Northern
WINTER
DESTINATION
Find the Spirit and
Magic of “Up North”
For more than 150 years TRAVERSE CITY has been
celebrated for its clear lakes and streams, verdant
forests and miles of golden beaches.
N
ow, almost overnight, this
bustling resort town on the
shore of Lake Michigan, has
also acquired a reputation as a great
place to indulge the appetite. Thanks
to a thriving wine scene, a passionate
farm-to-table movement, and help
from fans like celebrity chef Mario
Batali (who summers in the Traverse
City area), it ’s attracting major
44 FOOD TRAVELER | WINTER 2013
attention for its cuisine. In 2010 it was
named one of the country’s Top Five
Foodie Towns by Bon Appetit.
Founded as a thriving logging port
in 1847, Traverse City began acquiring
a reputation for relaxation, recreation
and natural beauty even when it was
still largely a rough-and-tumble lumber town. But the crystalline waters
and glacier-sculpted ridges that are
so attractive to kayakers, hikers, skiers and cyclists also create the perfect
microclimate for growing fruit.
Long known as the nation’s leading producer of cherries, it emerged
in the 1980s as a wine-growing region
that has now grown into a significant
industry.
Since it’s protected on three sides
by water and located on the 45th Parallel (the same latitude as Burgundy,
Alsace and Bordeaux) Traverse City’s
warm days and cool nights produce
uniquely fresh, clean and intensely
aromatic wines. The Rieslings, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs and Cabernet
Francs produced in more than 30
wineries on the nearby Leelanau and
Old Mission peninsulas, have won a
loyal following and helped launch this
small resort area into the public eye as
LEFT: BRIAN WALTERS; RIGHT: TONY DEMIN
In 2010 Traverse
City was named
one of the country’s
Top Five Foodie
Towns by
Bon Appétit.