Our Visit to Youngblood Vineyards and the Weekly Menu #WorldWineTravel

Today I want to share with you a little hidden gem that I found right in my neck of the woods.  Welcome to Youngblood Vineyards located in Ray Township, Michigan.  

It's time for World Wine Travel and I am traveling right into my own neck of the woods......

The star signifies where I live and the arrow signifies the winery.

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to participate this month when Linda of My Full Wine Glass invited the members of World Wine Travel to hit the road on a Wine Tasting Adventure.  Not that I don't love going on wine-tasting tours, it's just that I have posted about all of them that I have enjoyed and I didn't have time during the month to do a winery road trip.

July was a very busy month around here.  My brother and sister-in-law were visiting from California for the month and we headed up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with our daughter Jessica and her family for a week.

While we were up north we stopped for a potty break at a rest area and I spied a #Michigan Wine Country" publication written for tourists.  I grabbed that to peruse during the rest of the drive.

Michigan has a very vibrant and active wine industry, mostly on the west side of the state.  We visit these wineries quite often and I have enjoyed sharing these trips with you.  We have attended the WOMP tour several times.  I featured Burgdorf Vineyards when we were celebrating Women Winemakers.

I have shared three tasting rooms/wineries that are relatively close to my house, Green Barn, Two Rivers, and Washington Street Wine House.  I was surprised when I looked at the map and realized there were several other wineries located within an hour of my house.

After my company left and I had a free moment, I opened that magazine and started looking at what was available nearby thinking I would do a local wine tour of those I hadn't yet visited.  There are several however they have limited hours and days and I only had 1 week to visit, taste, photograph, and write this post which was due today. 

As I was reading up on the wineries available to me, Youngblood Vineyards immediately captured my attention.  Owned by veterans David and Jessica Youngblood, they bottle native Michigan wine grapes grown on their 25-acre estate that has been in David's family for 5 generations.

Last year they moved from seasonal hours to being open year-round Thursday-Sunday.  They have a huge tasting room, host numerous events, have a petting farm, and serve up pizzas and grazing boards along with their wines.

We arranged to meet our friends, Jim and Sharon Luth, at the winery.  We each ordered a flight of different wines with some repeats because we all prefer dry wines.  All of the wines we tasted were exactly as we had hoped.  They are juicy, flavorful, and dry.  I especially enjoyed the Rose wine.  

We all agreed that the Marquette was our favorite and ordered a bottle with our pizza and grazing board.  Jim and Frank were each given a complimentary glass of the Marquette to thank them for their service to our country.  Veterans are given a free glass of wine on each and every visit to the winery.

We were so impressed that we bought tickets to attend a Vineyard Tour + Dinner and Bottomless Wine for next Friday night.  Stay tuned for that post.

So that is what we are doing for dinner next Friday but what about the rest of the week?  Today we are going to an Art Fair where Nicole and Pierre have a Petoskey and Pine Products booth.  Tomorrow friends are coming by for pool time and burgers on the grill.

Monday night I am going over to watch Little Miss M.  She has started preschool and her mama and daddy are going to a concert so I will go to her house so she can go to bed at the correct hour.  Amy and I are attending Movement and Margaritas on Tuesday at a local Mexican Restaurant.  We will have a yoga class followed by a Taco Bar and Margaritas.

So here is the Weekly Menu for the days we will be eating at home.  The others are meeting for a Threads chat today at 11 AM and would love if you could join them.  Here are the topics they will be discussing.......

• Regenerative Organic: Farmed Like the World Depends on It + the Feral Wines of Tablas Creek by Camilla at Culinary Cam
• Exquisite Sips and Sailings: Carnival Cruiseline Wine Package by Terri at Our Good Life
• On the Road from Paris to Champagne by Jeff at Food Wine Click!
• A Dreamy Day Trip to Rioja from Balboa by Deanna at Wineivore
• Soaking In Wine Country – How to Do it Right! By Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Travel in Tuscany: From Rome to Altura at Isola del Giglio and La Maliosa at Saturnia and back by Gwendolyn at Wine Predator
• Planning A Relaxing Wine Trip – Thank Gosh Our Strategy Changed! by Lynn at Savor the Harvest
• At home and abroad, all roads lead to wine by Linda at My Full Wine Glass

Saturday

Asian Quinoa Salad

Lemon Ginger Chicken 

Sunday

Eggplant Dip with Pita and Veggies

Grilled Burgers

Corn on the Cob

Assorted Salads

Blackberry Lime Cake

Meatless Monday

Mushroom Paprikash 

Spaetzle

Tuesday

Movement and Margaritas

Wednesday

Pork Marsala over Egg Noodles

Glazed Carrots

Thursday

Creamy Garlic Chicken

Steamed Rice

Steamed Green Beans

Friday

Winery Tour and Dinner