Anyone for wine and goat yoga?

Westview Orchards Winery

Date Visited:  June 2, 2019

Stop:  #6

It was getting late in the afternoon as we headed west after our disappointing visit to “The Thing” historical marker.  We knew we only had time to hit one more winery, even though we had at least 3 others we were hoping to visit on this day.  It was decided we would try Westview Orchards Winery, located just south of Romeo, since we had never been there before.  At best, we would only have an hour to spend, so we did not waste any time hustling the 21 miles from “The Thing” to the winery.

The winery is located on the northwest corner of Van Dyke Avenue and 30 Mile Road, approximately 2 miles south of downtown Romeo.  The actual address is 65075 Van Dyke, Washington, MI 48095.  Washington is an unincorporated community in the south-central portion of Washington Township in Macomb County.  Washington Township has a population of 27,878 (as of 2017) and was organized in 1827.  There are many popular sites to visit in Washington Township, including the historical Octagon House and Stoney Creek Metro Park.  Another popular site to visit is Westview Orchards, which began as a small farm and orchard in 1813.  It has been run continually by ancestors of the original owner for over 200 years.  It has an interesting history, which you can read all about on their website (https://www.westvieworchards.com/farm-history).  In April, 2015 they opened the winery, which is located on the grounds of the orchard on the second floor of the cider barn.  Getting up to the wine bar is really cool – you have to take a spiral staircase up the silo.

When you exit the silo, you enter an expansive room that originally was the loft to the barn.  The owners did a wonderful job turning the loft into a homey, enjoyable hang out.  The room runs north and south, and the wine bar takes up a large portion of the west wall.  There is plenty of standing space at the bar, and several tables scattered throughout the enormous room.  At the far northern area of the room is a cozy sitting area with chairs and couches.  The room is dominated by everything wood – wood walls, wood ceiling, wood beams, wood floors, and the wood bar.  They host many events throughout the year – bridal parties, live music Saturdays, Trivia Contests on most Fridays, special dinners and events, and even Goat Yoga classes!!!  I mean, what can be better than doing yoga with baby goats while drinking your favorite wine, right?

I don’t know if it was the lousy weather, or the fact that it was only an hour until closing time, but we had this whole room to ourselves.  We were warmly greeted by the two women tending the bar on this particular day (I’m sorry, but I do not recall their names, but they were so sweet and took such great care of us).  We were lucky to be the only ones there because we got their undivided attention and they told us everything we needed to know about the wines, the ciders, the orchard, and the winery.  They handed us their wine list and we set about trying to decide what to try.  On this day, they had 3 ciders and 16 wines on the menu, however, they did not have any of the Strawberry-Watermelon wine available but did have Strawberry Dreamin’ instead.

A flight of wine consisted of four 2-ounce pours.  My wife decided on Maple Jack Cider, Cranberry Crush (a semi-sweet merlot blended with cranberries), Hot Rod (a dry red wine with cherry notes), and Maybe Yes – Maybe No (a dry Grand Merlot with raisin and dark cherry notes).  I went fruit across the board – Pucker Up (apple) Cider, Awesome Apple (a semi-dry apple wine), Peach Queen (a sweet peach wine), and Strawberry Dreamin’ (a Riesling with strawberries).  I really enjoyed all of my choices, as well as a couple of my wife’s choices.  My wife really enjoyed all of our choices, and was considering getting another flight.  However, our hostesses were kind enough to let her try a small sample of 2 additional wines free of charge.  So, my wife tried Sweet Revenge (a semi-dry, four red-grape blend) and Wine der Woman (a semi-sweet white Gewürztraminer wine). 

I expected that we would be walking out with several bottles of wines and ciders.  After much deliberation, and comparing notes, we decided on a bottle each of Maple Jack Cider, Peach Queen, Strawberry Dreamin’, and Cranberry Crush – a fairly light haul given how much we enjoyed all the wines we tried.  What I am learning, however, is that this then gives my wife an excuse to revisit a winery so we can get bottles of the other wines we liked.  In any event, we really had a pleasant time there, and what made it even more special was that they wrapped up a couple of homemade pastries for us as we were leaving so they would not have to throw them out once they closed for the day (since they are closed Monday through Wednesday, the pastries would not have survived until their next business day).  Again, just another wonderful gesture that added to the enjoyment of our visit.  They’re doing all the right things at Westview – wonderful staff, great atmosphere, really enjoyable wines, etc. – and I know we will be visiting them again sometime soon.

#michiganwinesandsigns #michigan #history #michiganhistory #historyisbetterwithwine