There may have been a time when visiting a tasting room at a Michigan winery could have been somewhat predictable as far as what the process was like. Guests likely would wait their turn and then belly up to the bar for a free sampling of wines before deciding whether to buy some to take home.
Today? Not so predictable. “Some tasting rooms do their tastings at a counter, some only serve preset flights, some allow guests to pick the wines in their flights, some have servers who bring wines to your table, some do it where you order the flight at the bar and pick it up on the other end to take to a table,” says Emily Dockery, executive director of the Michigan Wine Collaborative, a nonprofit that supports the industry. “It is pretty dependent on preference, of course, but also staffing availability or limitations, space availability or limitations, glassware availability or limitations. … There are so many ways folks choose to do things.”
Most wineries charge for tastings these days. “Years and years ago, a tasting was free when you bought bottles, but that has changed pretty much industrywide,” says Mary Ann Mahaney, co-owner at Boyne Valley Vineyards between Petoskey and Boyne Falls. “We do it for the cost of farming. There’s a lot of work that goes into getting from planting that vine to getting it to produce grapes to making it into wine. That’s one of the main reasons it changed.”
Beyond understanding they are likely going to pay a fee for tastings, guests may want to familiarize themselves with what to expect before visiting each winery. Dune Bird Winery near Leland gives customers the opportunity to customize flights. “We explain the tasting menu, in the order [wines are] listed, some flavor notes, and let them pick the wines that they like,” says Bekah Bell, the wine club manager. “It’s a misconception that the goal is just to sell wine and push people out. We really are in the business of educating people about wine.”
At St. Julian Winery in Paw Paw, visitors can enjoy traditional tastings for which they select six wines or spirits and sample them one at a time with a wine consultant, says Cassandra Poné, the wine club director. Other options include flights of six wines or spirits that guests can sample as they like, on their own. Preselected flights — such as dry, sweet, themed, or specialty (wines paired with chocolate or cheese, for example) — are another option. Wine by the glass is also available.
Table service is the format at Petoskey Farms, where patrons can choose three or five 2.5-ounce pours or enjoy wine by the glass. “We give them our menu and they can choose anything they’d like to try,” says Tasting Room Manager Angie Horning. “We changed to doing it this way during COVID, and it just worked really well, so we kept doing it.”
Lines used to be out the door at Petoskey Farms’ small tasting room, she explains. Now, it’s more relaxed as visitors can grab a table outside in the summer, or in the tasting room or on the heated, covered deck in the winter.
Boyne Valley Vineyards pours four 2-ounce samples, one at a time. “It’s more one-on-one instead of sending them to a table to taste the wine so we can explain the wines,” Mahaney says. “Also, with that first pour, they just have to tell us where they want to start, or we point them in the right direction with asking a few questions about what they like to drink.”
Sandhill Crane Vineyards on the outskirts of Jackson offers flights, glasses, and bottles of wine as well as hard cider and beer. Staff members set up flights, and then guests can go sit where they like, says owner and winemaker Holly Peterson.
Melissa Middaugh, who co-owns Northern Sun Winery in Bark River west of Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula, says the approach there is informal. Team members offer three 2-ounce tastings, describing the wines and the grapes from which they were made. Beyond the small tasting room, there’s a covered deck by the barn along with greenhouses that offer shelter during the winter.
Dozens of other wineries across Michigan offer their own approaches to wine tasting, so visitors can look forward to a unique experience wherever they go.
“Don’t expect a one-size-fits-all mentality at all wineries,” Bell says. “There’s a reason each winery does their tasting room procedure. Just be flexible.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Michigan Wine Country magazine.
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