Anne Amie Vineyards, a small, family owned winery in Willamette Valley, Oregon, will be visiting our region for their annual sales call. This year, will offer a twist on the traditional winemaker dinners. Instead of 5 courses in 1 restaurant, they will host a series of progressive bicycle winemaker dinners. In each city, Anne Amie will travel between 5 restaurants in general proximity, atop bicycles, with the entire group in tow. This should offer not only a unique and incredibly joyful experience, but a fresh look at the fabric of each city. Thomas Houseman (Winemaker) wanted to bring an element of Portland, Oregon, to Michigan. This concept has been successfully executed in Cleveland (2012 & 2014), Toledo (2012 & 2014) and Columbus (2012 & 2014). This event has been embraced by each of the restaurant communities, and everyone has worked together to bring a youth and energy to a format that can often seem stuffy or intimidating. Each dinner is $88 all-inclusive and comes with a t-shirt with the Fête d’ Été-logo for the event and the “tour dates”. Fête d’ Été (literally means summer party)-so named, as we are on the cusp of Summer here in the Great Lakes, and there is a sort of magic in the air this time of year, and a hunger to be outside. Each ride, very casual in nature, will encompass no more than 12 total miles round trip. Guests are expected to provide their own bicycle. The event details are as follows, each event begins at 6pm: Monday, May 11, 2015-Detroit-The event will begin and end at Motor City wine-we will ride north to Selden Standard, work through midtown, hitting Cliff’s Bell, Wright & Co, a sneak preview of Vertical Detroit, stop at Top of the Pontch, finishing up at back at Motor City Wine. Thursday, May 14th, 2015-Traverse City. We will work our way from Little Fleet in downtown, up the coast along the lake to Tuscan Bistro. From there, we’ll double back down to Slabtown and Trattoria Stella, before returning downtown for a course each at The Towne Plaza and The Franklin. Routes will be announced by May 1. Reservations can be made at anneamie.com/biketour. No more than 45 slots are available on any date, so early reservations are encouraged. Upon signing up, we will keep you abreast of all developments. For any questions-please contact adam@ampelographywines. Traverse City The Little Fleet Tuscan Bistro Trattoria Stella The Towne Plaza The Franklin Detroit Motorcity Wines Selden Standard Wright & Co. Cliff’s Bell Top of the Pontch Vertical Detroit
