sandhill crane vineyards

Love Thirsty Thursdays at Sandhill Crane. The food is wonderful, the music is always great and the wine is the icing on the cake!

We came here for the first time on Sunday November 2, 2014 with a group of friends. We had a very enjoyable time! Amazing wine, great food and wonderful friends on a beautiful fall day! Took home 3 bottles of wine and chocolates. Will definitely be back again!

Sandhill Crane Vineyard and Cafe has been our number one spot to relax and unwind for six years. From picnics in the vines, music on the porch or now from the backstage, food made from Michigan's best local sources and the most extensive wine list for tasting how can you go wrong?The staff make everyone feel at home. From Mother Alice pouring tastes, daughter Heather cooking, daughter Holly wine making, father Norm in the vineyard and aunt Ann on the register, the entire Moffat family is on site to make sure the experience is tops every time in every way.Try Thirsty Thursdays for special dinner entrees often featuring local kids 4h animals, musicians from far and wide from 6:30 to 8:30 and tasting of the entire list included in the $5.00 cover.

Sandhill Crane Vineyards has become a favorite of the vineyards along Michigan's Pioneer Wine Trail. Family owned and run, and the outcome of what started out as a wine-making hobby, the Vineyard has a charming, rustic tasting room expanded to include a cafe. The daily menu is of the soup-and-sandwich variety, and includes fresh pastries and good coffee. The homemade Salmon Chowder is spectacular, and sandwiches include locally sourced ingredients, resulting in a meal a definite cut above the average casual dining milieu. Visitors with time can settle in to eat and do a wine tasting at the same time, with the staff bringing selections to the table. Sandhill Crane has produced numerous award-winning wines, and the list is extraordinarily extensive, and high quality. The wines are presented from driest to sweetest, with an additional dessert wine list; the vineyard also creates fruit wines, and their estate-grown apples add a special touch to their apple wine. The list includes pyments and meads, offerings not often found. The ice wine may be simply the best I've ever tasted: produced at the vineyard following traditional methods. They vineyard's calendar offers a number of special events, including the occasional dinner-and-wine tasting combination that provides the best of local cuisine. You have to be quick to sign up for these events; they sell out quickly! Other offerings include wine-and-music evenings, and the annual Crane Watch Saturday, in conjunction with the nearby Sandhill Crane sanctuary. An added benefit is the Vineyard's commitment to its community, which goes beyond using local ingredients and offering local artisanal products in its store: a number of its best selling wines are dedicated to local charities, with a portion of each purchase donated. The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and attentive, although high-traffic events will result in some delay. Set in the rolling, wooded countryside between Chelsea and Jackson, the vIneyard is easily accessible from I-94, and a visit can be expanded to include hiking and bird watching at the Haehnle Sanctuary, a leisurely drive along the surrounding country roads, or a tour of local vineyards. The only drawback is the limited parking: the tasting room and cafe are sited in the middle of the vineyard, and parking is on the grassy verge of the driveway. LIke other vineyards, there is a five dollar tasting fee, but the only limit on the tasting is good common sense. If you want to explore the wine list at length, I would suggest having a designated driver in the party.

I was alone with my dog in town for a dog show. Decided to see some sights on our down time. Picked up a bottle of wine and homemade olive oil soap. Would be nice to just hang out, eat, drink and listen to music...but the dogs in the air conditioned car waiting for me :)

What a wonderful find in the countryside. Great people, great wine, great food amid a wonderful setting. Don't miss the opportunity to make a visit.

Did the Pioneer Wine Trail tour which includes 8 wineries. Have been to Sandhill Crane Vineyards before. Besides being a tasting room it is also a café. A very good place to eat lunch. You can eat indoors or in good weather on their veranda with a view of the vineyards. A nice selection of white, red and desert wines.

Loved the setting, the food and the wine!! We went twice-- once in the summer and we ate on the beautiful deck and once on a cold fall day. Both were wonderful experiences.

If I could give 4.5 I would. great soups, salads, sandwiches. Gazpacho was quite good. Gluten free and vegetarian options. Lovely setting in the vineyard. Can sit inside or outside on the patio. This is more inventive than the typical Jackson area cuisine. We are not wine connoisseurs but people did seem to have fun with the wine tasting and the staff seems quite knowledgeable. Would not hesitate to take a guest to the cafe or on a vineyard tour.

We've visited this winery before and been impressed with the quality of all the wines that we tasted. Usually at a winery we might like a few wines but at this winery there really aren't any that we didn't enjoy. The addition of the cafe and extending the wine tasting to accompany your meal is unique and adds to the experience. You can sip wine through your meal and look out at the vineyards at the same time. I especially liked the panini that I choose - 'not just for Thanksgiving' with turkey and cranberries. Although it didn't pair perfectly with all the wines, a few sips of water reset my taste and appreciation. A new wine for me that I especially appreciated was the 'Sue Lie Chardonnay'.

Wonderful and unique bistro soup, salad and sandwhich choices. Had wine tasting along with lunch while viewing the great fall colors. Server was very attentive to our wine tastings. Will definitely return.

Sandhill Crane Vineyards is my favorite winery in the southern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Over the years, the winery has become quite successful and was very busy yesterday. The selection of wines and "wine-related" gifts is impressive. That being said, I think there may be too many wine choices and perhaps they should concentrated on excellence at a dozen or so wines and not try to be all things to all palates. The facilites and staff are very nice and the directions from I-94 are easy to follow.

Gina E.Brighton, MI1.0 star rating10/17/2013I have been to many wineries and Sandhill Crane was deeply disappointing. I went with four friends on Saturday October 12th, the weather was beautiful. One of my friends had been to the winery a few times before and said it had drastically gone downhill! When we arrived it was busy and very chaotic. We are very understanding at this point as we have all worked as servers in the past. No one greeted us, we looked for a table and found one crammed in a corner, it was claustrophobic and in front of a big shelf of wine for sale. After being asked by customers to grab their wine bottles from behind us and still had not been greeted by anyone we decided to look for a different table. We found a table in a better area, but next to a big, loud private party. Our server greeted us and asked if we had paid. As of October 1st it is now $5 each, not an issue, but would have been nice if that was posted on the website. After asking us to pick a few wines at a time to save her time and after complaining about how little the staff is paid there she took our money and left. We were still sitting at an unbussed table with the loud private party next to us. We saw a table outside and asked our server if it would be ok to move. Our server outside was no better. No explanation of the different kinds of wine, no personality and the pours were so small you could barely wet your palette let alone get a good taste of the wine. As soon as you swirled it around in your mouth the taste was gone. I actually took pictures of our pours, if I could post them I would! We were rushed through like cattle. We arrived before 4 and at 5:45 were told they could not open new bottles of wine. So, so very disappointing especially because I had heard great reviews about this winery. Horrible experience. Hope they can get it together. The vineyard was beautiful.

Usual "monthly" visit for lunch and wine.. Great food and great wine @ good prices, highly recommend this place, the white wine's are better than the red's. Nice lunch menu.

We were excited to find a vineyard in Michigan as grape growing is expanding geographically in the United States and Canada. We sampled a Chardonnay and two reds which were very nice. They also serve lunch which we had on the sunny patio. A great meatloaf sandwich, a mixed salad and a glass of white wine with a view of the vines being harvested made for a very pleasant meal.