Matt Gregory and me with the mural I painted on the south wall of Chateau de Leelanau

Starting the day at Chateau de Leelanau and ending it on the beautiful property of Good Harbor is not a bad day. It was such a good day, in fact, that I’ll be breaking it down into two parts to do it justice!

At the start of the day, I met with Matt Gregory, co-owner of Chateau de Leelanau. Matt was born and raised on a farm on this peninsula. This is a place where anyone can feel welcome. It’s a “down home” place, and they have made every effort to take any preconceived ideas of pretense out of the wine tasting experience.

No matter your taste in vino, you’ll find something delicious to please you here — even hard cider. After leaving the tasting room, fueled by Matt’s enthusiasm for taking the tasting room into the next phase, I headed off to the properties where these grapes are grown: Matt’s family’s farm.

To say this land is breathtaking is an understatement. Layers of rolling vines meet cherry and apple trees and East Grand Traverse Bay glistens in the background. Give me my brush, I’m ready!

One hour turned into the next as I turned and painted a few different views. But this is Project 24, right? This is why I came: this land. In the simplest of terms, Leelanau is special; phrased more elaborately, it’s ridiculously stunningly, fantastically gorgeous.

Stay tuned for more adventures from Project 24!