Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery MAIN LOCATION
Date Visited: November 8, 2019
Stop: #61
This was the event that started it all. It was two years ago that our good friends, Randy and Christie, had invited us to participate in a wine tour in Traverse City called “Toast the Season". The premise – visit in upwards of 25 wineries all located on or near the Leelanau Peninsula north of Traverse City, Michigan, over a two-day period, and enjoy a featured wine with a food pairing prepared by each winery. Typically, each winery would also include extra free sample wine tastings – anywhere from 1 to 5 free tastings. As I explained in our inaugural blog, Kathy and I were not real big wine drinkers, but the sense of adventure and the unknown was too appealing to pass up, so we agreed, and thus was born a new tradition and a new quest.
The first year we went, the weather was extremely mild and
I think both Kathy and I got a false sense of what winter is really like in
Northern Michigan. The second year we
went, weather conditions were horrific and the reality of winter in Northern
Michigan really set in. The roads were a
sheet of ice, and when we reached our hotel room that first night, there was no
electricity. Getting to each of the
wineries over the next two days was a challenge as road conditions did not
improve, and many of the wineries we visited required treacherous driving up
steep hills and narrow roadways. So,
this year, we were hoping for a return to mild weather. We also decided to change things up a bit –
instead of driving straight up to Traverse City Friday evening, we would set
out early Friday morning and go to Traverse City by way of Petoskey and hit
some of the wineries up in that area. Thus,
began a voyage that would see us visit 28 wineries over 3 days – a pace of just
over 9 wineries per day.
We headed out at 7:45 that Friday morning knowing we had a
3 ½ hour drive ahead of us. Kathy had
already figured out that the first winery we intended to visit did not open
until 11:00 am, so with luck, we would arrive a few minutes after opening. At first the drive north was uneventful, but
the closer we got to Petoskey, the dicier the weather got. By the time we arrived at our first
destination, Petoskey Farms Vineyard & Winery, the snow was falling quite
heavily and the roads were slick and snow covered. But, the good thing about that was it seemed
to scare off other wine tasters. When we
arrived (about 11:20 am), we were the only ones there. In fact, we arrived before most of the staff had
arrived.
The Petoskey Farms Winery sits on top of a large hill with
an absolutely gorgeous view of the vineyard and the surrounding
countryside. With the large snowflakes
falling and a blanket of snow covering the ground, it looked like a scene
straight off of a Currier and Ives Christmas card. The vineyard and winery are owned by Andy and
Tracie Roush. Their story, like so many
others we have heard, is fascinating, and although you can read about it on
their website, I do want to mention some of the history here.
Andy is a native Michigander (Howell) and has always loved
the Northern Michigan area. Tracie grew
up in Amherst, Ohio. Both received
college degrees and both began careers in corporate America. They happened to meet in 1999 while boating
in Ohio. Andy introduced Tracie to
northern Michigan, and she, too, fell in love with the area. After marrying and starting a family (two
daughters), the Roush family had plenty of opportunities to visit northern
Michigan since Andy’s parents had retired and moved to Indian River. By 2009, Andy had grown weary of corporate
life and after much discernment and prayer, he and Tracie decided to sell
everything and move north in hopes of pursuing their dream to open a vineyard
and winery. They spent the next couple
of years learning about wine making and running a business, and on June 30,
2012, they moved to Indian River to set their dream in motion. On July 20, 2012, they purchased 22 acres of
land and began planting 1600 grapevines.
Tracie’s father had been a builder his whole life, so she knew her way
around tools and building construction.
She took on the task of being the general contractor for a 5,000 square
foot building that would serve as their home, winery, and tasting room. The building was completed in May, 2014 and
they officially opened for business on June 21, 2014. They have since added more space to their
outdoor patio, and they planted another vineyard. Their Head Wine Maker is Josh Morgan who
learned his trade moving up the ranks at Black Star Winery, north of Traverse
City, and one of the wineries we would visit later this weekend.
The tasting room is beautiful, with a very tall vaulted
ceiling, and very impressive bar, plenty of tables to sit at, and some retail
space for wine-themed accessories and paraphernalia and plenty of bottles of
wine. Since we were the first ones
there, we each took a seat at the bar and were each handed a wine list to begin
the process of narrowing down our selections.
A Standard Tasting consisted of five 1-oz. pours for $7.00, and on this
particular day, there were 19 different wines to choose from, as well as
several hard ciders, which were all listed on a chalkboard hung on a wall to
the left of the bar. Unfortunately, two
wines were not available for tastings – the ’18 Dry Riesling and the ’18
Pétillant Naturel Riesling. For $9.00,
you could keep the souvenir wine glass.
For big-time wine drinkers, you could get the Wine Flight for $18.00,
which consisted of five 3-oz. pours.
Seeing as it was not quite noon and we still had several other wineries
to hit, we all went with the Standard Tasting flight.
The wines at Petoskey Farms fall into five categories: Whites, Reds, Rosés, Fruits, and
Desserts. It was tough to choose from so
many tempting sounding wines but here is where Kathy and I landed:
Kathy:
’17 Med. Sweet Riesling – aromas of apples, pears, and peaches. Touch of acidity on the finish.
Romance – dry, notes of plum, currant, oak, and vanilla.
Marquette – dry, black cherry notes with hints of spice, coffee, and chocolate.
’18 Pinot Noir – dry, aromas of juniper and red cherries with bright fresh fruit on the palette.
’18 Marquette Rosé – dry, spiced cherry and strawberry.
John:
’18 Sweet Riesling – Sweet, fruit forward green apple.
Joy – raspberry and black plums give way to a sweet smooth finish.
’18 First Crush – candied strawberry aromas blend with zippy acidity.
’18 Apple Wine – bourbon barrel aged, semi-sweet, crisp with hints of caramel and vanilla.
’18 Estate Frontenac – sweet, hints of raspberry, cherry, and cocoa powder.
Our server was very pleasant and he described each of the
wines to us as we made our selections.
He also pointed out to us that the Petoskey area was doing their own
wine tour this weekend called the Harvest STOMP! There were 13 wineries in the Petoskey region
that were participating, many of which we were going to visit on this day. We told him we were heading to Traverse City for
their scheduled wine tour and that it was unfortunate that both events were
happening on the same weekend. But it
did plant a seed for future considerations.
Kathy and I had vowed that we would not go crazy buying
wine this weekend since we had so much wine still back at our house. So, trying to stay disciplined, and not get
sucked into the volume discounts being offered, we decided to only buy a couple
of bottles – the 2018 Estate Frontenac the Joy wine.
As we left the tasting room and walked along the closed-in
portion of the patio, I could not help thinking how great it would be to visit
here in the summer time, sit outside, and just enjoy the beautiful view while
sipping on some of the other wines we did not try, as well as the favorites
from those we did try. Reason enough for
me to come back for another round!!
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