My mom, sister, and I have started a yearly Girls' Weekend tradition where the three of us spend a weekend doing something fun. This year we headed to Door County for some wine tastings, lighthouses, and parks.
We made an early start and arrived at our first winery, von Stiehl by about 11:00 a.m. A favorite of my mom and sister was the 2012 Sangiovese Grosso which they were almost out of.
We had lunch at Caffe Tlazo in Algoma near the winery and had a great meal.
We continued on to Red Oak Vineyard south of Sturgeon Bay. They have a really good Chardonnay that even my sister liked which was on sale for $7 a bottle! I also picked up a Tempranillo here, a variety I don't find often, especially not from a midwest winery.
The next stop was Door 44, one we were all looking forward to. Last year for Girls' Weekend we were in the Green Bay area and so visited their sister winery Parallel 44 and fell in love with their sparkling wine called the Bubbler. This time I tasted the M, a dry red wine that was good enough to buy two bottles of.
Before supper we checked out Door Peninsula Winery. I found a couple of grape and fruit combination wines including a Blackberry Merlot and Chaos which is a mix of plum, cherry, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
In the same building as the Door Peninsula Winery is Door County Distillery where the highlight was their Apple Brandy.
We had dinner at the Northern Grill & Pizza and then headed to the hotel for some time in the hot tub and then to sample a few wines. We stayed at Ephraim Shores Resort which is a great hotel with large, clean rooms with a balcony or patio and a pool and hot tup.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Door County Girls' Weekend - Saturday, October 22, 2016
We started our morning with a short walk around Ephraim and the old fire station was open with some old fire trucks.
Here are some photos of the hotel and Ephraim:
We visited Cana Island and the lighthouse which was really neat and worth the visit. The water was low enough that we could walk to the island.
The light is now automated and actually has 4 bulbs so that when one burns out a new one automatically replaces it. The views from the tower were amazing.
One of the highlights of the trip was Cave Point County Park where the cliffs are blue-green water is breathtaking. I think the path we hiked went into Whitefish Dunes State Park next door.
We had a tasty lunch at Mike's Port Pub & Grill in Jacksonport before heading on to our first winery. Unfortunately, on the way to the winery, two deer ran out on to the tree lined road, one of them hitting the front passenger side of the car. No one was hurt and the car was drivable so we were able to continue on with our day.
We stopped at Simon Creek Vineyard and Winery but they were really busy and we had a tight time table if we were going to make a 3:00 p.m. tour at another winery so we moved on without tasting.
Our first wine tasting of the day was at Harbor Ridge Winery. I found a grape and cherry blend called Crimes Against Vines that was really good.
The next stop was Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery where we took a tour of the orchards, vineyard, and winery. They grow many varieties of cherries, apples, and grapes. The cherries from one cherry tree can produce 30 bottles of wine or 28 cherry pies! They have pick your own cherries for three weeks and then they go in with tree shakers. The tree shaker is on wheels and it drives up to the tree, puts a skirt around the tree to catch the cherries, shakes the tree and then a conveyer belt dumps the cherries into a holding bin. It is pretty cool to watch.
Lautenbach's Autumn Harvest (honey crisp apples and cranberries) was a favorite of mine. I also really liked the Cherry Chardonnay and my sister loved the Cherry Reisling and the Cherry Sparkler, a sparkling wine.
Our last liquor stop of the day was Island Orchard Cider where we sampled various gluten free hard ciders. My favorite was the Apple Lavender Cider.
My mom didn't think our trip would be complete without driving the winding road, a portion of Highway 42 just south of the the Washington Island Ferry. I am now reading it is called the Jens Jenson's Winding Road. You can read more about it here.
We tried to eat at the Wild Tomato is Sister Bay but the towns were swarming with people and there was a 1.5 -1.75 hour wait so we went back to the hotel and ate at Wilson's Restaurant & Ice Cream figuring it would be a little less busy as it is not a typical supper place. It was still quite busy but we were able to get in right away and the salad I had was probably the best salad I had all weekend.
The rest of the evening was spent sampling our newly purchased wines at the hotel.
Here are some photos of the hotel and Ephraim:
We visited Cana Island and the lighthouse which was really neat and worth the visit. The water was low enough that we could walk to the island.
The light is now automated and actually has 4 bulbs so that when one burns out a new one automatically replaces it. The views from the tower were amazing.
One of the highlights of the trip was Cave Point County Park where the cliffs are blue-green water is breathtaking. I think the path we hiked went into Whitefish Dunes State Park next door.
We had a tasty lunch at Mike's Port Pub & Grill in Jacksonport before heading on to our first winery. Unfortunately, on the way to the winery, two deer ran out on to the tree lined road, one of them hitting the front passenger side of the car. No one was hurt and the car was drivable so we were able to continue on with our day.
We stopped at Simon Creek Vineyard and Winery but they were really busy and we had a tight time table if we were going to make a 3:00 p.m. tour at another winery so we moved on without tasting.
Our first wine tasting of the day was at Harbor Ridge Winery. I found a grape and cherry blend called Crimes Against Vines that was really good.
The next stop was Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery where we took a tour of the orchards, vineyard, and winery. They grow many varieties of cherries, apples, and grapes. The cherries from one cherry tree can produce 30 bottles of wine or 28 cherry pies! They have pick your own cherries for three weeks and then they go in with tree shakers. The tree shaker is on wheels and it drives up to the tree, puts a skirt around the tree to catch the cherries, shakes the tree and then a conveyer belt dumps the cherries into a holding bin. It is pretty cool to watch.
Lautenbach's Autumn Harvest (honey crisp apples and cranberries) was a favorite of mine. I also really liked the Cherry Chardonnay and my sister loved the Cherry Reisling and the Cherry Sparkler, a sparkling wine.
Our last liquor stop of the day was Island Orchard Cider where we sampled various gluten free hard ciders. My favorite was the Apple Lavender Cider.
My mom didn't think our trip would be complete without driving the winding road, a portion of Highway 42 just south of the the Washington Island Ferry. I am now reading it is called the Jens Jenson's Winding Road. You can read more about it here.
We tried to eat at the Wild Tomato is Sister Bay but the towns were swarming with people and there was a 1.5 -1.75 hour wait so we went back to the hotel and ate at Wilson's Restaurant & Ice Cream figuring it would be a little less busy as it is not a typical supper place. It was still quite busy but we were able to get in right away and the salad I had was probably the best salad I had all weekend.
The rest of the evening was spent sampling our newly purchased wines at the hotel.
Door County Girls' Weekend - Sunday, October 23, 2016
Our weekend has come to a close but before heading home, we wanted to make one more stop: Peninsula State Park. We parked at the Nicolet Beach Parking lot, walked along the beach, through the South Nicolet Bay campground, and a portion of the Minnehaha Trail which followed the shoreline. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and except for a lot of roots and rocks in the trail towards the end, it was a nice trail.
Then we went to the lighthouse which closed for the season last Friday so we were not able to tour it but we did enjoying walking the grounds.
Then we went to the lighthouse which closed for the season last Friday so we were not able to tour it but we did enjoying walking the grounds.
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