Our camping vacation was in Traverse City, Mich., which in my opinion is the prettiest place on Earth. The area is known for it’s cherries, clear waters, resorts and wineries. While we were up there, I took a winery tour with my brother and his wife and another couple. (Don’t worry, my husband and children were living it up at an air show.) We got a taste of each winery through their samples and atmosphere. Over the next few days, I’m going to share those with you.
Talk about feeling like the underdressed wedding crashers! Oh, we totally were. We pulled into the Brys Estate just as a wedding party was having their photos done outside. They had also invited their guests to participate in a tasting. I can’t blame them, the venue was gorgeous and it certainly gave the guests something to do while the bride and groom were capturing the memories of their day with the photographer. Despite their party, the winery was still open for tasting, but they were using a different type of set up.
Wedding guests were provided with a complimentary tasting, but the rest of us paid $5 for a wine glass (etched with Brys Estate–souvenir I guess) and got in for a tour of the winery and get some tastes.
Behind the doors of the winery were several different tasting stations. We were lined up and moved through the process at a decent pace. Each station offered two wines. It seemed like they had lots and lots of sweet wines, but that’s okay. I like sweet wines. They also offered samples of their iced wines at the tasting bar for an extra fee. We had our samples, browsed their merchandise and then headed out.
I did not buy a wine here. It’s not that they weren’t good, they were. I just sort of lost track of what I liked. I didn’t have a sheet to guide me like I did at the other wineries. I had already purchased several bottles and I didn’t want to buy something similar to what I already had.
This was probably our quickest stop. It was crowded and busy. Great for them, but not great for those of us who just wanted to sort of laze through our tasting and pick out our favorites. We might have to give this one another try on another trip.
Want more information on Brys Estate? Check out the Brys Estate website, connect with them on Facebook or follow @BrysEstate on Twitter.