chateau grand traverse winery

This is a very nice spot to visit and buy some excellent white wines. The whites are particularly good, very much like wines grown along the Rhine. Forget the reds. No matter how much they tell you the reds are good, be sure to try before you buy.

Enjoyed the tastings and the friendly courteous staff. Sampled 6 wines along with detailed descriptions from the server.

We always enjoy the wines from Chateau Grand Traverse. So, when we unexpectedly found ourselves in the Traverse City area last weekend, we decided to take a fast drive over to their tasting room on the Old Mission Peninsula. The visit was worthwhile, but the experience was somewhat diminished by the waiting line (see below). However, we were glad to be able to sample some of their newer varieties, and purchase a few bottles to enjoy with our weekend dining.The Chateau Grand Traverse tasting room offers two alternatives: a “Signature” tasting of six regular varieties of wine for $3, or a “Reserve” tasting of six varieties of any combination of regular and / or reserve wines for $5. In both cases, you can credit the full amount of your tasting fee to the purchase of wines (up to one tasting fee per bottle). We highly recommend the Reserve tasting, since some of their more interesting products are “Reserve” wines, with a relatively small retail price difference.It probably would not surprise anyone who has sampled Michigan wines that the best experience is found in Chateau Grand Traverse’s white wines. There are some delicious dry Rieslings which are very worthwhile. That said, we were surprised to find a relatively good Gamay Noir Reserve, which they accurately described as having aromas of black pepper and tart cherry. The retail prices for the wines at Chateau Grand Traverse are very reasonable. They also have some cute gift shop items. The tasting center is very attractive, and the staff is very eager to please, After gauging our wine preferences, our host even recommended some changes to our planned list of wines to-be-tasted, and his recommendations were appreciated. Since it was nearly closing time on a cold November Saturday, we were surprised to find ourselves with a 20 minute wait – behind a party bus of ladies who were quite clearly well into their wine tasting excursion. At first we thought that it had just been our bad luck, but perhaps this is a regular experience at Chateau Grand Traverse, given the well-defined waiting line area. It might make sense for them to take some of that waiting line floor space and consider expanding their tasting room capacity, or adding an additional area to handle groups.

This is my favorite wine so I was pleased to take the tour and do a tasting. The tour is free and the tasting fee comes off of your wine purchase. Beautiful location and definitely worth it.

...with a cranky man behind the tasting counter. He was not awful but did not enhance the experience. We kind of felt like we were bothering him. In spite of this, it is worth a visit because the tasting room is just beautiful and very elegant. The wine was also good and we did buy one bottle. This may not sound like much but consider that on the wine trail, we visited nearly 20 wineries over a few days, so we had to be somewhat selective in our purchases. (And maybe he is just not a morning person--they had just opened!)

Besides the great wine, the views are to die for!! I don't like red wines, but they had one, "Nice Red" that was very good. Don't forget to stop here.

This place has been here for years and knows what they're doing in the wine business. Good selection of Michigan wines and a small charge for tasting.

I am not a wine drinker but I am willing to try. I am glad wineries have tasting sheets with all the descriptions about the different wines or I wouldn't know what to do. The building and showroom are beautiful. The women who helped us were so nice. We bought 2 wines and a CGT sweatshirt, beautiful color, good fit on my BF - a memento from our favorite winery on the Peninsula so far.

We made reservations for our party of 12 but arrived a bit early so we took the winery tour. It was really interesting and the tour guide was great! We could not visit the barrel room so we were a little bummed. When we got back the hostess informed us that our "reservation" just let them know that we would be there but we would have to wait in line like everyone else. They made no mention of this when we called to make the reservation, apparently it is called a private tasting at this winery. We felt like this was a little misleading and we were upset the winery didn't clarify when we called.

Just made a special trip back to this winery to get some of our favorite wines. When it comes to wine tasting, this place does it right. They have 2 tiers $3 and $5 depending on the types of wines you like, and you get a coupon for either $3 or $5 to use when you buy some wine. The staff is knowledgable, not pushy and truly want you to learn about their wines. Not only are the wines special, the location is also special. We love the overlook views of the entire landscape, including the vines and water in the distance.

My friend and I came on a busy Saturday afternoon. We took advantage of their complimentary tour. What a great thing to do. It took about 25 minutes and gave us lots of interesting information about not only the winery itself but also about the area. We also did some tasting after our tour. It is a beautiful winery with some tasty wine as well :)

This was the 4th winery we visited on our venture. There was a line to wait in, unlike other wineries we visited. Prices were higher compared to getting free wine glasses with our tastings at other wineries.

Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Great wines. They offered a large variety for tasting. The price for the tasting was very reasonable. We enjoyed the short tour (free). Great setting and plenty of seating outside if you want to sit and enjoy a glass of wine..

This vineyard has a beautiful view and grounds. A nice gift shop and a great selection of wines to sample and purchase. Restrooms are available. You can purchase a glass of wine and sit outside on their lovely patio. Prices of wines range from $6.00 to $40.00 or more. Tastings are not reasonably priced. There is no food for purchase. Not a place for children or pets.

While there was about a 15 min wait for the line on a Saturday afternoon, I found it well organized and service very good. The $3 wine tasting was one of the cheaper wineries for 6 samples. For the reserved selections, it is $5. You can use the $3 towards the purchase. The facility was clean, well lite, new, very nice. I believe there are tours by the hour though we did not go.