What is the special berry Lake Effect Winery grows if not the Aronia? Alleyways was stocking their wines until nobody bought bottles and glasses and staff through up their hands and made sangria of the remaining cases, a special price, priced to move. I enjoyed at tasting at their Chinook Pier location, now closed and the space turned into a great unsalted surfing store, Wet Mitten. The tasting didn't demand a tasting fee, old school, and the offering had no free and paid level. I guess now that wine tasting has gone mainstream, the days of driving to out-of-the-way wine estate and having the winemaker pour for you and be insulted if you offered money has ended. One can always take a bottle into the vineyards for about two tasting fees, but be sure to bring a cork screw because it might be a discouraged activity. I once walked out of a tasting room in the Leelanau Peninsula. For me, the wine tasting is always about the conversation with the pour professional and those lined up for the pour. I paid the tasting fee but expressed my opinion on the Leelenau custom. They all seem to follow the Black Star Farms marketing consultants. Mission Peninsula had in place an agreement amongst member vineyards not to charge tasting fees, an agreement that is fraying. So the woman cuts me off midsentence, positions the tasting sheet closer to me, and demands to know my first pick. Three idle staffers are standing around, so it is not if she were in a rush. So I knew now the wine would taste bitter, so I turned on my heel and left.
She followed me, with four worn American dollars in her hand, requesting that I take it back. I'm trying to remember what I said. Let us imagine I said, "If all you care about are tasting fees, there you go." Let us imagine I said, "Use it to buy a Dale Carnegie course!" I completed my walk to my car. At the end of the sidewalk, she let my bills fall. And there they rested on that windless day as I drove off.
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