Christmas day brought me 3 new books. “My Grandfather’s Son” a memoir by Clarence Thomas, “Precision Trolling”, a troller’s bible, by Holt, Romanack, and Irwin, and the loan of “BirdDog” , the instinctive training method, by Ben O. Williams. Since there’s well to much ice to go trolling, I already have a dog, and “BirdDog” is a loaned book, I guess it will be my first 2008 read.
>>GB
As I said previously our day one was a bit subdued. We had already paid for the room at Chanteau Grand Traverse, and technically we were over the flu,, so I figured we could tough it out.
The drive over/up to Traverse was uneventful, the weather co-operated (though there were threats) all the time we were there. Our first day was spent on Old Mission Pennisula. On the way up, we stopped at Pennisula Cellars, Brys Estates, Bower Harbor, and Chateau Chantel.
Chanteau Chantel was as elegant and ever, and we had a nice chat with the server about wines and such. We only bought a bottle or two from each stop. (It could have been our burned out taste buds). About 4pm we checked into our room, and then walked up to the Chateau Grand Traverse tasting room to close them down. We tasted a few whites and a few reds, and made a few notes. (intending to make our CGT purchases later in our stay).
The CGT Guest House is amazing. Made more so, by our off season visit and having the entire house to ourselves. The house actually has 6 guest rooms. Across the hall from our room, was the Breakfast dining room. With a full kitchen, large elegantly set dining table, and multitudes of self serve foods to choose from. We kind of liked the Alby’s breakfast pasties, along with some frozen sausages, heated in the Microwave. We also enjoyed home made granola, biscotti, and muffins.
Our room came with a complimentary bottle of wine of our choice each night, plus a 30 dollar wine gift certificate. We didn’t feel like drinking the free bottle either night, so it wound up with the rest of our purchases.
Before settling in completely we drove up around the corner, to the Pennisula Grill for dinner. “The Grill” also comes highly recommended. Nice selection of beer and wines, plus darn good food.
Back at the CGT Guest house, we wandered around a bit, checking out the formal dining room, (used to serve special “wine dinners” catered by their on staff Chef), and the various sun/veiw rooms, then the reading/music room. Next down the stairway to the entertainment room, where we tried to watch the big TV for a while, to hyped for that, we decide to hit the excersize room for about 10 minutes, then the full sized steam saunna. Fully relaxed, we headed back to our room and hit the hay. Whoops, and I forgot to mention the hidden party room behind the bookcase. A very large pillared and tiled room of long tables, covered with red and white check table cloths. On the east end of the room were the gates to the wine cellar. We were told that large groups often choose to take their meals in the big room, giving them selves more freedom to move and party.
The CGT Guest Inn comes highly recommended! For me even more so in the off season, or, if plans work out, filled up with a group of our friends and family. (In which case, the “Chef catered wine dinners, are included in the price!!)
All in all, I would like to have pushed the trip back a day, due to the flu residue, but, we had a great time, and unforgetable memories were made.
The experience of the Old Mission, Leelanau Pennisula, wine tours, is a changing thing. Everything is expanding, and some the the older Vinter’s are getting old. The old guy’s do it best in my opinion, and I’ll really miss them if they get called before I do. We’ve seen the area get fancier and more expensive as big money people start to flock in, but the trip is still well worth the charge card hit.
Here’s a big SALUTE! to Bernie, Warren, the O’Keefe’s, Bernd, Larry, Spencer, Shawn, Dan, Charles, and all the rest of the “winer’s” of North Western Michigan. SALUTE! SLAINTE! GSUNDHEIT! KEMPAI!
NOTE: Our new favorite “cherry” wine just may be, “Conservancy” from Cherry Republic in Glenn Arbor. (It, was gift) All told, I now have to find room to store nearly 5 cases of liquid smiley faces. 
We’ll, we got over the flu just in time to get off on our “Wine Getway”. The first day of wine tasting was a little forced, we were over the flu, but, hadn’t really recovered our appetites or tastes for wine. We got a good nights sleep in the Chateau Grand Traverse Guest House. (had the whole place to ourselves, since it’s the off season). Then got off to an early start on Thursday morning.
We had a great time, taking it rather easy and spending time chatting with the wine attendants. We started off with Warren Raftshol, at his Vineyard. He was a bit short of varieties, but we picked up some “AnyPort”, and had a good chat. The we moved north a little bit to the new tasting room for Leelanau Cellars, on the shores of Omena Bay. There we purchased a bunch of wines and learned that they have a new (lady) wine maker. Nichole Birdsall, has replaced Shawn Walters, who has moved on to a new (yet to open) vineyard. We had a good long visit with Jann P., that day’s server, and really enjoyed the view from the new tasting room. We were pretty much the only visitors, in the tasting rooms at the times we were at them.
Our further stops were at Longview Vineyards, (low on inventory, but starting new batches soon) and Bel Lago. As always, we enjoyed the view, atmosphere, and the wine at Bel Lago. Notable, is the new bottle of ‘06 Late Harvest Pino Grigio that now sit’s in my wine fridge. (about as close to an ice wine as you can get, without actually being picked frozen)
The highlight of our day, and actually the entire trip was our last stop. While at Bel Lago, the server, suggested we check out Cherry Republic, he said the wines were good but the food was great! I told him that it sounded good, but we had one more must do stop, in the other direction, on the other side of Lake Leelanau, Boskydel Vineyard. (vineyard of the father of winemaking in northern Michigan, Bernie Rink) He told us that he had heard “through the grapevine” that Bernie’s wife had recently died. That set us back a bit, and my wife thought maybe we shouldn’t stop there, but I thought that if he was open, and he was there, he wouldn’t mind visitors, if he was open and wasn’t there, we surely wouldn’t offend him by buying wine.
As it turned our, Mr. Rink was open, and he was attending the bar. It was true that Mrs. Rink passed away back in October, (God Rest Her Soul). Bernie looked much the same as the last time we stopped in, maybe a little tired, but still Bernie. We pulled in about 3:30pm and stood there chatting with him and tasting his wines until closing at 5pm.
I like to think we cheered him up a bit, (makes me feel good to think that, but I have no proof). We talked about families, hunting, winemaking, and the work ethic’s of some of todays youngin’s. It was a very nice visit, and I loaded up on Boskydel wines, mostly reds this time. The Proprieter’s Reserve 2005, “de Chaunac”, comes highly recommended!! (Bernie say’s ” this is the first set of Proprieter’s Reserve stickers he’s placed, in Ten Years”!)
Our sympathies go out to the Rink family and we hope that Bernie sticks around a bit, to tend that tasting bar and brew up those great table wines.
Before we drove back to Old Mission Pennisula and our room, we stopped at the Tuscan Bistro on the north end of Traverse City, for dinner. Again, highly recommended. Excellent food, and not outrageously expensive.
Again, Thank You and Merry Christmas Mr. Rink, for your hospitality. I’ll try to do my next post about the first day of our “Wine Getaway”.
P.S. Check out Mr. Grey’s posts for a new annoucement!!!!!!!!!!!
>>GB
From the way I’ve been feeling for the last couple of days,
I’d guess that FLU SEASON is upon us. Further posts will be delayed until I can be sure I’m not going to Barf on my keyboard.
“The Custer Wolf” is a “biography of an American Renegade” by Roger Caras.
“In a way, when thinking and writing of the Custer Wolf, it didn’t always seem such a bad thing, this sentimentality. Perhaps I might yet be forgiven for it. And if I’m not to be forgiven, I will not care. Somehow, across the years since the blood dried and the hurt ceased to matter, I feel as if I have some slight understanding with this strange, tormented animal. “One has to be sentimental about a thing like that. At least I do”"
Mr. Caras seems to have an excellent understanding of the early 1900’s western wolf. “A wolf, it has been said, can hear the clouds passing overhead”.
“”This is a drama older than the conscience of man by a billion years and no one can profitably question it,” says Mr. Caras as he dipicts the pageant in all it fascination, beauty, and brutality.”"
I have just finish reading the book, for the second time. The first time was over twenty years ago. I was greatly affected by it then, and again this time. I was left in a thoughtful and pensive mood. It is a very well written little book of 175 pages. I first found it at a school library book sale. One in which they were selling off old books to obtain money to buy new books.
The school in question, made (in my opinion) two serious mistakes with this book. #1 It was in the elementary library, I think the book is far to intense for young minds to appreciate fully. The High school library would have been a much better location. (In the college prep section, maybe). #2 Selling the book off, was a mistake. The buck or two I paid for it will would never replace it with a better quality book.
Over the years, I somehow lost my first copy, with the library sticker still in it. But a couple of years ago, I got the bug to read it again and found it on Amazon Books, from a private vender. It was originally printed in 1966, has been out of print for quite a few years, so I suppose I was lucky to find it again.
The Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is,
No. 65-21359
Very interest reading for anyone with an affinity or even a hate, for the American Wolf. It follows the compact white wolf, from the time he was nothing but an instinct in his parents being, til his final death at the hand of a wolf hunter, many years, many wolf hunters, and many animal deaths later. The “Custer” was not an average wolf, as wolf’s go, he must have had severe mental problems. He was not one to judge all wolves by. But, his story is facinating, even though Mr. Caras admits early on, that a human mind, can not possibly understand that of the wolf.
<A+ Recommended Reading.>