Despite casuals saying its the slow season, local establishments are plowing through the snow as Polish food and wine dominate the holiday air.
Black Star Farms has released two new vintages of Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noit (2022) to kick off the holiday season.
“We also are looking to release and have out, before the end of the year, a wine by the name of Turaldigo. It’s a new red wine for us. It’s a little bit fuller in body, a little bit fuller in texture, so for people who like a bigger red wine that would be a good option,” Lutes said. “We’ve also got a brand new release sparkling wine called blanc de blanc ‘prestige.’” The sparkling wine aged for seven years in the bottle before being finished.
In terms of the wine to get this Christmas, Lutes has many recommendations of the Black Star variety.
“It is absolutely sublime. For people who like real champagne style sparklers,” Lutes said.
“It’s as true now as it’s ever been. It’s just never been a better time to be drinking Michigan wine, especially with us. We just got so much good wine in the bottle, good wine on the shelf. You really can’t go wrong.”
Black Star Farms is fresh off an early ice wine harvest in the latter part of last week.
“We caught it on the first real good cold snap that came through and we were able to pick and press frozen fruits, so we like to get it early,” Lutes said.
Ice wine was regularly harvested during the first week of December but recent warm winters have pushed that back well in January in recent years.
“It keeps the fruit nice and clean and tends to give us a little better volume and overall makes better wine, so we were fortunate to get it when we did,” Lutes said. “It was one of those years, when Mother Nature blessed us with a long enough early freeze to make it happen, and then, of course, the polar vortex kind of rolled in behind.” *** Knot Just A Bar is hosting its eighth annual Christmas dinner Saturday and Sunday Dec. 20-21 to bring in the holidays the Polish way.
“We started it probably eight years ago and really it was based on bringing some folks in before Christmas and basically duplicating what my family Christmas Eve dinner is,” Knot owner David Waskiewicz said.
The Waskiewicz family dinner has been passed down through the generations.
The single plate dinner has homemade borscht, sauteed pierogi, fresh kielbasa, smoked ham, braised kapusta, along with the common daily menu.
Back in proper polish tradition, you couldn’t have any meat until after midnight on Christmas.
Luckily, Knot Just A Bar won’t make you wait that long. But they are considering it.
Knot Just A Bar is quickly approaching 20 years since opening in 2007 in the former Harbor Bar location that was owned by the Brown family for many years before the building was bought by Leelanau Cellars, who have a tasting room next door.
The Knot stays open all winter and specializes in a Wednesday Trivia night that also features authentic Mexican food.
The Cedar Tavern has been open for three months under new ownership with Jim Greene saying “it has been exciting and sometimes overwhelming,” he continued. “We’ve enjoyed coming into the community, along with upgrades and improvements to the tavern.”
The Tavern hosts a polish dinner the first Thursday of every month that features Stanley’s Market products based in Toledo, Ohio.
Every weekend they are smoking ribs, pork loin, butts, burnt ends and more.
“We’ve really broadened our horizons and added a smoker outside,” Greene said.
Cedar Tavern also prides itself on Taco Tuesdays and fish fry Fridays.
The Cedar Tavern will take a stab at serving breakfast come the new year, starting out serving exclusively on Sundays then trying to grow it from there.
Look ahead: Sips & Soups returns to the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail January 16-18, 2026.
Sips & Soups makes a winter return on the Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail — and this year, it’s even better.
The winter event expands to three full days, taking place Friday through Sunday, Jan. 16-18, 2026.
Sips & Soups wants to become a tradition where the comforts of homemade soups meet the elegance of locally produced wines. As guests travel from winery to winery along the trail, soups are paired local wine, according to the stop.
The event will last 12-5 p.m. Jan. 16-18 with a $40 ticket cost per person. Sunday-Only Ticket (Jan 18): $30 per person.
