A year after opening in Lake Leelanau, the specialty wine and gourmet food shop Peninsula Provisions is thriving and embracing the busy summer season. Kate Vilter Stassen, who owns and operates the business with her husband, Coenraad, said that she loves being able to still work in the wine industry after so many years.
“It’s been great. I love that I can still be in the food and wine industry because that’s always been my passion, it’s just that this is a much smaller footprint than the Riverside was and an easier thing to manage day-today,” Stassen said, who previously ran the Riverside Inn in Leland for 25 years. “And I love seeing all the people that I used to serve at the Riverside Inn, but it’s just in a different context…” Customers can find all sorts of curated flavors and brands from around the world found in Peninsula Provision’s wine selection, with options including everything from chardonnay from Burgundy, France to Lake Leelanau’s Aurora Cellars’ Brut Rose. Along with the extensive wine selection, there are a number of charcuterie board and platter choices featuring gourmet cheeses, meats and specialty items like chicken liver mousse or country pate that are available to elevate any gathering.
“We have wines from all over the world ranging in prices from $12 to several hundred dollars, so there’s a lot of variety,” she said. “Most of our wines are organic or biodynamic and they are all at least sustainable. We’re really trying to focus on smaller vineyards and familyowned properties that do have the earth in mind when they are making their wines. A lot of people will come in looking for wine and they don’t really know the selection we have. Luckily, my staff is terrific, and they can find people what they want based on other things that they have had.”
