Years ago, the wine makers of the Old Mission Peninsula in Traverse City were searching for a way to pull people out of their turkey comas after Thanksgiving and lure them into the tasting rooms. To the delight of the comfort food lovers of northern Michigan, they found the answer in what has become an annual tradition – the Great Macaroni and Cheese Bake-off!
Here’s how it works…
Each of the eight wineries of the Old Mission Peninsula partners with a local restaurant to produce a macaroni and cheese and wine pairing. It can be fancy, it can be simple – the only rule is it must contain a noodle and a cheese. The competition is held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and votes are cast for the people’s favorite, the cheesiest and the best pairing with the wines. They provide a tasting of several wines specifically chosen to complement the mac and cheese. When you’re done eating, additional tastings are available, if you want. And oh, we wanted.
We learned about this event when we visited the Old Mission Peninsula this past summer. It sells out every year, so we made a mental note to purchase tickets as soon as they were available in October. And then we waited patiently for the big day…
Our starting point was Hawthorne Vineyards, the newest winery to open in the area. This was our first visit to their tasting room and the view of the snow-covered vineyard was a beautiful way to begin the day. Their three cheese, toasted fennel seed and carmelized onion mac and cheese offering was good, but a little too safe for me.
Our second stop was Bowers Harbor Vineyards. They have a history of naming their wines after their dogs – Otis, Cooper and Brix. I dare you to not find that adorable! Cute names aside, they do make some very tasty wine and I was really looking forward to stopping by to stock up.
Their mac and cheese was a delicious and hearty masterpiece with butternut squash and ricotta. It would be the perfect food to warm you up after sledding or shoveling snow on a cold winter’s day. It finished as runner up for my favorite in the competition.
Then it was on to Brys Estate Vineyards and their mac and cheese creation with pulled pork. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t original enough to be one my favorites.
It was fun to take a peek at the fermenting tanks and barrels in the production facility before we left.
Our next stop was Chateau Grand Traverse where their mac and cheese with beef and leeks was nothing less than divine! It was surprising and savory and complex. I probably could have eaten a bucket full of it, but I had to settle for just the three ounce scoop I was given. It was definitely my favorite of the day.
We started the second half of the competition at Peninsula Cellars. Their tasting room is an old school house, so they play up the school theme with wines named Homework and Detention. And instead of teaching students, the old school chalkboards are now used to educate customers about their wine.
Their mac and cheese offering combined kale and ribs. It was good, but not overly inventive.
The next stop was 2 Lads Winery at the top of the peninsula. They offered both a vegetarian and a carnivore mac and cheese option. I went with the meaty one, and ate about half of it before I remembered I wanted a photo of it.
When we arrived at Chateau Chantal, our penultimate winery, it was late in the afternoon and the final minutes of the fourth quarter of the Michigan / Ohio State football game were happening hundreds of miles away in Ann Arbor. We sat down with our gorgonzola and feta mac and cheese and pulled out our iPhones just in time to watch Michigan score a touchdown with seconds to go. Exciting, right? They could have tied the game by kicking an extra point and then going to overtime, but instead, they decided to go for two, get none and lose in spectacular, heartbreaking style. Go Blue!
We ended the day at Black Star Farms, my personal favorite of the Old Mission Peninsula wineries. It was the end of the day, and they had run out of macaroni noodles, but they served what they had – a sort of Caprese salad with cheese, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. It was actually very good on it’s own and I imagaine it would have been amazing with mac and cheese.
I really enjoy their wine and I knew we were going to buy several bottles while we were there. When we walked up to the register with seven bottles, they said that if we bought a case, we would get a ten percent discount, so did we want to add a few more bottles? Well of course we did!
Oh, by the way, they also have a quarterly delivery service. Did we want to sign up for that too? You bet we did!
We left the Old Mission Peninsula tired, tipsy and totally looking forward to this event next year!
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