Tour Michigan's many wineries and
vineyards and you'll quickly agree with those who describe wine as not simply a
drink, but as an experience. New patios overlook vineyard panoramas, gourmet
food plates pair with each winery's vintage bests, and wineries and their vines
have become entertainment centres boasting live music, dinners, in-vines yoga
and even grape-decked trails for cycling. Try one of these experiences and see
that vineyard visits are still great for sampling—but also, now, for a whole
lot more.
Bike
Along a Wine Trail
Get a rental from Grand Traverse Bike Tours,
and from the Suttons Bay front door, you can
cycle a flat, safe wooded trail to eight or 10 wineries. Pick from a
self-guided tour, and they'll map out your route and pick up your purchases,
saving the need to haul clinking bottles in the saddlebag. There are guided
options too, and other spots like 45 North that welcome fat tire bikes on
trails that connect vineyards and keep repair tools handy—just in case. Country
roads around Baroda, in the state's southwest
corner, are also popular for cycling to wineries on the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail.
Plan a Winery Tour via Shuttle
Think glam hayride, and you've got the Fruitful Vine Winery Tours’ Wine-o-Wagon.
Book the cushy, roofed deck on wheels, hauled by a tractor, and you'll be
conveniently transported between tastings to a selection of Southwest Michigan
wineries and getting a countryside tour—fresh air included—en route. If an
open-air shuttle doesn’t interest you, the company also offers a clean and
comfortable 14 passenger "Vino Coach."
Book a Winery Sleep Over
Book one of the winery inns along the Traverse
Wine Coast, and you'll get the chance to play wine chateau
owner—and not just that. The plush rooms and suites at Chateau
Chantal Winery and Inn and the Inn
at Black Star Farms come with private tastings or
receptions, gourmet breakfasts and cozy nooks with fireplaces in common areas.
The Inn
at Chateau Grand Traverse has views and breakfast too, and
you get a complimentary bottle of wine with each night's stay.
Attend a Wine Festival
When you don't have time to travel the whole state to sample, festivals like
the Michigan Wine and Cider Festival at
Detroit's Eastern
Market are the way to go. There, you can sample the best
vintages from 44 wineries and cideries and also explore the shops, murals,
restaurants and fresh foods at a city centerpiece with more than 150 years of
history. The Lake Michigan Shore Wine Festival brings
“wine and tunes to the dunes” in a don't-miss festival held in stunning Warren Dunes State Park. The Wine on the
Water Festival also combines the sampling of award-winning wines with a
shoreline setting, in this case, the charming lakeside town of Suttons Bay.
Travel a Wine Trail
Wineries across the state have joined together in easy-to-navigate vineyard
groupings. They offer maps, making it easy to visit them in succession, and
they also join for regular events. On the Pioneer Wine Trail, that might mean
their “Art on the Trail” pairing of food, wine and the work of a showcased
poet, sculptor, musician or writer.
Pair Wine with Live Music
There's scientific evidence that music can affect the taste of a given varietal
of wine, something that's been explored on sensory tasting experiences at
Michigan wineries. But whether jazz pairs best with red, or white with a
singer-songwriter, know that live music on a vineyard patio—something you'll
find in all the wine regions of the state—makes everything better.
Experiment with pours to the backdrop of the live Celtic
tunes frequently booked at Rove Estate Vineyard & Tasting Room,
perched on one of the highest points in the Traverse City area,
or Dablon
Winery and Vineyard in Baroda, where you'll find regular
performances of rock, blues and acoustic guitar. Or join in the fun at karaoke
night at Resort Pike Winery and Cidery in Petoskey or
the occasional Saturday night Cellar Dance at Fenn Valley Vineyards and Wine Cellar in Fennville.
Relax at a City Wine Bar
You can sample a region's worth of wines—in some cases some of the best
vintages from around the world—at the state's classic wine bars and their cosy
date night settings. Grape Beginnings at Main Street
in Midland pairs
wines with gourmet offerings like gorgonzola honey bruschetta.
Some wineries offer tasting room branches conveniently in
walkable towns, the way St.
Julian Winery does in Frankenmuth,
and spots like Grand Rapids' popular bar Divani and Reserve Food and Wine curate wine
from around the world. Ann Arbor's Vinology Wine Bar and
Restaurant does, too, and is notable for the wine education
wrapped into its service and setting; a representation of vineyard soil from
wine growing regions around the world is worked into the wall décor. And if you
want a taste of the state's wine trails in metro Detroit,
the Michigan by the Bottle Tasting Room offers
some of the best.
Dine in the Vines
You can't get much closer to the source of your wine than you will during
specialty dinners in the vines, offered at spots like Bowers Harbor Vineyard in Traverse City which
teams with chefs at The Boathouse Restaurant for
its popular Dining in the Vines event featuring lobster boils, steaks and
barbecues paired with specialty Michigan wines.
Take a Cooking Class
Chateau Chantal on Michigan's Old
Mission Peninsula has been called a retreat for gourmets who seek a food and
wine holiday, in part because of its weekly hands-on gourmet cooking classes
taught by visiting chef educators. Round out the trip by sampling some of
Traverse City's growing culinary offerings.
Find Surprising Surroundings
Michigan winery tasting rooms sometimes resemble classic French chateaus, but
more often you're surprised—say when your tasting room is atop a landing strip,
as it is at Jackson's Chateau Aeronautique Winery,
where the bottle logos are an open cockpit biplane. Left Foot Charley serves its
award-winning wines in a former laundry room at the one-time Northern Michigan
Asylum in Traverse City.
There, the architecture of buttery brick walls and
castle-style turrets has been repurposed into the Grand Traverse Commons'
lofts, boutiques, restaurants and the city's only urban winery. There's a royal
setting too at Kalamazoo's Henderson Castle Bed & Breakfast and Winery with
its Bordeaux-style wine cave and offerings that pair architectural tours with
wine tasting flights and a cheese plate for two
Have a Wine Workout
Wine tasting isn't exactly a sport, but increasingly, you can combine it with
one. Vineyards may be the hottest new setting for competitive sports, perhaps
for the lure of the after party. Join the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail's Harvest
Stompede, where competitive athletes can compete in the run across autumn
vineyards, or take the non-competitive walking route. Both end with a
self-guided wine tour.
"Running Between the Vines,” offers routes of
several lengths that traverses shady back roads near Sandhill Crane Vineyards
and ends with a finish party of wine and culinary treats from Zingerman's
Creamery and Mindo
Chocolate Makers. Or try the Vine Wine'd 10K, 5K, or 1 Mile
RunWalk through Southwest Michigan vineyards and end in a post-race cookout.
Posted by: Pure Michigan
Posted on: 07/11/2025