The Best Wineries Near Traverse City, Michigan

The Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas that frame Grand Traverse Bay produce some of the best cool-climate wines in North America. The combination of lake effect, glacially deposited soils, and a growing season shaped by the bay creates conditions that work especially well for Riesling, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris. These are the wineries that represent what this region can do.

Chateau Grand Traverse

The Olds family has been making wine on Old Mission Peninsula since 1974, making Chateau Grand Traverse one of the pioneers of Michigan wine. Their Rieslings — from dry to late harvest — are consistently among the best produced in the state. The tasting room overlooks the bay and is one of the more scenic spots in Northern Michigan regardless of how you feel about wine.

Black Star Farms

Black Star Farms operates on both peninsulas and has built one of the most complete agritourism experiences in Michigan — winery, distillery, creamery, inn, and working farm on a single property on the Leelanau Peninsula. The scope of what they do at a high level of quality is remarkable. Their Arcturos wines have won consistent national recognition.

Boskydel Vineyard

The oldest winery on the Leelanau Peninsula, established in 1976. Bernard Rink planted the first French hybrid varietals at a time when Michigan wine was not a recognized category. The operation remains small and the wines reflect that — they are not trying to be anyone else. Worth visiting for the history as much as the wine.

Shady Lane Cellars

Set in a renovated chicken coop and farmstead buildings on the Leelanau Peninsula, Shady Lane has built a reputation for Bordeaux-style reds and a Pinot Noir that regularly outperforms wines from much more established regions. Their winemaker comes from a background in serious European wine production and it shows in the restraint and structure of the wines.