Wine & Harvest Festival

Oh… my… god. We’re driving across Michigan, I’m thinking about my new wine obsession, and suddenly the wine gods smile on us and I spot a sign for this festival that was going to be riiight on the way. YES
We actually only made it the free wine tastings at the two wineries in town – St Julian’s and Warner’s. HIGHLY recommend St. Julian’s. Yes, it’s totally held in big stuffy tent in the gravel lot behind their building. Enter the tent, however, and you are basically in wine tasting heaven.
They pretty much brought out every single one of their wines for the occasion. There were at least nine different stations, each featuring 4 – 8 wines, with laminated sheets displaying the tasting notes. There were also tasting sheets and pencils for writing notes. For a wine beginner like me, this was an amazing way to learn about a whole lot of different varietals all at once, and I loved a lot of what I tasted.
The place was set up in such a way that there was absolutely no pressure to buy – in fact, sales were handled in a separate tent. Also, they were doing a 20% off sale on all bottles, rendering them cheaper than Binny’s! Crazy deal on their already affordably-​priced wine.
After all this, Warner’s was kind of a let down. The place was near empty when we arrived and it was a bit awkward with the wine attendants waiting as we tasted maybe three samples. We weren’t too impressed by our selections, so we left pretty soon afterwards. The grounds were very nice though, with the river running through it. Bottom line, just go to Julian’s. You will get sticky drinking many sips of wine out of tiny plastic cups and you will be happy.

«What’s the song of choice for stomping grapes you may ask? Well it’s Salt-n-Pepa’s „Push It“, obviously. Awwwww Yeaaaahhh. That’s right. „Push it, Push it Real Good!“ Hah! I love it.»
This is my hometown’s annual mid-​September festival to celebrate the harvest time and the fact that we have a winery. It’s a good time and I’ve been to every single one that I could attend since I was born. My dad always did the sound system for the band performances and the grape stomp… YES that’s right, this festival is well known for having grape stomping competitions all throughout the weekend celebrations. What’s the song of choice for stomping grapes you may ask? Well it’s Salt-n-Pepa’s «Push It», obviously. Awwwww Yeaaaahhh. That’s right. «Push it, Push it Real Good!» Hah! I love it.
There are also a ton of vendors set up along the main street with Greek food, various desserts (such as chocolate-​dipped cheesecake on a stick which is my ALL-​TIME favorite and that I must get each year), elephant ears (funnel cakes), hotdogs, BBQ ribs, fresh lemonade, etc.
There are so many things to see and do over this fest’s 3-​day period that I don’t even know where to begin. They have:
1. Winery tours & tasting
2. A carnival midway full of rides and games
3. Local bands/​musicians playing down at the amphitheater on Maple Lake
4. The Grape Stomp (the grape stomping competitions I was talking about before)
5. Fireworks over Maple Lake on Friday evening at dusk
6. A beer tent and a St. Julian Fest tent with more bands/​musicians playing late into the night
7. Paw Paw Rotary Scholarship Fund Book Sale at the American Legion from Saturday morning into the late afternoon
8. The Grape Lake 5K Run/​Walk early Saturday morning
9. The Grape Escape Classic Car, Truck & Motorcycle Show
10. An antiques sale
11. A turtle derby (where they race baby turtles on an inclined wooden raceway. Don’t worry, they don’t hurt the turtles)
12. An Arts & Crafts Fair (that has some of the coolest items I’ve ever seen for sale in terms of arts and crafts items)
13. Stompyland inflatable activity area for the kiddies
14. The Hole in One contest on Maple Lake (where winners have won cars in the past)
15. A sloppy joe luncheon at the Masonic Lodge
16. The Grape Escape Motorcycle Ride Blessing & Ride
17. The Vineyard Classic Bicycle Tour
18. A Gathering For All-​Worship, Sound, and Word on Sunday morning
19. A fine art show and sale at the Carnegie Center
20. The St. Julian Festival Parade
21. The Grape Escape Marketplace on the corner of Michigan and Niles St.
And so much more (and less) depending on what they decide to add or subtract from one year’s festivities to the next. But most of the stuff I just listed is 99% guaranteed to happen every year in mid-​September in a cool, little town called Paw Paw in the southwest corner of Michigan. Ahh, how I miss thee, my home sweet home.
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