My Bride wanted to make sure that some if not all her sisters had a chance to visit Boathouse Vineyards up in the Leelanau Peninsula.  We had found it during a trip up north in 2017.   This is a winery that can be visited by car or boat, as the tasting room is located on the waterway connecting North Lake Leelanau with South Lake Leelanau. Michigan is the pleasure boat capital of the country with all of its coastal areas and marinas and Boathouse Vineyards has capitalized on this. If you haven’t discovered it by now, I guess I am rather gregarious and when I am at a winery, I like to take notes and my Bride and I were handed over (for the second time) to none other than Dave Albert, an ex-auto guy (go figure in Michigan) who decided to be in the wine business. What a pleasure it was to talk with him again, his passion for what he is attempting is marvelous; and he even remembered us.

Boathouse Vineyards was started from scratch, where the tasting room and grounds, there actually was a boathouse.  In 2009, they began building the winery and planting fifteen acres of grapevines, just four miles from the tasting room.  They now have a twenty-five-acre vineyard which is ninety-nine percent Vinifera.  The vineyard is on sandy loam with a high North and South slope with excellent drainage and is located on the famed 45^th Parallel.  The original planting was Riesling (four clones), Pinot Gris (two clones) and Regent and Auxerrois.  They then followed this with Merlot (four clones), Cabernet Franc (four clones), Pinot Noir (five clones), Syrah, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Muscat.     

We started the tastings with a couple of white wines, and it was a job keeping my Bride controlled, because she had been looking forward to this return trip for some time.  Of course, we started with the Boathouse Vineyards Pinot Grigio Leelanau Peninsula 2021.  A wine that is made using Stainless Steel for Initial Fermentation and aging to maintain the fruit flavor that is inherent in the grapes.  A nice soft-straw-yellow color that offered notes citrus and a distinct touch of grapefruit.  On the palate there was more of an Alpine feel as it was very dry with tones of peach, pineapple, and pear, balanced acidity and a nice finish of fruit and terroir.  The other white that we had was the Boathouse Vineyards “Seas the Day” Leelanau Peninsula 2020.  This wine was also made using Stainless Steel to maintain the fruit flavors.  A softly sweet blend of Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Muscat and Chardonnay.  This wine had a soft golden-yellow color and offered notes of citrus, and white florals.  On the palate this wine had tones of honeydew melon, pear, and peach and a soft finish, perfect for a summer day.