5 minutes or less from B&B to winery

You could make a whole vacation out of wine tasting along the many miles of Michigan wine trails, but if you need to focus — to find a Michigan B&B near a winery — this article is for you.

Here, we answer the question: “Where is a great B&B near a winery and/or tasting room?” And by “near,” we mean five minutes or less.

The focus is on vineyards offering tours and/or tasting rooms. We also include tasting rooms in locations other than where the wine is made if the wines served are sourced from a single winery.

Many bars, restaurants, and some groceries also feature extensive lists of Michigan wines. Ask your bed and breakfast innkeeper where to find the most interesting selection.

Click any B&B’s name for more information about that inn.

Grey Hare Inn Vineyard B&B, Traverse City

A scenic six miles north on Old Mission Peninsula is another quality-assured B&B surrounded by vineyards. The owners sell their harvest to nearby vintners, including Peninsula Cellars, which makes private-label wine for Grey Hare Inn.

Of the three wineries within five minutes or less, innkeeper Cindy Ruzak recommends them all, each for different reasons:

• Chateau Grand Traverse Winery, “a bigger operation, not as cozy an environment as some, but lots of wine choices”
• Bonobo Winery, which is set up like a restaurant, with an extensive menu, and
• Peninsula Cellars, a pure tasting room “offering excellent quality for the price,” Cindy said.

Continuing more or less counter-clockwise…

Traverse City

If you’re exploring the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail:

Take your pick of these wineries within a five-minute drive of Innisfaire, each listed with a snippet from recent reviews:

• Brengman Brothers: “One of the newer wineries on Leelanau Peninsula, but their wine tends to be on the mature side. They have some different/innovative aging methods (earthen cement) that produce some different wines despite familiar varietals.”
• Shady Lane Cellars: Mixed opinions of customer service, but noteworthy for proximity to bike trail connecting Suttons Bay and Traverse City.
• Willow Vineyard and Winery: “Best view of West Grand Traverse Bay.”
• Chateau de Leelanau: Generous pour. “Excellent selection of beverages from high-end wines to ciders and fizz drinks.”
• Ciccone Vineyard and Winery: Known for its dry reds and for having been founded by Madonna’s father Tony Ciccone.
• MAWBY Vineyards and Winery: Great place for sparkling wines.

Glen Arbor B&B and Cottages, Glen Arbor

For all things Michigan tart and sweet cherry, including several wines and sodas the kids will love, stroll down the street from this B&B to the headquarters and main tasting room of Cherry Republic.

Glen Arbor, located along a loop of the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail, is promoting its own Glen Arbor Village Wine Trail, the state’s tiniest wine trail. Start with Cherry Republic so as not to miss picking up some chocolate-covered dry cherries, tasty with any beverage.

In the tasting room at M-22 Glen Arbor, you not only can sample its private label wines, produced by Black Star Farms using local grapes and cherries, but you also can rent bikes, kayaks, canoes, and stand-up paddle boards in the same complex, located along the Crystal River.

At Glen Arbor Wines tasting room, sip private label wines (made by Good Harbor Vineyards 15 miles away) in a friendly setting that features live music, bocce ball, and a freezer with ice cream balls for the kids. They have fun, too. Their August 2019 introduction of Dune Dog Pinot Grigio was attended, they said, by “more Golden Retrievers than you’ve ever seen together in one place.”

Ludington B&Bs near a winery

Three quality-assured B&Bs in Ludington are all very close to Love Wines, a custom crush winery and tasting room in downtown. The owners’ website says they specialize in making “country-style, bold, fruit-forward” wines such as Razzelberry, Black Cherry Frontenac, and Strawberry Peach Lemonade.

If you’re visiting this Lake Michigan harbor town, you’re smart to choose any of these B&Bs, in alphabetical order: Candlelite Inn B&B, Lamplighter B&B of Ludington, or Ludington House B&B.

Looking Glass Beachfront Inn, Grand Haven

Innkeeper Brian King says he personally is “more of a beer guy,” but for wine lovers who stay at his five-room inn overlooking a sand beach and Lake Michigan, he recommends these two tasting rooms, both outposts of Southwest Michigan wineries:

• 12 Corners Vineyards (Benton Harbor), right downtown next to Oddside Ales taproom and also close to downtown shops and restaurants. Located in the old Story & Clark piano factory building, it offers lots of award-winning wines to try. This winery is known for its whites.
• Lemon Creek Winery (Berrien Springs), located right on US-31, making it a great spot on your trip in or out of town. Lemon Creek is in a stand-alone building built as a tasting room. Guests of Looking Glass Beachfront Inn have consistently reported that they enjoy the staff and wines there.

Holland B&Bs near tasting rooms

Holland lies just beyond the northern end of the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail, but it has two tasting rooms, one for Cherry Republic, and the other for Warner Vineyards.

Dutch Colonial Inn is within four minutes of both tasting rooms. The Inn at Old Orchard Road is a couple of minutes farther.

Douglas-Saugatuck B&Bs near a tasting room

The very popular Fenn Valley Vineyards and Winery is only a 14-drive from four outstanding B&Bs in the twin Lake Michigan towns of Saugatuck and Douglas, but for those who prefer to walk or ride a bike from one of inns, the Saugatuck Fenn Valley Tasting Room offers a complete tasting experience.

For your lodging, choose from Hotel Saugatuck or Judson Heath Colonial Inn in trendy Saugatuck. Across the bridge in charming Douglas, Rosemont Inn is just across the street from a Lake Michigan beach.

Kingsley House B&B Inn, Fennville

Fenn Valley Vineyards “does a fabulous job on its wine tour,” says Kingsley House innkeeper Chuck Pappalardo. “You’re taken by tractor-drawn wagon from one vineyard to another, each growing a different varietal. You taste wine made from that varietal right in the field.”

According to Chuck, more than half of Fenn Valley’s production is sold to other winemakers when they need to round out their offerings. Chuck said, “We’ve heard of selling grapes, we’ve heard of selling juice, but you don’t very often hear of a winemaker buying another winery’s wine and re-labeling it. It’s quite a compliment to the quality of Fenn Valley’s wine.”

Kingsley House gives vouchers to guests for free wine tasting and discounts on purchases.

Chuck and his wife Sally often pour themselves Fenn Valley’s Cabernet or Meritage.

One of Chuck’s favorite nearby wineries is Wyncroft Marland Wine, open only by appointment, which Chuck will set up for guests. “Wyncroft is off the beaten track and has fewer offerings, but excellent,” Chuck said, adding that the pinot noir is first-rate.

Vintage Inn at Veritas Estate,  South Haven

Warner Winery, 12 Corners Vineyards, and Gravity Winery all have tasting rooms just a short distance from Vintage Inn at Veritas Estate.

Goldberry Woods, Union Pier

With eight guest rooms, a micro-farm, and a river running through its 30 acres, Goldberry Woods is so much more than a B&B.

If you wish to leave the property for wine tasting, the two closest places are tasting rooms. One is an outpost of Round Barn Winery, Distillery, and Brewery in Baroda. The other is one of numerous St. Julian Winery Tasting Rooms around the state.

Hopping on I-94 and heading east…

Kalamazoo House B&B, Kalamazoo

Four minutes from the inn, Tempo Vino Winery is not only an outstanding place for tastings, said an innkeeper at Kalamazoo House, but also for learning how to make wine.

Tempo Vino produces custom Kalamazoo House keepsake wine and baskets, as featured on the inn’s website.

Head west from the west side of Kalamazoo, and you’ll be on the Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail.

Take it slow. Have fun. Don’t overdo. Stay at some fine bed and breakfasts along your way. B&B innkeepers know all the best places to go.

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