45 North Vineyard & Winery

My wife and her friend had a great experience here. I was the DD and had a sampling of the Northport bourbony dessert wine. It was so good. My wife liked the Strawberry wine and had a glass of the 45 bubbly. They were very friendly and knowledgeable.

This place is a little off the beaten path and quite a bit up the Leelanau peninsula, but it’s worth the trip. Came in here on Saturday for the first time. Can’t recall ever trying their wine before, but my fiancée and I thought they had the best overall wines that we’ve tried at any place in the Grand Traverse area.
Generally, when you’re doing a wine tasting, you kind of have that, «This one’s good, this one sucks, good, sucks…» thing going on. At 45 North, it was probably the first place that I’ve been to where I actually liked all of the wines and ciders that we tried. I liked it so much that I joined their wine club. I’m not a wine club kind of guy, but I guess I am now.
The girl that helped us was super friendly and personable. The only thing I didn’t like was that I had to fill out a piece of paper with all of my CC info on it to sign up for the wine club. Generally do not like having that info lying around on something with any sort of permanence.

Amazing atmosphere and wine selection! Tom was an amazing wine educator! Get the north port wine! I don’t even like port wine and it was amazing !!

Came in on a snowy winter afternoon. The winery is a bit off the beaten path– tucked into the woods and surrounded by vines. From the looks of it, this must be a beautiful winery to visit in the warmer seasons (but it wasn’t too shabby in the heart of winter either!) We were the only two in the winery and looked around at the awesome selection of wine and gifts they had throughout the store. They had everything from t-​shirts to picture frames to oven mitts.
We sat down and tasted an eclectic mixture of wines and ciders (seating at the tasting bar was a major plus!). They had 3 ciders on tap (the Citra was impressively good). They also had a peach dessert wine that was spectacular. Tom kept the pours coming and carried on an awesome conversation with us throughout our afternoon. We felt so welcome! The building was beautiful, the wine and cider was good, and the staff was so friendly. It made for a really pleasant afternoon and we’ll certainly be keeping a look out for 45 ciders and wines back home. Extremely impressed. Couldn’t have had a better time!

Good wine wish I could have tasted more. They may have been understaffed or just not into service that day. We went in sat at the bar and did a tasting. the pours are tiny! We would get a pour and no explanation about the wine at all. We had a passport book for wine tasting in the area and were supposed to get 3 tastings each however only got 3 between both of us. Not sure if it was an off day or if they are always quick to move you along.

Wine was amazing! Highly recommend the peach crèmant. Decór and atmosphere was great!!! $ 3 for 5 wines… what more do you want?

Ok, I’ll admit. I tried the Peach Cremante and liked it… a lot. There, you have it. You can still be a dude, drink something peachy and enjoy it. But seriously, great service and great wines! Hard core manager — she had a broken hand and was still serving up glasses of wine with a smile. The barstools at one end are even horse saddles… or so I remember. If you’re heading up to the north part of the mitten (The lower or main part of Michigan, for those of you not from the midwest) stop by Traverse City for the Cherries and take a detour up the Lelanu peninsula and head up to the 45^th parallel for some of the best wines in the midwest!

After going to my boyfriends families cottage in the area for YEARS without not one stop at a winery — I broke my abstinence here. This was a great place to start as it is gorgeous– the building is impeccable, would be a great place to throw a party.
We tried 5 wines for 3 $ (plus an extra one or two that the women behind the bar insisted we sample). I went home with a bottle of their Chenin Blanc, Semi Dry Reisling, and Peach Crement (this is a must try!!! I am at my desk at work daydreaming about sipping on it).
The woman that helped us was very helpful and informative. She even recommended what other wineries in the area we needed to go to and what they specialized in. Will be back!

Good place to stop by. Loved the building and liked wine. Had a few, couple of them were very good. The thing about wine is its different for everyone. Give them a try.

As my Headline says, «Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery». How does that pertain to this review you might be asking yourself?! Well, if I had a winery I would want it to be just like Forty-​Five North Vineyards.
If you haven’t found yourself here before, the best way I can describe it is Rustic Chic. If you have found yourself here before, you are likely to agree with my Rustic Chic description. Its just plain olé’ pretty.
As for the wine, saddle up and grab yourself a glass of peach cremante. Its fabulous! Several of the other bottles are good as well, but the peach cremante is love!
A few other things:
* You can get married here! We were there on a wedding day and it was spectacular.
* Dogs! The owners and some of the bar staff bring in their pets for a more homey feel.
* That’s about as much as I can remember… so it must be good!

Absolutely my favorite winery in the peninsula. Def go to the bar and see Tom for your tasting. He will ensure that you have a good time!

Great atmosphere and wine. Highly suggest the Dry Riesling as well as the unwooded Chardonnay. But don’t leave without trying the peach cremant!
Don’t forget to say hello to the dogs.

I just wasn’t impressed. We’ve been to almost all of the wineries now on Leelenau and Old Mission. The tasting room is fine, but unimpressive, and the wine is an appropriate accompaniment. I wasn’t wowed but it wasn’t terrible. That being said we still bought a bottle of their uncorked Chardonnay which was pretty good. I think they charged $ 1 a pour which was also a little suspect. I’ve noticed I’m a bigger fan of the cheaper tastings not because of cost but because the wine tends to be better. If the wine is good they don’t need to nickel and dime you because you’re going to buy their wines.

Probably the best vineyard on the Lelanau Peninsula. We really like the cab franc there. It’s a little pricey but very tasty! The tasting room is nice too. The staff is very friendly and knowledgable. They give you some free tastings. Highly recommend!

Mom and I visited 45 North on our winery tour in August. We almost didn’t stop. I am SO glad that we did. It turned out to be my favorite wine of the trip and a great experience.
The tasting room has cool barn-​meets-​hipster feel that sets it apart from the boozy Cracker Barrel vibe of many places. There is a long bar and outside are tables where you can have a glass alfresco. I think I saw that they even have live music occasionally.
We were helped by two great staffers, both of whom were very knowledgeable, warm, and smiley, even when facing a bit of a rush. One of them even allowed us a sip of their new Pinot Noir, which was great but which wasn’t bottled at that point. I was glad to get their email today, saying the 2011 reds are ready to go. I placed an order immediately.
As for the other wines we tried. I really enjoyed their 2010 Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc. However, my favorite was their 45 Red, which as I recall, is a Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc blend. It was big and spicy with a hint of cherry.
The skilled wine-​making, great staff, and trendy setup at 45 North make it a must on an Up North tasting tour. Mom and I are enjoying the case we split. Me, so much so that I ordered another case today! Now, you’ll have to excuse me; I need to go wait for the UPS guy.

Three bottles of peach cremante for the *road? Don’t mind if we do.
They specialize in their sparkling fruit wines, so for your next brunch mix up a bottle with some fresh juice and you’ll be the life of the party.
Oh, and they have winery dogs wandering around. which I always love.
Peaches!
*and by «road» I mean, to take back to our home in Chicago, closed. No drunk driving… hire a driver or a shuttle. The cops out here hunt winery revelers like orange-​suited man track deer. You’ve been warned!

Well we’re past the wedding and giving an upgrade here!
We could not have been more pleased with our choice to serve Forty-​Five North at our wedding! All our guests raved about the selections and really enjoyed the pairings Channing helped pick out.

Michigan pinot noirs are not for me, it seems. By this winery, I had figured that out. Also, whites are IN, almost everybody was drinking glasses of white wine here… so I finally gave in.
The cool thing is that the first 3 tastings are complimentary. Time to try their pinot noir… (I still have hope) and some whites. Pinot noir, fail again. My favorite was the signature 45 White, which was a blend of whites. Tasty and not too sour. We ended up buying a bottle and splitting it while hanging out in the upstairs seating.
This place has charm. The interior is all wood and smells like the country. Also, they have games. We saw a few people playing bags in the front yard. Feels cozy.

This started off as a frustrating experience, but ended well. When we arrived, the four of us were able to squeeze in to a space at the end of the bar. We began to look over the laminated menu. A couple free tastes or pay for 5 and get a glass. (Really, I think at the end of this trip we had about 12 wine glasses that we didn’t really need). They also offered a cheese flight with 4 wines and a truffle pairing with 4 wines. We decided a couple free tastings and then take both the cheese and truffle flight.
Being busy, it took a bit to get service. We didn’t get a copy of the paper menu so that we could track our tastes and keep if we wanted to order from home.
We tried to order but were told they were out of truffles. **Sigh** We stuck with the cheese flight. We tried to tell him that we wanted 2 of them but he was gone, and when he came back he stayed at the other end of the bar. The servers were all over the place. It was frustrating. Finally the cheese came out (just the one serving…) and we started getting a couple more tastes, still with short and not particularly friendly answers. (Hmmm — I’m almost starting to question my own four star rating as I write this).
Finally…the winemaker came out and parked himself at our end of the bar and started pouring the tastes. Not only was he much more personable and more helpful, but he did start giving us extra tastes of various wines. He was fun and also recommended another winery that we should stop in at. We selected a bottle to take home. The cashier had gone to help with the tasting and I had to wait several minutes for her to come back.
Their wines were very tasty, I don’t think there was anything I didn’t like at all. Had the winemaker not come out, they probably would have only gotten three stars. I hope they’ll work on their service and have some more people on hand next time there is a holiday weekend. Just as an FYI — their prices are a little on the higher side compared to others. Not shockingly high — just $ 20 – 30. They are definitely worth visiting.

I’m not a huge fan of fruit wines, but Forty-​Five North makes this divine Peach Cremant wine that I really love. Unlike most fruit wines, the Peach Cremant is light and refreshing, and not overly sweet.
Forty-​Five North also makes a fabulous pinot gris. According to the vintner, Mario Batali called it the best pinot gris he’d ever had. I dont know whether this is true or not, but if it is true then Mr. Batali has good taste.
Another big plus for Forty-​Five North is that they now offer their wines for sale online. Of course, they can’t ship to my home state of MA, but the very fact that they sell online gives me hope for my drinking future.
The tasting experience at Forty-​Five North is the biggest downside to this winery. They are in the process of constructing a new tasting room in a reconstructed barn (read about it on their website,
) and have temporary space in a warehouse-​type structure. It’s cold, and mostly metal and concrete. It also gets very crowded in there even during the off-​season. We usually find ourselves approaching one of the three pouring stations, then retreating to the center of the room to sip and taste without being crowded. I would look forward to a repeat visit when the new tasting room is done.