Grab Your Best Hat and Head to Leelanau Peninsula for Spring Sip & Savor

The Sip o’ de Mayo Hat Contest Adds Great Fun to the Annual Wine Touring Event
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The newest vintages are in the bottles, and a menu of gourmet fare has been carefully selected as the vintners of Leelanau Peninsula get ready for Spring Sip & Savor. The annual wine touring event is a getaway tradition for many — and typically sells out every year. Hosted the first weekend in May, the tour offers a fun and delicious way to explore wine country.

Along the trail, each of 25 destinations is featuring a special wine pour paired perfectly with mouth-savoring food. A few examples of the fare include carrot soup, Mexican lasagna, cheddar cheese/olive-stuffed morsels, prosciutto-wrapped melon, and shrimp risotto. Each winery is represented by its own unique wine and food combination.

In addition, wine tasters are encouraged to get creative with hats and join the fun in the Sip o’ de Mayo Hat Contest. Many of the wineries are hosting specified-contests, such as best-use-of-a-cork, ugliest, most-blinged-out, best Kentucky Derby, furriest, most organic, and more. Contestants can win prizes ranging from gift certificates and wine to gift items.

At the Boathouse Vineyards, the winner of the “best high seas headgear” contest wins an exclusive sunset wine cruise with the winemaker, David Albert. “We will set sail through the narrows and into North Lake Leelanau while enjoying a little wine,” he says. “It’s always a fun, extremely relaxing and enjoyable cruise.”

And, a grand prize winner for the overall event wins two nights at The Homestead in Glen Arbor and a pair of tickets to any LPVA weekend tour event or the Traverse City Wine & Art Festival. So, get your creative juices flowing for your hat, or multiple hats, to secure your prize in the Sip o’ de Mayo Hat Contest.

Tickets to Spring Sip & Savor are $35 and include a special wine pour and savory fare at each winery, a commemorative glass, a $5 gift certificate to any LPVA winery and a $5 donation to a local charity. The event is Saturday and Sunday, May 4 and 5. Click here to order tickets, get a listing of food and wine pairings, get details of the hat contest and to search lodging packages.

Lorri Hathaway is freelance writer who is passionate for Michigan wine. She is co-author of the award-winning From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries and The History of Michigan Wines. Reach Lorri at lorri.hathaway@gmail.com.