While we are up at Boyne Highlands, we had a free afternoon to ourselves.  Some went on a pontoon boat; some enjoyed the amenities of the resort.  I went searching for wines.  Are you not surprised?

The first winery we visited was Pleasantview Winery in Harbor Springs.  They also had a Bed and Breakfast on the grounds.  I must have been told a dozen times that they only did American Cold Hardy Grape Varietals.  I guess it must not have registered with me after the second time.  They also informed me that they begun the paper work to get the area a wine designation, hence all of their wines had product names instead of the grape that produced it.  Some of the names were Moonstruck, Persilka, Ethereal, Honeywood etc.   The tasting was done in the same room where the wine was produced.  Hence there were several large plastic vats of wine sharing the space with us.

We then went to Harbor Springs Vineyards and Winery at Pond Hill Farm.  This was a very eclectic and fun location.   There were animals roaming around for children to see and pet, a full working farm and winery.  They had a country store that sold the food that they harvested and above the country store was four hours of serving restaurant that featured food from the farm and behind that was a lovely tasting room.   I was informed that the building that we were in was built from the trees removed to create the farm and winery.  I also met a young intern in the tasting room from Louisville, Kentucky who was going to a culinary program in Cincinnati, Ohio.  They were doing a tasting of Pinot Gris, two different vintages of a Chardonnay, a Riesling, a Cherry wine and two different hard ciders.   I really enjoyed the Chardonnay which was very crisp and carried some back with us.

We then drove to Petoskey, which was only about nine miles away and went to a tasting salon of Mackinaw Trail Winery.  The winery is in Petoskey and they had two other tasting salons; one in Manistique and the other in Mackinaw City.  Here we sampled their Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, a Dry Riesling, a Cabernet Franc, a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet-Merlot, a Merlot a Pinot Noir and their Razzbery wine (which exploded with the taste of raspberry, they suggested pouring it over homemade vanilla ice cream).  I looked at my notes from here and two notes really caught my attention.  The Pinot Noir which their write up claimed “mingles blackberry and cranberry with hints of tea and spice,” while all I could taste was tea.  The other item that I found curious was that neither of us enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or the Merlot; we really enjoyed the Cabernet-Merlot and we took some home with us.

Wherever I go, I look for wineries, and I am especially grateful when I leave with a purchase or two.  This is even more fun, when an area is not touted for wines.