While on Mackinac Island as we were walking down the main street, we (?) periodically had to stop and shop and buy gifts.  Thankfully, I talked her out of buying the mandatory fudge and caramel corn purchases as it was very hot that day, and I reminded her that we can just as easily purchase the identical items in our backyard, so to speak.  Though she did find some cute earrings of the Mackinac Bridge which tickled her fancy. 

We finally got to the Iroquois Hotel and their Carriage House to have a meal.  We got there early, so that I could take off my sport coat and cool off at the bar with a couple of glasses of wine by the glass, that I just ordered, because I found it intriguing that they had it, without telling my Bride and she was happy at the bar with it, after our customary walk back from Mission Point.   The Hotel Iroquois is a charming three-plus-story structure, that could have been a home at one time, or it could have been a boarding home, but it is a reminder of another era.  That last time that we were there, the view of the Straits of Mackinac were basically blocked out by bulldozers and other construction equipment, and my Bride was not exactly thrilled about that memory, but I reminded her that we were extremely thrilled with the food and wine.

We started off by sharing the Smoked Whitefish Dip, I mean when you are up in northern Michigan smoked whitefish in any offering is a given.  I remember once, we drove out of way to purchase some Smoked Whitefish Dip from the fishery that had furnished it to a restaurant that we were at.  My Bride had the Grilled Shrimp and Asparagus Salad, which was Mixed Greens, Artichoke Hearts, Asparagus, though she requested Parmesan Cheese instead of Feta, with a Lemon-Caper Vinaigrette.  I had the Ceviche of Lobster, Shrimp, Scallops and Avocado; I have to admit that I have been ordering more dishes of this sort lately.  We then shared an order of the Iroquois Hot Fudge Ice Cream Puff, who can resist a Hot Fudge Sundae?  

When we were sitting at the bar, I kept the wine a secret that we were having by the glass, to see if she remember it, as we had originally had it at the Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival that occurred while we were visiting the families, She did remember it, very fondly and wanted to get a bottle of it, since we haven’t seen it since that event that.  We first had glasses at the bar, and then we ordered a bottle for our meal, but my Bride asked if we could have flutes for our Honey Bubbles Sparkling Moscato Italy NV from Asti and Veneto. Honey Bubbles Wine not only makes a wine, but they are donating proceeds to help combat “Colony Collapse Disorder” which is a malady affecting Honey Bee populations around the world, in fact in 2014 twenty-three percent of the American Honeybee Colonies died per the Huffington Post.  Bees are lauded as the cross pollinators of crops and their survival is crucial not only for viticulture, but for all plants.  Honey Bubbles Sparkling Moscato sources their fruit from Asti and Veneto in Italy, but during my research I discovered that originally the company was based in New Mexico, USA.  The wine is a blend of fifty percent Muscat Canelli (Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains) and fifty percent Muscat of Alexandria.  The sparkling wine is made using the Charmat Method which is very common in the region.  A prolonged tank fermentation results in less residual sugar (half of most Moscato wines) and higher alcohol by volume (double of most Moscato wines) which makes Honey Bubbles a semi-sweet sparkling wine.  The wine we had in Las Vegas was Rosé and this wine was Blanco.  This soft yellow colored wine with medium-size bubbles offered notes of tangerines, honey, peaches, white florals and orange zest.  On the palate this medium-bodied semi-sweet wine displayed tones of a bubbling mousse of citrus, honey good acidity and ending with a pleasant short to medium count finish of fruit, honey and zest.