:35, we had time to do our wine tasting and take some pics there before the tour. Chateau Chantal is gorgeous. The tasting room is raised up on a hill so you can see the grape fields and water in the distance. The 2 PM Winery Tour was great at this winery, even though the place is smaller than the last tour. I don't recall the name of the tour guide, but he was great and funny and seemed to really like his job. This tour will take you through their wine making process and also through the bed and breakfast they have. It was very nice to see their bed and breakfast and he even let us take a peek at the unoccupied rooms! I might just have to stay there someday. This 30 min tour was more entertaining than the first one, but both were equally interesting. Even with all the good things about this place, we really didn't care for any of the wines we tasted. Go anyway for the view! After Chateau Chantal, timing doesn't matter as much since there were no more tours to see and most the wineries are open until 5 or 6.

Skipped: 2 Lads Winery: I never planned to go to 2 Lads Winery, which is the furthest North, because the people I was talking to had never been there and had no idea how good it was. If you have the time and the inclination, feel free to throw it in after Chateau Chantal since it is just a bit more North. However, for a first timer I can say you don't want to overdo it. We didn't even hit the 5 we planned on because we got worn out.

Stop 5: Bowers Harbor: Bowers was described to me as "laid back" and after visiting I can definitely say that's the case. We only stopped here for a short time because it was warm in the tasting room and kind of crowded. We only tasted a few wines because most of the ones on the list didn't appeal to us. They had a 75$ bottle of wine that could be tasted for 7$ a taste. While we were curious, we weren't THAT curious. One guy did taste it for the 7$ but he didn't seem to think there was anything special about it.

Stop 6: Brys Estate: We ended up skipping this winery which was supposed to be the last stop on our tour. After visiting 4 others, we got tired out from all the site-seeing and learning about wine. However, this one is right there next to Bowers if you want to hit it.

On the way home: Moomers: If you are headed West after all of this wine touring, stop at Moomers to get your homemade ice cream. Their ice cream was actually very good and a nice way to cool down after being in the sun all day. the cows are sitting right next door showing you just how homemade this ice cream is. It did kind of smell like cows though, so plan to eat inside or in your car if it's crowded.

Additional Tips:
If you got the energy, bike ride the path! It's not that far from place to place and it could be a relaxing ride. We saw many bike riders. Just make sure you get a basket in case you have wine to carry around.

Buy your wine at the end! We bought our first wine right away, but the second we didn't purchase until we were on the way home. If you plan your trip from the bottom of the peninsula to the top, on the way home you'll be passing all the wineries again and you can easily run in to buy a bottle. This will save you from having to keep them in the car on a hot summer day. Plus it gives you a chance to taste all the various wines before deciding which you would like to purchase.

Pack a cooler if you want to buy your wine as you go. As I mentioned, the first winery said that Homework was selling so fast they could barely keep it on the shelves. If you are worried about wines selling out, or you just don't want to make the return trip to the wineries at the end of the day, put a cooler (with only a tad bit of ice) in your trunk to keep the wine from getting too hot. You don't necessarily want the wine to get cold, so just a little bit of ice should keep it room temperature if your car is in the hot sun.

Don't bring kids! Kids can't drink wine, and kids get bored easily. There was a lady on our first tour who kept fighting with her toddler. Her kid was bored, her kid didn't want to learn about wine! So eventually she left the tour and the rest of us were happier for it. Adults only please!

Relax and Enjoy your wine tour! There's nothing stressful about this :)