Silver Leaf Vineyard & Winery
Date Visited: November 9, 2019
Stop: #71
After the largess and crowdedness at Black Star Farms, Kathy, Randy, Christie, and I decided it would be good to hit something a little smaller and out of the way in an attempt to avoid the large crowds we were encountering closer to Traverse City. We knew of the perfect place. With that in mind, we hopped back on SW Bay Shore Drive (M-22) and headed north, through Suttons Bay, for about 6.6 miles, until we reached North Stallman Road. We turned left, heading northwest, with North Stallman Road turning into East McKeese Road about 0.15 miles from M-22. We then made a right hand turn onto North Peshawbestown Road, about 1.0 mile from M-22, and headed north for another 0.4 miles where we turned left onto East Silver Leaf Farm Road. This road is a narrow dirt road, and as we approached the entrance to the winery, we saw some cars parked along the side of the road, nearly making the road impassable. We figured this was overflow from the parking area and took that as a sign that the winery was busier than we had hoped, but we soon found out otherwise. The entrance to the parking area is a short drive up a very steep hill. Under normal weather conditions, not a big deal, but with the ice and snow covering the road, it was a treacherous, and for some, impossible task to drive up the hill. Thankfully, we were in a four-wheel drive pickup truck, but even with that advantage, we still slipped and slid our way up the hill. I could only imagine what it would be like to go DOWN that hill.
Once we were safely in the parking lot, there were plenty
of places to park, so there was still a chance that we had escaped the
crowd. The tasting room at Silver Leaf
is very quaint. They are a far cry from
the larger, more commercial wineries that populate the Leelanau Peninsula, and
they are quite content with that. Silver
Leaf prides itself for its smallness - handcraft wines, which are small-batch
fermented, oak mellowed, hand-bottled, hand-corked, and hand-labeled. But all
of this just adds to the charm and allure of the place.
Silver Leaf Vineyard and Winery was founded in 2005 by Mark
& Patti Carlson, who had moved to the area from the suburbs of
Chicago. Mark had spent many summers in
Northport while growing up, so he was familiar with the area. Before
the sale, the land had been used as an asparagus farm and then for horse
boarding and riding. The Carlson’s
renovated an old horse barn and turned it into the winery building, and they
planted 3,000 grapevines. Silver Leaf Vineyards
and Winery was on its way.
Fast forward 10 years to 2015, Silver Leaf Vineyard and
Winery was sold to Danielle and Mark Lienau, the current owners. Mark left his career as an automotive
engineer in the Detroit area to take on the challenge of running a vineyard and
winery. Mark runs everything at the
estate, including working the tasting room and tending to the 30 acres of land
that comprise the estate. He grows
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, and buys other varieties of grapes from other
vineyards in the area. He contracts out
many of his wines to other winemakers, but still makes some of his own. During busy times of the year, like this
particular weekend, he calls on friends and family to help out. I assumed that either his parents or his wife’s
parents were greeting everyone as they came in the door on this day, but we did
not ask to verify if that was the case.
Normally I would do that, but the hustle and bustle of the day had me
out of my game.
In any event, we were warmly greeted when we entered the
quaint tasting room. There was a table
set up just inside the door where we got our tickets punched, got our wine
sample (2016 Pinot Gris), and our paired food sample (a pair of mini-quiches –
bacon & cheese, and Florentine). The
wine bar runs nearly three quarters the length of the south wall, and the north
wall is dominated by windows and French Doors that lead to the outside deck,
where, in nicer weather, you can sit outside with a beautiful view overlooking
the vineyard. The inside walls feature
many works of art created by local artists, all for sale. Mark keeps rotating new works throughout the
year. A really cool practice that adds
to the charm of the tasting room.
Silver Leaf was a perfect anecdote for the chaos we encountered
at our first three stops. It was still
busy, but far less people than our previous stops, so our strategy worked. We found a table to stand at while we consumed
our food and wine samples, and then gathered at the bar to get our two
additional wine samples. The wine list
at Silver Leaf is shorter than most wineries in the area, but that did not
matter to us. On this day, there were 10
wines to choose from. Below were our
selections.
Kathy’s selection:
- Passion – Our house red blended with our award-winning cherry wine. Notes of blackberry, raspberry, black currant, and cherry. If you are a timid red wine taster, this product will convert you. Serve at room temperature with hearty Italian dishes such as lasagna or red sauce pasta, or chilled as Sangria.
- Chafia Cherry – Our multi-award and Gold Medal winner is a true cherry wine with a bright mouth feel and a “not too sweet” taste. We couldn’t help but name this wine after what we affectionately refer to the “Cherry Mafia” of Leelanau County. Enjoy with appetizers, as an after-dinner drink, or with your favorite ice cream. GREAT with chocolate!
John’s selections:
- ‘17 Leelanau Late Harvest Riesling – This is a very versatile wine that pairs perfectly with spicy sausage & pungent cheeses such as Blue or Raclette, your favorite sweet & savory dishes, or desserts such as Crème Brûlée, apricot and peach desserts, cheesecake, or apple pie.
- Purple Foot – A true table wine specifically blended for pairing with food. Made exclusively from Leelanau grapes, this wine is in search of savory, spicy, and even sour (think of brats and kraut) flavors to challenge it at the table or patio. Subtle plum and fruit notes will present themselves when allowed to aerate as you are preparing your perfect match (limited production).
The Chafia Cherry was by far our favorite wine of the
samples we tasted, and we would probably rate it in the top five of all cherry
wines we have tasted so far. We were
also very enamored with the Passion. The
other wines were very good as well, but the two cherry wines were definitely
our favorite. We were in agreement that
we would buy a bottle of the Chafia Cherry, but again, a check of our wine
inventory showed we still had a bottle left at home. We decided to hold off on buying more at this
point, but of course, 2 full years later, we regret that decision. At that time, we never thought, in a million
years, that a worldwide pandemic would break out a few short months later and
we would not make the trip back to Traverse City since. We finally did drink that last bottle of
Chafia Cherry in November 2020 – ironically, around the time of year that Taste
the Season would have taken place had COVID not canceled the event for 2020. We hope we will be able to return to Silver
Leaf sometime soon.
We left the tasting room quite satisfied. I took a couple of extra pictures of the
vineyard and the charming little cottage that sits at the edge of the
vineyard. The cottage is available for
renters, and reviews indicate that it is quite an awesome place to spend a
romantic weekend. I might have to add
that to our bucket list. For now, we
just concentrated on getting down the hill without sliding into a ditch. Fortunately, we did not have any problems,
but we did have to wait a bit for another vehicle trying to negotiate the slick
conditions.
Be sure to visit the Silver Leaf Vineyards and Winery on
their Facebook site to get the latest news and happenings.
https://www.facebook.com/Silver-Leaf-Vineyard-and-Winery-937183859672826/
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