A New Direction for the Festival Offers Fun Events with Local Winemakers, Farmers, Chefs and Artists

Imagine pairing wine with chocolate. Or, discovering new music you’ve never heard of. Or indulging on fresh fare handcrafted by local farmers and chefs using local ingredients. Or, taking a tour with local winemakers tasting varietals handcrafted from different vintners. In its 8th year, the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival is tossing the rule book into the bay, quickly becoming known as the “non-festival.”

The event takes place Saturday, June 25, 2016 from 4:00 to 9:00 pm at the historic Village at Grand Traverse Commons. The event features 20 wineries, 30 artists. This year, the planning committee has revamped the event to offer attendees a closer connection
to the land.

Connect to Local Farmers and Chefs Delicious fare is being prepared for guests by connecting the farmers who grow our food and the restaurant chefs who love to cook with it. The food vendors and farmers include:

• Martha’s Leelanau Table — Meadowlark Farm
• Bistro Fou Fou — Sweeter Song Farm
• Spanglish and Birch Point Farm
• Oryana
• The Redheads
• Underground Cheesecake Company
• Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate
• The Cheese Lady
• Morsels

For this, the festival has been honored as a “Certified Local Food Event” by Taste the Local Difference (TLD), who is also leading this initiative for the event. “The Local Food Event Certification ensures local ingredient sourcing, sustainable food vending practices, zero-waste initiatives and more.” shares Tricia Phelps, Operations Director at TLD. “Guests can feel comfortable knowing that the organizers are making a sincere commitment to supporting the local community.”

These chefs and farmers will be partnering one-on-one to create delicious small plates using local ingredients grown on the farm. You can expect to see a selection of local value-added producers as well — cheese plates, hummus, chocolate — the list goes on.

Take a Wine and Cheese or Dessert Tasting Tours

The Cheese Lady Cheese and Wine Tasting Tour (includes 5 pairings)
Attendees have the opportunity to take a self-guided tasting tour at your own pace throughout the festival with 5 cheese and wine pairing stations.

Morsel’s Dessert and Wine Tasting Tour (includes 5 pairings)
Attendees have the opportunity to take a self-guided tasting tour at your own pace throughout the festival with 5 dessert and wine pairing stations.

Taste and Learn with Local Winemaker Experiences

The super-popular Wine Education Lounge is back by popular demand. The Wine Education Lounge consists of four sessions, which are limited to 60 tasters, which sell-out every year:

Sparkling Wine Production and Tasting
Larry Mawby, L. Mawby Vineyards

Sideways: a Local Tasting of Pinot Noirs
Charlie Edson, Bel Lago Vineyard and Lee Lutes, Black Star Farms

Great Wine is Grown in the Vineyard, Great Wine in Your Glass
Robert Brengman, Brengman Brothers at Crain Hill

Not-So-Common Wine Varietals: Bianca, Auxerrois, Gruner Veltliner,
Blaufränkisch

Charlie Edson, Bel Lago Vineyard; Matt Gregory, Chateau de Leelanau; Lee
Lutes, Black Star Farms; Kasey Wierzba, Shady Lane Cellars

Taste and Tour with Local Winemakers
Attendees have the opportunity to taste several wines throughout the festival along with one of the region’s winemakers. These tours are limited to about 20 people and take place every 15 minutes throughout the day.

Not Your Grandma’s Rosé: a Tasting of Local Rosés
Paul Hamelin, Verterra Winery

Range of Rieslings: From Sweet to Dry
Dan Matthies, Chateau Fontaine

Sideways: a Tasting of Local Pinot Noirs
Tom Knighton, Blustone Vineyards

Getting Naked with Chardonnay: Oak vs Unoaked Chardonnays
Jay Briggs, Forty-Five North Vineyard & Winery

Red, Red Wine: a Tasting of Local Red Wines
David Albert, Boathouse Vineyards

There is a small $10 fee or these experiences, which basically goes toward the wine tastings. These are on a first-come, first-serve basis, and several spots have already been reserved. Interested tasters should act quickly to guarantee participation.

Upscale Art Show

Like the wine and food, the art has a closer connection to artists. Fine artists are being showcased, positioned throughout the event. Attendees can cast their votes for the Peoples Choice Award and see which artists win the several other awards added this year:

Best of Show Award $1,000
2nd Place $750
3rd Place $500
Peoples Choice Award $500
Honorable Mention Awards $250

Additional Purchase Awards

In addition, Stephanie Schlatter’s Project 24 is being featured at the event. Project 24 is a year-long partnership with the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail where Schlatter painted vineyards at each of the peninsula’s 24 wineries. Her paintings, which will be available for purchase at the event, are being paired with a wine which was grown in the vineyards captured in her work.

Discover New Music

In addition, attendees can groove to live musical entertainment that includes The Roomsounds, Carsie Blanton, Phillip-Michael Scales (formerly Briar Rabbit) and Blake Elliott and the Robinson Affair. Or, they can relax and sip wine within a couple of onsite lounges and lots of shaded seating. Tickets are $55 in advance ($65 at the gate) and include 8 tasting tickets, food voucher and souvenir glass. Get tickets at traversecitywinefestival.com.

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The Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail and the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival are hosted by the Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association )LPVA), a member-driven, winery association founded in 1998. The Traverse City Wine & Art Festival started in 2009 to celebrate the wine, food and culture of northern Michigan.