Our day began at Uncle John's where apples danced through the grinder in the mill while visitors tasted hard ciders from the Great Lakes region.

Now, we admit we're a little partial, though, honestly, we really favored ciders crafted in Michigan. (It was nice to taste hard ciders from Virignia and New York as well.) Putting all our cards on the table, we also admit we're not as experienced at tasting hard cider as we are at tasting wine.

Michigan winemaker/cider master Shawn Walters poured his 45 North Hard Cider. (Delicious!) Uncle John's four hard ciders were also available for tasting, including a Perry Hard Cider made with pears. (Very smooth!)

Uncle John's Mike Beck shared he really recommends his new seasonal hard cider. We also were surprised by the blueberry apple hard cider from Vander Mill in Spring Lake. (We thought blueberry might make the cider too sweet for us; however, we really liked this one!)

Keeping with the theme (Michigan ag theme), we ate really fresh black bean tacos from Ann Arbor Brewing Company at the Home Grown Foods Festival later that evening and wished we could unwind in the Michigan beer and wine tent, which was hopping. Ah, family duty calls…

*Nice last-minute wins Chippewas and UM! (We love MSU, too; however, CMU is our alma mater after all.)

My first wrong turn took me to Ruhlig Market, a wholesale distributor of Michigan fruits and vegetables. The market, run by the same family since 1968, also features its own sweet corn, squash and cabbage, the later of which is also sold at Eastern Market in Detroit. Family members were kind enough to give me directions back to the raspberry farm. While chatting and paying for peaches and watermelon, though, I ran into new friends who directed me to Lesser Farms down the road. There, I picked up honey, hand-made soap and snapped photos of their super lush orchard full of apples, peaches and plums ready for picking. I need to return for their delicious cider soon.

After Lesser Farms, I stopped at nearby Spring Valley Trout Farm, where for $4 a person you can fish for trout that have been raised in the farm's natural spring water. (Baby trout arrive from northern Michigan and are grown in the spring water.) Catch some fish and they'll fillet the fish for you to take home for dinner. A trout farm in Dexter! Who knew?

Afterward, I made a quick stop at Jenny's Market for photographs. You can get Guernsey's hand-dipped icecream, home-made pies and canned beets, as well as a slew of fresh produce here. After a quick lunch in Dexter, I visited Dexter Cider Mill, the oldest, continually-run cider mill in Michigan. Owner Richard was chopping up apples for cider and happily obliged me for photographs. Inside, I sampled two dry whites from Sandhill Crane Vineyards. (The winery has a seasonal tasting room inside the mill.)

Finally, I drove my way to Berry Hill and found it closed. Bummer! I returned on Sunday and was delighted to stroll through a pathway of yellow and orange sunflowers to a huge berry patch full of different varieties like Heritage, Carolyn and Dinkum to name a few. My last farm stop for the weekend was Back Forty Acres, a 5th-generation farm that specializes in pasture-raised poultry and grass-fed livestock. The chickens on the farm I lived on for six years never had it so good. Back Forty's animals look incredibly healthy in their open-air environments. A dozen blue eggs made it home with me, freshly plucked from the hen house. ~ Sharon

I'm not surprised that Brys Estate's Artisan Series Cabernet Franc won the first-ever Cabernet Franc Challenge. Learn more at our friend Joel's web site. Congrats to Walt and Eileen Brys and Winemaker Coenraad Stassen! ~ Sharon

P.S. Try Robinette Cellars' blueberry wine, made with Michigan blueberries, of course!

Top winners of this year's Michigan Wine & Spirits Competition:

Judges' Merit Award: Black Star Farms/2008 Arcturos Dry Riesling

Best of Class winners:

• Dry White Wine: Left Foot Charley/2009 Pinot Blanc
• Dry Red Wine: Gill's Pier Vineyard & Winery/2007 Cabernet Franc/Merlot
• Semi-Dry White Wine: Bell Lago/2008 Gewurztraminer
• Dessert wine: Fenn Valley Vineyards/2008 "42" Ice Wine
• Fruit Wine: Longview Winery/Reserve Cherry Wine
• Rose' Wine: 45 North Vineyard & Winery/2008 Pinot Noir Rose

For more competition details, check out www.michwine.com, managed by Joel Goldberg. Joel graciously loaned us the photo of the Leelanau Peninsula winemakers celebrating with their trophies.

We met Shannon and his wife Cortney last evening at the Michigan Wine & Spirits Competition in East Lansing. Shannon shared his vision for educating 21 to 30 somethings about Michigan wine and encouraging them to quench their thirst with local wines.

When we launched Michigan Vine, we purposefully opted for "Vine" to leave room for future Michigan endeavors. We absolutely love Michigan wine country, as evident by our book, From the Vine, and we continue to travel to the new wineries popping up all over our beautiful Great Lakes state. Excitedly, we also continue to present "Michigan Wine Country" throughout Michigan to libraries and at special events.

What's new is that now we wish to share our passion for Michigan potatoes, blueberries, sugar beets and more.

This past weekend, we raced the minivan around the eastern countryside, chasing down potato farmers, attending Munger's Potato Fest and stumbling into a lush sugar beet field. (The sugar of those beets will later be whipped into future chocolate chip cookies in my home.) Oh, and the photo of Lorri? She's celebrating the fact that we found the field. (Don't fret, no sugar beets were harmed in the capturing of this photo.) Stay tuned for more. ~ Sharon

Escape this Saturday to Cherry Creek Cellars' new Cafe @ the Creek Summer Series. Musicians singing Motown, country-rock and folk tunes are lined up for Saturdays throughout the summer. It's super easy to while away an afternoon in this remote Irish Hills region, home to Cherry Creek's Old Schoolhouse.

The outdoor handcrafted cedar pergola provides lovely shade as you enjoy a glass of wine or share a bottle with friends. Try the Cabernet Rose' or Ninja Red and stay at nearby The Brickhouse Somerset for an easy getaway. The newly planted vineyard and expansive, rolling hills provide a sleepy backdrop that immediately slows you down and makes you appreciate lazy Michigan summer days.

Local wines from both Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsula peninsulas flowed into glasses as tasters sipped wines and savored local fare from area restaurants, including one of my favorites – a delicious whitefish from the Bluebird.

Festival goers also danced to the sounds of the Fabulous Horndogs, the regions most popular band.

For me, a childhood in Leland and a career in Michigan's wine industry make the Leland Wine Fest a fabulous pairing of old and new friends.

~Lorri