2011 Calendar

December - Wine Dinners at the Boathouse – featuring wine from local winemakers and epicurean delights. See home page events section for specific dates

Jan. 7 th Grey Hare Inn proprietors Christmas Party – guests are invited to participate in this year’s “MASH 4077" themed celebration at no additional charge.

January/February Wine and Local Beer Dinners at the Boathouse featuring local winemakers and outstanding culinary presentations, Fridays or Saturdays, check home page news sidebar for specific dates

January Metropolitan Opera Live at the State – Jan 21st "The Enchanted Island" in which the lovers of Shakespeare's Mid-summers Night's Dream are shipwrecked on the Tempest's island, a new production 1p

January 20,21 Winter Warmup at the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula – enjoy mulled wine from a souvenir mug for $10; desserts, appetizers, and other local promotions from 12 – 5pm, followed by a bonfire at the Grey Hare Inn. Cross country skiing available through the inn’s vineyard.

Jan 12 Taster’s Guild Wine Benefit – This annual event features international cuisines prepared by Great Lakes Culinary Institute students, with local and select regional and international wines. The benefit is held at the Hagerty Center on NMC Great Lakes campus with net proceeds going toward academic scholarships. $45 p/p

January 14th Traverse City Chili Cookoff – City Opera House

February 3 Boathouse Wild Game Dinner

February 4,5 Taste the Passion/Snowshoe Stomp Snowshoe thru the vineyards and enjoy special wine pours, chocolate goodies and appetizers. Purchase tickets at www.lpwine.com . Grey Hare Inn will also be offering snowshoe and cross country skiing through its vineyards and orchards.

February 4, 5 Women’s Winter Ski Tour – Crystal Mountain Resort with lots of fun, wine, chocolate , cross country and snowshoes. www.womenswintertour.com

February 5,6 Super Getaway Weekend – guests can choose between a package that will include dinner at a local sports bar to watch the Super Bowl or a women’s pamper package including a massage and nightly turndown chocolates. halftime snow Frisbee and bonfire.

February 11-13, 2013 Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival – Michael Moore and Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm) will return next year to team up to provide a festival full of comedic films, standup and other art forms. Your stay at the Grey Hare will include tickets to one of the events and a movie rental.

February 10,11 - Traverse City Microbrew & Music Festival – Union Street downtown
February 11 - An Evening in Alsace Dinner at Chantal $75 per person, plus complimentary evening chocolates at the Grey Hare Inn

February 12 - "On Frozen Pond" Old Town Playhouse fundraising event of wacky outdoor activities. $50 per person hosted by the owners of the Grey Hare Inn

February 17,18 WOWFEST – Traverse City’s Winter is Wonderful Celebration including music, food, frozen food tossing and

February 18,19 Romancing the Riesling at Old Mission Wineries showcasing a Riesling perfectly paired with a food offering in your $15 souvenir glass from 12 – 5p, and a special artistic presentation on Saturday. Breakfast at the Grey Hare will offer a similar pairing of wine poached fruit with cheese. Cross country skiing available through the inn’s vineyard and wooded trails at the Lighthouse park.

Feb 18 and Feb 25th Live at the Met Opera – State Theater presents Wagner's "Gotterdammerung" - new production 1p on the 18th and Verdi's "Ernani" on the 25th

March 3 Classic Country French Cooking– class at Chantal Enjoy an afternoon with Nancy Allen learning the techniques involved in preparing the various specialties of different regions of France. In conjunction with the class you will also have the opportunity to prepare your own crepes at the Grey Hare Inn.$125 p/p 12:30 -4:30p

March 24 – Techniques of Spanish Cooking class at Chateau Chantal $125 p/p learn how to make a variety of tapas from sun drenched Spain. Participating guests will be asked to provide samples of their efforts during the inn’s reception time, augmented by Spanish inspired hors d’oeuvres.

March Wine Dinners at the Boathouse TBD

March 19 French Cooking– class at Chantal Enjoy an afternoon with Nancy Allen learning the techniques involved in preparing the various specialties of different regions of France. In conjunction with the class you will also have the opportunity to prepare your own crepes at the Grey Hare Inn.

March 31 - Wine Immersion Seminar at Chateau Chantal 11am – 9:30p $145 p/p – an all day event providing an excellent overview of winemaking, viticulture, and food/wine pairing including lunch and dinner and learning materials. Reservations are required for all classes but book this one particularly early as it continues to be one of the most popular culinary events. To complete your wine immersion breakfasts at the Grey Hare Inn this weekend will feature grape related menus.

March is Beer Appreciation Month on Old Mission. Bed,Beer and Beyond package combines your stay with a pint and pizza at Jolly Pumpkin.

March weekends -Old Town Playhouse presents “Dr. Doolittle” March 2-24. For Sunday performances the inn offers a third night complimentary stay

April is Michigan Wine Month
visit www.michiganwines.com for more events

April 21 Techniques of Italian Cooking, Pasta & Sauces – class at Chantal $125 p/p for a guided tour of tasting the products of Italy, Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano along with olive oils and proscuitto. The Grey Hare Inn will offer one of it’s signature dishes to complement this class – melon and proscuitto with pear marinade.

April 7,14 Live Met Opera at the State, Massenet's "Manon" on the 7th ; and April 14th Verdi's "La Traviata". Enjoy tickets to the Met and a glass of wine at Trattoria Stella's afterward in special packages at the Grey Hare Inn

May 4 - 19th “The Tavern” at Old Town Playhouse- classic murder mystery at this outstanding local theater. See Grey Hare Inn packages for tickets.
May 2 - "The Tavern" murder mystery dinner at Old Mission Tavern to benefit the Old Town Playhouse $75 p/p

May 5 - Tuscan Spring Dishes class at Chateau Chantal to learn the luscious and lively cuisine of Italy where Chef Allen taught and learned many dishes such as wild forest leek and cabbage soup, stuffed artichokes with lemon caper sauce, $125 p/p, 12:30p – 5:30p. The Grey Hare will be serving guests a delicious dish of spring strawberries with a marscapone whipped cream and almond biscottis.

April 28 Wine Immersion Seminar at Chateau Chantal 11am – 9:30p $135 p/p – an all day event providing an excellent overview of winemaking, viticulture, and food/wine pairing including lunch and dinner and learning materials. Reservations are required for all classes but book this one particularly early as it continues to be one of the most popular culinary events. To complete your wine immersion, breakfasts at the Grey Hare Inn this weekend will feature grape related menus.

May 5,6 Spring Sip and Savor at Leelanau Wineries. Grey Hare Inn will be offering morel hunting and dandelion wine making classes in conjunction with this fun annual event

May 19,20 Blossom Days on Old Mission – Peninsula wineries offer special tastings and the inn offers tours of their boutique vineyard along with morel hunting and dandelion wine making discussions and panoramic cherry orchard views.

May 19th Great Lakes Wine Festival, Michigan International Speedway. Brooklyn

June 9 Leland Wine & Food Festival TBD

June 15th Traverse City Rotary's New Release Wine Tasting" community fundraising event to benefit Polio Plus campaign, Haggarty Center on Grand Traverse Bay. Call Grey Hare Inn for tickets.

June 16 Leelanau Wineries Small Plates event

June 16th -Divas Uncorked $25 OMP Wine Trail – the annual “Girls’ Night Out”. Pamper yourselves with a stay at the Grey Hare Inn that will include massages , chocolate, and wine

July TBD -Suttons Bay Jazzfest, Bluegrass Festival

July 24th-July 29 -Traverse City Film Festival www.traversecityfilmfest.org

Leelanau Wine Festival – Northport TBD

June 30th Traverse City Wine and Art Festival The third annual Traverse City Wine & Art Festival will be a celebration of the wines, art, music and food of the Grand Traverse region. Wineries in attendance will present their wines using the beautiful grounds of the Village at Grand Traverse Commons as a backdrop. The event will feature art displays from regional artists and organizations working in all manner of media. It will also highlight foods from our area and endeavor wherever possible to do things in a green and sustainable manner. As afternoon turns to evening, attendees will experience an exciting concert that features a variety of musicians from our region.

September ?? TBD -Womp in the Park – old mission wineries and restaurants outdoors.

October 21 Grey Hare Inn Annual Harvest Stomp Party, 4p – 6p Experience Old World Grape Harvest by hand picking and de-stemming grapes and then stomping them into juice with your feet. Tasting of the wine made from the inn’s grapes at Peninsula Cellars and local produce hors d’oeuvres sampling are included in the $35 per person charge. Advance Reservations required and private events of 10 persons or more can be arranged for different times and dates.

September 10-12,2013 – Maritime Heritage Alliance Tallship Festival Traverse City/Michigan Schooner Festival – the Grey Hare Inn owners will take guests sailing to see the festival aboard their 42ft sailboat $150 p/p providing a unique perspective of the event.

September – Dining in the Vines – pairs the Boathouse restaurant’s culinary talents with the wine knowledge of Bowers Harbor to provide a unique experience dining among the vines $125 p/p. Call for dates

September 8,9 -Harvest Stompede at Leelanau Wineries , www.lpwines.com

November 3,4 and 10,11 Toast the Season Leelanau winerie4

November 27th Thanksgiving Saturday – The Great Macaroni & Cheese Cookoff at Old Mission Peninsula wineries – Local restaurants compete with unique creations paired with wines from each winery. www.wineriesofoldmission.com


Selected Wine Events/Industry Conferences Out of the Area

January 19-21 Northwest Orchard and Vineyard Show, Grand Traverse Resort, Acme, MI

January 23 Winter Delights, A Festival of Wine, Food, and Jazz – Mendel College, Benton Harbor

February 3,4 Southwest Michigan Horticulture Days, Mendel Center, Benton Harbor. Thursday features session on fruit, berry and grape growers.

February 6-8 Midwest Wine and Grape Conference , Tan-Tar-A Resort , Osage Beach Missouri

February 24-26 Michigan Grape and Wine Conference, Amway Plaza, Grand Rapids, MI

March 9-12 Wineries Unlimited, Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, PA – the largest, most powerful trade show for the eastern wine industry

March 31, April 1,2 License to Steal, Lodge at Geneva on the Lake, Ohio industry conference devoted exclusively to the promotion of regional wines

Michigan Wine and Beer Dinner Series – Salt of the Earth restaurant, Fennville featuring wines from Fenn Valley to start then seven other Michigan wineries. Dates are 1/13/10, 1/28/10, 2/10/10, 2/25/10, 3/10/10, 3/25/10, 4/14/10, 4/22/10

June 19th Lake Michigan Shore Wine Festival – Weko Beach, Bridgman, MI Toast the Coast of Lake Michigan Shore wineries with food and music

August 28 Wine and Food Festival at Meadowbrook

August 28,29 Round Barn Winery’s annual Harvest Party with live music , food, DiVine vodka and beer samplings, and of course grape stomping. Baroda, MI

November 18 – 20th Grand Rapids International Wine and Food Festival – the third annual event at DeVos Place is already considered one of the largest wine events in the Midwest; featuring over 1200 wines, beers and spirits, more than a dozen restaurants, a variety of food and beverage seminars, and a marketplace of specialty and artisan food vendors.


Michigan Wine Country Links:



- MI Wines/Grape Council
- Wineries of Old Mission
- Peninsula Cellars
- Leelanau Wineries
- Tasters Guild
- Fenn Valley
- Black Star Farm