Northern Michigan is home to 27 Michigan wineries dotted mostly throughout Traverse City, Leelanau County and the Old Mission Peninsula. And the numbers are growing. Now, as a new generation of Northern Michigan winemakers settles in, we check in with three to see how their ideas are likely to shape the future of wine in Northern Michigan.

Continuing reading the article at MyNorth.com

Stan Fellows has been an illustrator for thirty five years, painting for magazines, corporate clients, and children's books. Clients from the past two years include: Martha Stewart Living, Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Audubon, National Geographic, Field & Stream, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, NYU, Notre Dame, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, (what’s with all the airlines?) Kiplinger's, Arts & Antiques, Simon & Schuster, and for six years he has worked monthly for the Wall Street Journal's Friday wine column. In his native Minneapolis he taught watercolor painting and illustration at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and has also taught watercolor workshops in Iowa City, where he lives with his daughter.

Once again the festival takes place at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons (rain or shine) under the big tent. This year three area arts organizations: ArtCenter Traverse City, The Leelanau Community Cultural Center and Crystal Lake Art Center are showcasing artists and we'll have over 60 standout artists!

Our musical lineup is headlined by legendary Michigan blues musician Larry McCray along with folk favorites May Erlewine and Seth Bernard, blues phenom Greg Nagy and Song of the Lakes Trio with Sue Wood. Add original dance and other performance artists and you have one of the hottest musical tickets of the summer!

Head over to traversecitywinefestival.com for all the details!

Had a lovely evening in Leelanau Wine country last night. The occasion was the Leelanau vintners small plate dinner–a progressive dinner where each small plate was served at a different Leelanau winery and paired with a house wine. At Shady Lane we sat at the vineyard's edge (in the shadow of the vineyard's charming stone buildings) and ate Asian pork buns prepared by chefs from Red Ginger, paired with a 2007 Semi-Dry Riesling. Fun to meet Gill's Pier owners Kris and Ryan Sterkenburg there, taking a break from their work in their own vineyard.

From Shady Lane we moved on to the Sterkenburg's Gill's Pier where a private tasting room was decorated magnificently in glowing red candles and Japanese lanterns to celebrate the Asian spring rolls prepared by local caterer Kristin Karam of K2 Events and Edibles. Delicious and loved having Kristin tell us about them. The spring rolls were paired with Gill's Pier's award-winning 2008 Riesling. Wonderful!

Then the drive home to Glen Arbor: M-22 on a June evening. Need I say more? Okay, I will–passed a fox, a mother deer and her fawn who could barely make it across the road on its skinny, shaky legs, the sun sinking over Lake Leelanau, wild lilies in full bloom, blue flashes of Lake Michigan through the tree, the Wyeth-esque barns of Port Oneida …

Photo: Untitled by [DennisT]

Similarly, if you ordered tickets to the LPVA Small Plates, your name will be at each of the wineries that you are visiting. Most of the LPVA events are handled this way.

While tickets for all of our events are non-refundable we can transfer them into another name. Just notify us with the original purchasers name and the name that they will be picked up under. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

If you have any questions regarding ticketing for these events, please feel free to contact us at info@lpwines.com or 231.421.1172.

Come enjoy a day near the Leland Harbor and Leland's historic Fishtown tasting wines from local wineries and tasting the specialties from local restaurants and vendors.

Listen to live music in the park all day and enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands.

Admission is $12 and includes an etched wine glass and two tickets for wine tasting. Additional wine tasting tickets are available.

Food vendors accept cash only.

Participating Wineries and Food Vendors

Wineries
Bel Lago
Black Star Farms
Chateau Fontaine
Ciccone Vineyards
45 North
Gill's Pier Winery
Good Harbor Vineyards
Raftshol
Silver Leaf
Willow
Bowers Harbor
Chateau Chantal
Chateau Grand Traverse
Peninsula Winery
Circa
Chateau de Leelanau

Local Beer: Shorts Brewing

Food Vendors
Bluebird Restaurant
Leland Lodge
Corky’s (Vineyard Inn)
Plevas
Kejara’s Bridge
Village Inn
Drive Thru BBQ
The Cove
Martha’s Leelanau Table
Leelanau Cheese
Village Cheese Shanty
Stone House Bread

View Photos from the Leland Wine & Food Festival

For more information on Leelanau County's wineries, visit the Leelanau Peninsula Vintner's Association site at LPWines.com

Photo credit: On the Lawn by farlane

We will only be printing up 130 of the very cool Anniversary Swine and Dine T-shirts. Be sure to snap yours up as this is a one-time deal from a very talented New York artist.

"LPVA Small Plates", held on Saturday, June 19, from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, will give wine patrons a chance to try tapas dish from local chefs paired with choice pours from our vintners. There will be three seating's at each participating winery, 6-7, 7-8 and 8-9. Tickets are $10 per seating and very limited for each time slot.

We apologize if you were looking forward to Premium Pour, but we assure you that both of these events will be worth your time.

Tandem Ciders is one of the most unique stops on the Leelanau wine trail. Tandem Ciders specializes in artisanal hard ciders and some very interesting small plates. Tandem Ciders is trying to establish the European tradition of hard cider in Leelanau County. They use Michigan apples in their ciders and work closely with neighboring growers that produce the fruit.

Read Part One and Part Two of Bill Ging's Who needs Napa when you've got Leelanau?

Read the praise that he gave all the wines that he tasted at Bel Lago and Black Star Farms From Leelanau with love at City Pulse.

Chateau Fontaine Wine Dinner

~Canapé Reception~

Duck Liver Mousse, Fig Jam, Port Syrup
Chateau Fontaine Pinot Gris, 2007

Seared Sea Scallop, Gremolata, Lemon Risotto
Chateau Fontaine Chardonnay, 2007

“BLT”, Pork Belly, Kale Salad, Roasted Tomato, Duck Fat Aioli
Chateau Fontaine Dry White Riesling, 2008

~Intermezzo~

Sturgeon, Parmesan Polenta, Spinach, Calabrese, Beurre Rouge
Chateau Fontaine Pinot Noir, 2007

Lamb Chops, Leelanau Morels in Woodland Red
Chateau Fontaine Woodland Red, 2007

Dark Chocolate Bouchon, Cherry Conserve, Vanilla Ice Cream
Chateau Fontaine Cherry Wine

Offered in Fiddler's Pond, Little Belle and The Inn from only $238 per couple, per night, based on double occupancy. Space is limited. Call 231.334.5100 for reservations.

Tickets are $20, if you purchase them in advance, or $25 at the door. The Traverse City Wine and Art Festival will be held on Saturday, August 21, at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons from 3-10 PM. Please check the website for more details of the event. Also, be sure, to join LPVA on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. We will be giving away a pair of tickets on Wednesday, May 12th to: One person who joins our new Facebook Page, one person who is on our email list (head over to www.lpwines.com!), and one person who follows us on Twitter (twitter.com/lpwines)

As an extra added bonus, if you have already purchased tickets by Wednesday, we will give you two more tickets, for a total for FOUR FREE TICKETS!

We loved seeing all the PJs and hats on the trail this year. Everyone looked great! But now we have a challenge, who can dethrone the King and Queen of the Sip and Savor next year?

We would also like to thank everyone, who participated by turning in their ballots. We chose a random person from these ballots, also. Our winner for the random drawing was Susan B. Congratulations, Susan!

Many of the wineries gave away prizes, too! We will have the list of winners soon!

That evening, you'll enjoy an exquisite five course winemaker dinner prepared by Chef John Piombo, that features local wines. Offered in Fiddler's Pond, Little Belle and The Inn from only $238 per couple, per night, based on double occupancy. Space is limited. Please call 231.334.5100 for reservations.

Photo: Chateau de Leelanau 2 by lpwines

Dr. Duke Elsner, Agricultural Agent (specializing in viticulture & wine education) from the MSUE-Grand Traverse Office will provide classroom and field-based instruction on the following topics related to table and wine grapes: variety selection; site requirements; basic vine structure and growth; planting and early care; basic trellising; vine training and pruning; and pest management.

The cost of the workshop is $5 per person. Informational bulletins related to growing grapes will be available for an additional fee. Advanced registration is recommended. To register, call 256-8323, or download a registration form from www.msue.msu.edu/leelanau. ‘

The event is part of the 2010 "Green Garden" program, a series of spring programs focusing on environmentally sustainable gardening practices. For more information about other programs offered in the Green Garden series, visit the above website, or contact Pam Schmidt, Leelanau County Home Horticulturalist at 231/256-8323.

Photo credit: Vineyard Grapes by troyryans/2155928176/

Ingredients

1 oz. butter

1 medium onion

1/4 cup of coarsely chopped carrot

1/4 cup of coarsely chopped celery

12 oz. button mushrooms (add a morel or two if you have them)

6 medium Michigan White Potatoes peeled and cut into quarters

1/2 cup of Bel Lago Riesling

5 cups of chicken stock

1 cup of whipping cream of 1/2 and 1/2.

1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme

4 oz. Pleva’s Spicy Sausage, cooked and chopped

salt and pepper to adjust seasoning

Preparation

Heat butter in a medium pan over low heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Cook gently for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, potatoes and wine. Bring to a boil and add chicken stock. Reduce heat and cook until the potatoes are tender.

Puree soup mixture in a food processor or blender and blend until the mixture is smooth. Return the soup to the sauce pan and add chopped Pleva spicy sausage, the cream and thyme. . Bring the soup up to a temperature of 165 degrees and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed.

Photo credit: bel lago iris by n.wamsley

About 1600 wines from around the world competed in this, the 25th year of the Pacific Rim Wine Competition. Wines from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Michigan, California, Oregon, Washington State, New York, Virginia, Missouri, and other US states were entered in this year’s competition. “This year was a true testament of the quality of wines that are being produced”, said Yolanda Daly, Director of the Pacific Rim Wine Competition.

In addition to the Best Pacific Rim White Wine award Bel Lago Winery also received a Gold Medal for the Bel Lago 2008 Leelanau Primavera and a Silver Medal for the Bel Lago 2008 Pinot Grigio.

The Bel Lago winemaking team is comprised of Charles Edson, Cristin Hosmer, and Kevin Uhl. “We were all smiles when we learned of the Best Pacific Rim White Wine award”, said Charles Edson, Proprietor/Winemaker at Bel Lago. “We have always been dedicated to quality at Bel Lago, so it is a real pleasure to achieve this recognition for our efforts. We are all just delighted”.

Bel Lago Vineyards was first established in 1987, with the first commercial vintage of Bel Lago wines produced in 1997. The Bel Lago tasting room opened in 1999. Located on a high site overlooking beautiful South Lake Leelanau, Bel Lago offers wine tasting in this beautiful setting.

To learn more about Bel Lago, please contact Cristin Hosmer at Bel Lago, 6530 South Lake Shore Drive, Cedar, MI 49621, Phone: 231-228-4800, or email: bellagowinery@gmail.com. Or you may visit the website at www.bellago.com or follow Bel Lago on facebook or twitter.