Boathouse Vineyards

Open: Year-Round

"Dave and Jane were introduced to Leelanau County in the late 1980's when they stayed at Fountain Point Resort in Lake Leelanau. They never missed a year with their family at Fountain Point until 2002 when they built a second home in Leland. In 2004 Dave retired and they moved up to their home in Leland full time.

After they moved to Leland, Dave began pursuing a career in the wine industry partially due to his and Jane's love of wine and because of the potential that the Leelanau Peninsula has shown in producing consistently great wine. Dave started his pursuit by working in a local Vineyard and Winery. After 6 months they decided to "start from scratch" and purchased farmland they believed ideal for growing grapes and a 1 acre plot of land on the Narrows in Lake Leelanau for their Tasting Room site.

They created the company "Boathouse Vineyards" incorporating into the name the boathouse from the Tasting Room property with the vineyards that they were soon to establish at the vineyard site.

They utilize Shawn Walters, a highly regarded Leelanau Peninsula winemaker, for their winemaking direction. Both Dave and Jane knew Shawn's reputation in making excellent white wines. After tasting some of Shawn's Cabernet Franc wines and because of Dave's desire to produce very good red wines from the Leelanau peninsula, they knew that Shawn would help them reach their goal. Shawn owns and operates "One World Winery Consulting."