Hello, Sunshine 😎
This summer I have made it a priority to spend as much time as I can on Lake Erie. The water is where I find my center and am the most at peace. One of my favorite things to do is go to the Lake Erie Islands. My favorite is Kelley's Island (visit their site here). It has such beautiful scenery and has a lot of beaches, glacier grooves, trails, etc...to be explored all over the island. I also love wine tasting and don't do it nearly as much as I would like to, so on this last Kelley's trip I decided to hit up the two wineries on the island: Crooked Tree Vineyard and Kelley's Island Wine Co.
Crooked Tree Vineyard is tucked back from the main road along the island. When you get off the ferry, turn right instead of left (that heads downtown) and the winery is about a mile down the road. They have very short hours so check ahead of time to make sure you don't miss it. We were speaking to a local resident while we were searching for the winery who made a comment about it being known for it's very short window of time. Once we arrived, I immediately loved the intimate and cozy setting. It gave me a little bit of Napa Valley vibes. You can sit outside and look over the vineyards, or go inside of the converted garage to sit at high tables. We got a couple of wine flights and they brought us free oyster crackers and an assortment of Dove chocolates for free. I know this sounds like it isn't a big deal, but what other winery gives you free crackers and chocolate to go with your tasting? It was a very sweet gesture and stood out to me. The staff was super nice and spoke with us about our favorite wines before making suggestions and checked on us often. I loved the tasting display boards. I haven't been to a winery that had specific boards for flights and the magnets with the wine names were a brilliant touch. For a list of their wines and hours, check out their website.
In our flights, we tried the Four Sisters Red, Windchime Chardonnay, and the Island Blossom. I like a good balance of sweet and dry, but not dessert wine sweet. I found these wines to be a bit more on the dry side than I prefer. The best of the three was the Chardonnay. I highly debated on buying a bottle, but decided not to because we had to walk around the island. (It was a Saturday and all the golf carts and bikes were rented out.) I regret it, but I will for sure be back to buy it before the summer is over.
The Kelley's Island Wine Co. has its own charm as well. They have a restaurant with indoor seating as well as outside. I absolutely love the outside. It's like a garden party meets patio. I will say there were some pros and cons of the wine flight. Visually, a lot was left to be desired. It was served on a tray with plastic shot glasses of each wine. I understand why; "No glass by the pool," kind of thing. However, the shot glasses allowed you to try more wines than with a traditional wine flight. I tried all of their semi-sweet wines and loved every one of them. I couldn't decide on a favorite, but my top 2 were the Sunset Pink and the Long Sweet Red. I wanted to buy a couple of bottles, but again, we were walking.
Of course we had to eat with all this wine. I ordered the potsticker appetizer and the poke bowl. The potstickers tasted like they were made fresh in-house and not from a freezer. They came with a wasabi soy sauce which was the first thing that grabbed me. Where has that been all my life? I would definitely order those again. Poke bowls have been a recent thing in my life. I have slowly been re-introducing fish after salmon repeatedly made me sick as a child and I swore off all seafood. About a year ago my family had me try Ahi Tuna at a restaurant and I immediately fell in love. This bowl was a salad and not a sushi bowl so there was no rice. The spicy mayo was VERY spicy and I loved that. The ratio of lettuce to tuna was lacking. I ran out of tuna long before I was finished. There was a mango pineapple salsa that was very subtle and I wish there were more. There was so much soy sauce that made the salad so salty that it needed more of that sweet salsa. For those reasons, I wouldn't get it again. However, there menu has plenty to try so I will be back to try other things. You can view their restaurant menu, wines, and hours on their website.
Both wineries have their own charm and unique wines. I won't hesitate to go to both places again based on their service, atmosphere, and unique wines. I would easily put them on my Kelley's Island itinerary every time I go. I would love to stay on the island sometime for a few days because I'm always so sad to leave. It truly does feel like you're on island time and not in Ohio. Tip: if you're going on the weekend, call ahead to reserve golf carts or bikes or get there as early as you possibly can. We've gone on Saturdays around 11am and everything was reserved and we had to walk. Great for exploring the island, but not so great to walk miles on those hot days.
Have you been to Kelley's Island? Let me know what your favorite things to do in the comments below!
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