Petoskey Wine Region planner / Charlevoix area wineries
Charlevoix area wineries
What wineries can you visit near Charlevoix?
The western Petoskey wine region runs through Bay Shore, Charlevoix, Ellsworth and Central Lake. Spare Key and Blu Dot are closer to the northern end; The Cellars at Royal Farms and Cellar 1914 are farther south. Treat this as a corridor, not an effortless four-stop walking loop.
If you only have an afternoon, choose two nearby stops and leave room for Charlevoix's harbor or the shoreline. For a more compact alternative, see the Walloon Lake and Boyne winery day. Always verify seasonal openings and any unavailable schedules.
West and south of Petoskey the trail spreads out along the shoreline and then down the Chain of Lakes. Spare Key Winery on Upper Bay Shore Road is the hinge, close enough to Petoskey to be a first stop and close enough to Charlevoix to be a last one.
From there Blu Dot Farm and Vineyard sits on Boyne City Road outside Charlevoix and runs seasonally, May through October. 1918 Cellars pours in a historic wing of Castle Farms on M-66, which means the grounds come with the tasting. Further south, The Cellars at Royal Farms in Ellsworth is a farm market with a tasting room attached, and Cellar 1914 in Central Lake is the southern end of the trail.
That is a long thin line rather than a loop. Pick the top two or the bottom two rather than all five. Downtown Charlevoix, the south pier light, Mount McSauba and Fisherman's Island State Park all sit in the middle of it and are the reason to make the drive anyway.
The realistic tasting day
Which stops can actually fit your day?
Petoskey's tasting rooms can be far apart, and published hours are uneven. This view rejects published-hours conflicts, checks your time window, and flags anything you still need to confirm by phone.
The Chain of Lakes wineries form a long corridor. Keep the day focused.
- 12:00 PM to 12:40 PMBlu Dot Farm & VineyardA farm vineyard on Boyne City Road outside Charlevoix where the tasting room is a converted vintage Airstream. Small-batch wine and wine slushies, open in season from May through October, and reachable off the regional bike path if you would rather ride than drive.Based on posted weekly hours - Seasonal hours notice appliesOfficial winery site · Map stop
- 1:03 PM to 1:43 PMSpare Key WineryOn Upper Bay Shore Road between Petoskey and Charlevoix, the natural hinge stop if you are running the whole shoreline in one day. Everything is estate grown and bottled, there is a covered porch, and dogs are welcome inside as well as out. Closed Mondays.Based on posted weekly hoursOfficial winery site · Map stop
Travel between stops is a conservative geographic-distance planning buffer of approximately 23 minutes, not a road-route ETA. This excludes driving to the first winery, food and extra activities. Recheck winery hours, seasonal changes and tasting reservations. Choose a designated driver or a tour operator.
Hours for the Charlevoix area stops
- 1918 Cellars at Castle Farms (Charlevoix): call ahead for current hours at (231) 237-0884 Plan about 45 minutes.
- Blu Dot Farm & Vineyard (Charlevoix): Mon-Sun 12pm-7pm. Open in season, May through October. Plan about 40 minutes.
- Cellar 1914 (Central Lake): call ahead for current hours at (231) 676-8743 Plan about 40 minutes.
- Mammoth Distilling, Bay Harbor (Bay Harbor): call ahead for current hours at (231) 439-2196 Plan about 50 minutes.
- Spare Key Winery (Bay Shore): Tue-Thu 1pm-6pm, Fri 12pm-6pm, Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 12pm-5pm Plan about 40 minutes.
- The Cellars at Royal Farms (Ellsworth): Mon-Thu 11am-6pm, Fri-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-6pm Plan about 45 minutes.
Hours checked September 18, 2026. Call ahead where a stop does not publish a weekly schedule.