Leelanau Peninsula Vintner’s Association is bringing back some of its most popular Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail events this fall in a new format, starting with with Harvest Days, September 1-30, 2020. 

Harvest Days replaces the Harvest Stompede as a month-long VIP experience where ticketholders receive wine club benefits for one visit to at each participating winery throughout the month of September. Tickets are $35 at lpwines.com or at MyNorth Tickets. 

Leelanau Peninsula Vintner’s Association President Rick DeBlasio, who also serves as general manager of Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay, said the LPVA has been working on new ways to keep guests and ticket holders engaged with the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail while ensuring their safety and the safety of area winery staff.

“This will offer a really fresh way to enjoy the wine trail,” says DeBlasio. “It's as if there were a Wine Trail Wine Club, so to speak. Each LPVA winery you visit in September will extend member benefits to the ticketholder. This will create a unique experience at each winery because wine club benefits vary.”

Those benefits might be complimentary tastings or wine flights, private rooms, discounts of as much as 20 percent off of purchase and priority seating or reservations.

He adds that the late summer and fall seasons are not to be missed on the Leelanau Peninsula.

“Harvest activity is beginning at all the wineries and there is a real buzz in the air,” says DeBlasio. “This is a special time in the vineyards and a special time to be Up North.”

The Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Association represents 27 wineries the Leelanau Peninsula. The association created the Michigan’s first wine trail.

Photo by Beryl Striewski for Shady Lane Cellars