If you are participating in these exciting LPVA events with a group of friends, why not make your home base a luxury beach house — only 2 miles from Leelanau Cellars — that is a destination in itself? With 5 bedrooms and 4 baths, Bayshore Beach House has stunning views of Grand Traverse Bay, the perfect location for wine touring, and every amenity included. Best of all, it will accommodate your large group in comfort and style.

2010 Taste the Passion
Nights of February 5 & 6 for $1,600 all inclusive, receive a third night (your choice of Thursday or Sunday) free

2010 Sip & Savor
Nights of April 30 & May 1 for $1,500 all inclusive, receive a third night (your choice of Thursday or Sunday) free

Offer subject to availability. Book by January 1, 2010 for Taste the Passion and receive 2 tickets or comparable rental credit for the LPVA event ($60 value).Three night stay required for this offer; security deposit and advance payment required; please click on "Bayshore Beach House" to view photos and details of property amenities. Contact: northporthome@sbcglobal.net.

Photographer Kiran Bhat was out on the trail last weekend (what amazing weather!) and has the first of his photos posted to Flickr. He snapped this one at Good Neighbor Organic.

Check out his Toast the Season slideshow and think about coming up here for the second weekend of Toast the Season!

This great, 6 bottle wine tote is made by Field Crafts/Bookwear of Honor and features food from the members of Sleeping Bear Gourmet. The bag is given to participants in the annual Leelanau Toast the Season Wine Trail Tour on the weekends of November 7 & 8 or November 15 & 16.

Each bag includes:

• LPVA 2009 Holiday Ornament
• Food For Thought Cherry Honey Mustard
• Naturally Nutty Nut Butters Butter Toffee Peanut Butter (week 1 only)
• Light of Day Organics Tea (week 2 only)
• Stone House Bread Fresh Baguette
• Grocer's Daughter Chocolate Chocolate Almonds
• Higher Grounds Bolivian Pumari Roast

That's an 8 oz mustard for size and these foods are as natural, organic and (mostly) local as you can get!

Artcenter Traverse City will host a benefit concert for the Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design (ISLAND) on Saturday, November 7 at 7 p.m. Featuring Michael Beauchamp and the Barn Roughs, the concert will be held at Artcenter, 720 S. Elmwood Ave., Traverse City and all proceeds will benefit ISLAND.

"The economic prosperity of this region is founded in social and cultural vitality – and in protecting 'place'," said Jennifer Hutchinson, president of Artcenter Traverse City. "This collaboration allows Artcenter to raise awareness of the good work that ISLAND is doing in our community and draws attention to the integral role the arts play in this – the most beautiful place in the world."

The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association will offer pours during the intermission and will also give away promotional items including two tickets to the 2010 Traverse City Wine and Art Festival !

The public is invited and encouraged to be a part of this evening celebrating community resilience and to support the mission of ISLAND, a non-profit arts and ecology center dedicated to connecting people with nature. A $5 – $10 donation will be accepted at the door. For more information please call 231.941.9488 or visit Artcenter Traverse City.

Here's a video of Michael…

Sleeping Bear Gourmet (SBG) is a group of Michigan food manufacturers who strive to create food products that are best in their class and gourmet in attribute. Members aim to use locally-grown, preservative-free ingredients and to produce their goods with local labor.

Light of Day Organics is a small batch loose leaf Tea company founded by a Registered Nurse and Master Gardener. Light of Day grows, harvests & dries teas, herbs, flowers, and fruits in Leelanau County & also imports certified organic, fair trade, and biodynamic tea leaves directly from other organic and Biodynamic farmers around the world. Light of Day Organics is “Small Business of the Year” for our region 2009.

Food For Thought has a vision of treading softly on our human and natural environment, this company crafts organic and wild harvested specialty foods. Their products emphasize premium quality, low sugar, organic wine and herb-infused preserves, and includes salsas, mustards, dried fruits, and other condiments.

Naturally Nutty Nut Butters was created by a Traverse City mom on a mission, these nut butters contain hemp and flax seed and come in decadent flavors, like butter toffee, white chocolate coconut, and honey cinnamon.

Stone House Bread makes classic sourdough baguette, ciabatta and many more handcrafted breads along with cookies, scones, and pastries. We also deliver to stores throughout Western Michigan.

Grocer's Daughter Chocolate produces truffles, puddles, caramels, bars and other chocolates that are all natural and contain many organic and other naturally grown ingredients. Visit them in Empire or online!

Higher Grounds is the Small Business of the Year for Northern Michigan and Michigan's only 100% fair trade and organic coffee roasting company.

Dipping Sauces for egg rolls – we featured these sauces at Toast the Season 2007. They both pair well with Bel Lago Semi-Dry Riesling.

Apricot Dipping Sauce – Makes 1 cup

½ cup apricot preserves

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Can be made 1 week ahead and chilled covered.

Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce – Makes 1 1/4 cups

1/2 cup soy sauce

¼ cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

¼ cup rice vinegar

2 green onions, finely chopped

4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

We love Balaton Cherries! They are the star of our Cherry wine and Cherry Port. Here is our recipe for Balaton Cherry Sauce. Its great over cheesecake or ice cream.

Balaton Cherry Sauce

1 quart frozen pitted Balaton Cherries (available at Leelanau Fruit in Suttons Bay, or at www.michiganbalatoncherries.com)

¼ – ½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

In a heavy 4 qt saucepan add enough water to cover bottom, about ¼ inch.

Add frozen cherries and simmer over low heat until cherries are thawed.

Stir in ¼ cup sugar, adjust sweetness to personal preference. Dissolve 1 Tablespoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water. Stir into sauce. Add more cornstarch if thicker sauce is desired. Simmer 10 minutes more.

The guys at the Inn Kitchen at Black Star Farms have agreed to share their recipe for Seafood Bruschetta that was such a hit during this year's "Toast the Season." Dazzle your guests and enjoy with your favorite Black Star beverage.

Seafood Bruschetta

1 baguette – sliced 1/4" thick on an angle

4 T. butter

4 T. olive oil

1 sprig thyme

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Combine butter and oil in a saute pan with garlic and thyme. Slowly bring to a simmer and turn off heat. Lay bread slices on a sheet tray and brush with butter/oil mixture. Toast in a 350 oven for 10 minutes or until slightly golden.

1 pound good lump crab meat, drained and squeezed of excess juice

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked

1 med. red pepper

1 med. green pepper

1 med. yellow pepper

1 med. red onion

4 scallions, chopped

1/2 tsp. crushed garlic

2/3 tsp. lemon juice

1 T. chopped fresh tarragon

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

a few dashes of Tabasco

Fresh Parmesan or Roman cheese for grating

Chop shrimp and break down crabmeat. Small dice peppers and onion, Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Top toast with 1 to 2 tsp. of crab mix.

Sprinkle with a little freshly grated cheese and place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until warmed.

We served this bruschetta with our 2006 Arcturos Pinot Gris. Other great choices would be 2007 Arcturos Sur Lie Chardonnay, 2004 Black Star Farms Sparkling Wine, or our newest "star," 2008 Bubbly Nouveau. This limited edition sparkler is meant to be served young – as are all nouveau style wines – and it's available at all three of our tasting rooms – or online – at only $10. Make this one the official quaff of your holiday season.

Photo credit: Black Star Farms by lpwines

Spicy Cranberry Sauce with Pinot Noir from Silver Leaf Vineyard & Winery.

1 can whole cranberry sauce

1 can jellied cranberry sauce

1 Tblsp ginger

1 tsp curry

½ cup Silver Leaf Pinot Noir

Combine and heat. Sugar can be added to sweeten as desired. Makes 3 ½ cups.

Gill's Pier famous Meatballs from Toast the Season 2008 – by popular demand!

5lbs. meatballs
2 sm. cans or one large jar of Sauerkraut
1 cup Gill's Pier Cheerio Cherry wine (you can drink the rest of the bottle while you prepare this!)
1 can wholeberry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in slow-cooker. Cook for 3-4 hours or until flavors blend. Add more cherry wine as needed.

Serve with Gill's Pier Cheerio Cherry wine or "Chapel" which is a glass of half Cheerio Cherry & half Icebox Apple!

Photo credit: Gill's Pier Winery by photoshoparama

Many of our trail event participants have requested recipes for the food they sampled at the tasting rooms. Today we offer up four tantalizing recipes from Ciccone Vineyards they have served up at past LPVA events.

Ciccone Family Recipe

Traditional Italian Homemade Marinara Sauce

5 tomatoes, chopped
2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 sm. bell pepper, diced
12 mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
2 sm. zucchini, sliced
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 c. red cooking wine
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tbsp. basil
1/2 tbsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. sage

Add all the ingredients together
(except for the dry herbs)
into a large pot on the stove.

Simmer for about 2 hours.

Add the dry herbs and simmer
for another 1 to 2 hours.

Use sauce on spaghetti,
in lasagna, or with
any other classic Italian dishes.

Gather friends and family around the dinner table open your favorite bottle of red. Our favorite is the 2006 Cabernet Franc with earthy and spicey tones it is a natural pairing with this homemade sauce.

Now share all of your favorite family moments over a nice hot meal and a good glass of wine.

1 onion diced
2 cans chopped tomatos
2 cups frozen chopped spinach – drained
4 cups marinara sauce
4 cups of chicken stock
1 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon basil

Put everything in a pot and let it simmer for a couple of hours.

Serve in bowl and sprinkle on top fresh grated Swiss cheese.

Serve this warm comforting soup with one of Ciccone Vineyards red wines.

Buon Appetito!

Ingredients

2 (1 pound each) Eggplants, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1/4 inch-thick rounds
1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour, for dredging
2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Fine Dry Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Olive Oil
3 cups Tomato Basil Sauce
8 ounces sliced Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Dredge eggplant slices in flour. Dip into beaten eggs, then into the breadcrumbs.
3. Saute eggplant in olive oil over medium heat until golden brown. Drain eggplant slices on paper towels.
4. Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper.
5. Arrange half the eggplant slices in bottom of greased casserole dish
6. Cover first layer of eggplant with ½ the tomato basil sauce and ½ mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
7. Repeat procedure, creating a second layer.
8. Bake uncovered 20 minutes.

Serve this hearty meal to your friends and family along with one of Ciccone Vineyards famous dry red wines.

2 cans of cherry pie filling (21 ounces each)
1 box of chocolate cake mix
2 sticks of butter, sliced into 12 pieces each
2.25 ounce bag of chopped pecans
1/8 cup white sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a 9 x 13 cake pan:

Dump the 2 cans of cherry pie filling into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the box of chocolate cake mix evenly on top of that. Distribute the butter slices on top of the cake mix. Spread the pecans evenly over the butter and cake mix.
Finally, sprinkle the sugar over all.

Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes and serve warm!

This is also delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Serve this with a small glass of Ciccone Vineyard and Winery’s cherry wine, Bella Ciliegia.

Photo credit: Ciccone Vineyards by photoshoparama

Following Toast the Season on Saturday!

November 8th 6:30-8:30 p.m.

All people welcome no charge and no need to get dressed up!

Eat, Drink and Mingle!

Don't forget to do some holiday shopping too!

Photo: Tony Ciccone helping himself to a glass of Gewurztraminer!

Funistrada will support Glen Lake Community Schools La Fresca Program
4566 MacFarlane, Burdickville, MI
231.334.3900

Trattoria Stella will support Taste the Local Difference
1200 West Eleventh Unit One ~ Suite One
Traverse City, MI
231.929.8989

Nonna's will support ShareCare of Leelanau
1 Wood Ridge Road, Glen Arbor, MI
231.334.5000

samuel's will support the Child & Family Services of Leelanau
111 St. Joseph Avenue, Suttons Bay, MI
231.271.6222

More restaurants will be added to the list and restaurants interested in participating in the promotion should contact Leelanau Communications at info@lpwines.com or 231-256-2829.