Bump. Planning a trip in May. Any favorites on the Old Mission Peninsula?
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2 Lads, Brys, and Bonobos would be my top pics on Old Mission.
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Say hi to the vines I helped to plant at Chateau Grand Traverse 40+ years ago. That experience kept me from exploring wine grape production as a career
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Things have changed since I was there last August. I inquired from good friends who live near TC and here is their reply. Hope this helps:
" https://www.boathouseonwestbay.com
And a few in Traverse City:
More restaurants keep popping up. Weāve had an influx of people moving to northern Michigan in the past year. Two guys just opened Vita Bella @ https://www.vitabellakitchen.com/. Nice wine selection l, wood fired pizza and Italian food. The owners of Lynn & Perin expanded next door on Main Street with an impressive selection of wine."
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I havenāt the slightest idea of how itās viewed by the knowledgable but Marty Lagina (one of the Oak Island Mystery brothers) owns Mari Vineyards in Traverse City.
Itās a must visit. Sean OāKeefe is a world class winemaker and is doing fantastic things on OMP.
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Iāll second Mari thatās our favorite on the peninsula along with Hawthorne. Also the food is great at Jolly Pumpkin for lunch or dinner.
Thanks for checking with the locals. I hope to get up there in June. Sounds like the current recommendations are:
- Left Foot Charley
- Mari
- Hawthorne
- 2 Lads
- Brys
- Bonobos
Any idea what the cider scene is like up there?
Just returned from TC yesterday. Had a phenomenal dinner at Stella. Farm Table had a killer brunch. Boathouse was good, but a bit overpriced.
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Iāve never had anything but exceptional meals and service at Stella. Even last July when many places were closed or takeout only, they excelled.
Stella looks terrific.
Farm Tableā¦ I canāt seem to find a restaurant by that name.
Maybe Farm Club
Iām leaving for TC in the morning. Thanks for all the recommendations. Iāll report back with what I find.
Arrived tonight around 5:30 PM. We did a jaunt to Zingermanās in Ann Arbor, as one should do, on our way up. We had 7:30 reservations at Stella and got there a bit early. Itās located in an enormous victorian era state mental hospital in a huge park like setting on the edge of town:
Upon driving around the grounds, I spotted Left Foot Charley, so we stopped and had a few glasses and left with a few bottles:
I tried a late harvest riesling and it was a great aperitif.
Stella is a restaurant worth traveling to. The combined service, atmosphere, and food would put it on par with many Michelin star restaurants Iāve been to. I left actually being a bit surprised that it wasnāt more of a prix fixe tasting menu kind of place:
I had hot smoked octopus and sausage for an appetizer and duck leg confit with fettuccine for the main; both were wonderful.
They had a strong wine list and I ended up ordering a '14 Livio Sassetti Brunello at a just bit over market price at $90:
Livio Sassetti consistently makes one of my favorite Brunellos, but this was my first time with the '14. Sandwiched between the great vintages of '13, '15, and '16, donāt sleep on this '14. Strong nose with a top note of red fruit that transitioned over dinner from raspberries to more of a cherry nose. There was a strong heart note of bergamot and just a bit of baking spice, and a base note of moss with a bit of saddle leather developing in the decanter. Still young and mostly primary notes and strong tannin that would resolve with more age. I also would love to see what forest/mushroom tertiary notes would come with age. What a great wine.
Today for breakfast we went to Town Plaza; highly reccomended. Town Plaza is only open for breakfast and lunch but had an interesting menu of many kinds of house made charcuterie and cured meats. We started with some duck prosciutto, capicola, and chicken liver mousse:
Next was slow roasted pork belly with fried green tomato and chĆØvre:
We car toured the the Leelanau Peninsula with highlights of Leeland and Suttons Bay. We didnāt stop at any wineries today as it was cold and rainy. Later in the day we did go to Mari on our way to dinner. Mari wasnāt very impressive to me. Both wines I tried had a strong concord grape juice note and the architecture just felt a bit off. It was like someone saw a picture of Tuscany, but had only built McMansions previously. From there we went to The Boathouse Restaurant:
It was good food, and I got to second or triple dip in my morel indulgence. The wine list was a bit tired and I had a hard time finding something that wasnāt overpriced, or exciting. Ended up getting Left Foot Charley Kernerāwhich was a great wine with seafood and oysters.
(Wagyu beef carpaccio with black garlic)
(morel mushroom poutine)
(morel mushroom ravioli)
Some pictures of the Luulanau Peninsula:
Did you buy any fish sausage at Carlsonās?
I hope you stop at Nathaniel Rose winery and pick up the best wine the area has to offer. Really love his Pinot and also the real special treat that is the Left Bank. Right Bank is also memorable.
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Didnāt get any sausage, but did pick up some smoked fish and pate
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New to me. We didnāt get that far north today, but are heading back that direction soon. It seems like they may not be open to the public currently?
Bummer. Havenāt been there in a few years. You could check his Facebook page for updates.