Along with an extensive renovation (about 2 years ago), Bel Lago rebranded to a more modern and water-inspired design for its wine, cider, hard seltzers, and merch. The large semi-circle tasting bar looks out a huge window to sprawling views of Lake Leelanau. Everything is clean - even the way the pencils are arranged near the sunken wine chiller (I want this in my house). Many Fridays and Saturdays feature live music at happy hour.

Besides the beautiful, unseasonable sunshine, something to love here is their merch and design. A lot of the wineries have merch, most often seeming to target a bachelorette party or Boomer audience. Bel Lago’s relatively recent remodel also included overhauling the brand to a modern, fresh, water-inspired vibe that has emerged as one of the strongest wine brand designs region-wide. Building on the consistent theme of water, there's playful pops of color and texture, with many of the labels featuring beautiful metallics. Their flight trays are shaped like Leelanau County and I assume they are custom made.  

On a Thursday afternoon I was able to have a long conversation with the wine steward about their harvests the last few seasons, particularly the impact on each year’s Pinot Noir. 2021 was an exciting and bountiful harvest for most of the area vineyards and Bel Lago is especially excited to see how their 2021 Pinot turned out - and now I, too, am invested and hoping for a masterful and stunning result. He also assured me that the first few weeks of January were the slowest each year, presumably while people lean into Dry January and/or try to slow down spending and drinking after their winter holidays. He expected the pace would be picking up this weekend especially with their extensive selection of live music. So I’m hoping for that too - not just at Bel Lago but everywhere.