This is Carbonation Country

Resort Pike Cidery and Winery

Date Visited:  November 8, 2019

Stop:  #66

 Once we (Kathy, Randy, Christie, and I) piled into the truck after our visit to the Mackinaw Trail Winery and Brewery – Petoskey, the big question on our minds was whether to stick to our original plan and head to Boyne Valley Vineyards, our last scheduled stop for the day, or take a flyer and visit Resort Pike Cidery and Winery after the recommendation we got from Laurie Stabile, the co-owner of Mackinaw Trail.  After looking at the time and doing some quick logistics calculations, we decided to take the challenge and squeeze in a trip to Resort Pike.  I am really glad we did.

We turned left out of the driveway to Mackinaw Trail Winery and made a quick right onto Williams Road.  Less than two minutes and 1.4 miles later, we turned right into the driveway leading to the parking lot in front of Resort Pike.  The building is relatively new, small, and sitting on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful countryside.  Walking inside, I was instantly smitten with the place.  I really enjoy the intimacy of smaller wineries and tasting rooms, and Resort Pike fell right into that category.  The first thing you see when you walk in is the three-sided, all wood bar, which dominates the room.  The wall behind the bar looked like the side of a classic red barn, and prominently painted on that wall was a large U.S. flag.  Under the flag was a lineup of hard cider taps – 20 by my count.  We were under an all-wood slat and wood beam vaulted ceiling, and a large marker board dominated the left wall of the room with a complete list of all hard ciders, specials, and wines available for that day.  Behind the bar was Tim, who greeted us and invited us to sit at the bar.  We were the only customers in the place.

Tim was very cordial and welcoming, and we were fascinated to learn that he was a film director by trade.  An independent film-maker, he mentioned that he was wrapping up his most recent project and was excited about its upcoming release.  Tim also filled us in on the history of Resort Pike.  The tasting room itself opened on July 11, 2017, but this was basically Phase 2 of a two-phase project.  Phase 1 was focused on preserving the farmland, with an emphasis on completely restoring the historic barn that sat on the property.  The date on the barn says 1889.  Once the barn and the surrounding land was restored, the owner, Dustin Stabile, decided that he wanted to create something a little special, and what better way to do that than to share his passion for carbonation!!!  In fact, their byline at Resort Pike is “This is Carbonation Country.”  Since wineries are plentiful in the area, including his family’s Mackinaw Trail Winery just 1.6 miles away, Dustin focused his craft on hard ciders and sparkling wines.  Back when we visited, Resort Pike was offering 12 hard ciders, 6 sparkling wines, and 6 still wines (non-carbonated).  Today, according to their website, their menu consists of 9 hard ciders, 7 sparkling wines, and 3 still wines.  So, as you can see, the menu fluctuates over time. Also, at least when we were there, they had a couple of special ciders and wines that did not appear on their menu at the time.  It was like limited editions and experimental concoctions were made available to let customers try some interesting new flavors.  I would guess that if they got enough positive feedback, these wines and ciders might find themselves in larger production batches and on the main menu.

So, Tim gave each of us a menu and we set about trying to make our selections from the numerous available ciders and wines.  We could each get a flight of 5 samples for $10.  The following is what Kathy and I settled on:

Kathy’s selections:

1.     Sea Salt and Lime – A special blend not on their menu

2.     MK’s Ultra – Brown sugar, caramel apple hard cider.  This project is straight from the CIA mind control experiments in the ‘50s.

3.     William’s Elixir – Cinnamon molasses apple hard cider.  Tastes just like apple pie!

4.     Pink Frizzante – A semi sweet sparkling pink wine made from the winemaker’s proprietary blend of grapes.

5.     Marquette – Dry red aged on French oak.  Made with grapes from Gabriel Farms in Petoskey Michigan.

John’s selections:

1.     Cherry Popper – A 75% apple 25% Cherry cider blend.  Tart with just the right amount of sweet.

2.     Honeycrisp Iced Cider – Made using 100% Honeycrisp apples.  This cider is decadently sweet.

3.     Riesling – A semi dry sparkling Riesling.  Crisp acidity with ripe tangerine aromas.

4.     Pike Demi-Sec – A still semi sweet white wine.

5.     Peach – A still wine that was not on the regular menu.

The Sea Salt and Lime Cider was very unique – to me, it was like drinking a carbonated margarita.  The MK’s Ultra and William’s Elixir were very good and probably our favorites, but the Cherry Popper and Honeycrisp Iced Cider were very close behind.  Honeycrisps are my favorite apple, so tasting a hard cider made of that apple was a treat.  I also enjoyed their Peach wine, but then again, I have not met a peach wine that I did not like.  At the end of the day, all of the choices were good, but we definitely had our favorites. 

Kathy and I decided we needed to take some of the MK’s Ultra home with us, so we put in our request for a bottle of that hard cider.  A check of the time told us we needed to get on the road if we wanted to get to our next stop while they were still open, so we cashed out, waited a few minutes for Randy and Christie to do the same, and then thanked Tim for his hospitality.  We all agreed that it was worth the trip, and I would love to revisit Resort Pike during warmer weather when we could order a nice cold glass of hard cider and sit outside enjoying the scenery and the weather.  Maybe someday!!!

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