Chateau Chantal Winery and Inn — Restaurant in Peninsula Township

The ONLY reason why it’s not 1 is cuz of the wines and the views. Buckle in folks....

So we made reservations online. They are only accepting groups of 4 and we had 5 so we decided to add our other member on at the winery. We paid online for reservations ($10 a person for 3 tastes) which is the only way to make them right now. They have an outdoor seating area with no reservations for groups over 4 but due to the lack of answering phones we didn’t know that. We got there and were told our table was inside and to get in line, grab our flights and head to any open table. Upon arriving in the room an older lady with short hair told me my mask I was wearing wasn’t” good enough” and proceeded to tell me I had to wear one of the ones they provided even though I was already sitting. I didn’t argue. The man at the bar said it was okay since they were slow to add a fifth person to the the table. This same lady gave us a huge problem with that aswell even though we already paid! A table next to us who had 4 seats, only 2 in use offered for our member to sit with them. This lady was so rude telling us no, saying they were at full capacity even though at least 4 tables were completely empty! Honesty one of the RUDEST women I’ve ever met.

The wine: the wine was so good. I really liked the sweet flight and ended up ordering a glass of the select Harvest. The views are breathtaking too.

Please get better staff. Some of us have medical restrictions and cannot wear certain masks. I was wearing A MASK and it’s accepted every where else. Will NOT be back.

EDIT: Your reply is amazingly rude coming from a manager or owner. The way we were treated was awful and your logic of the "dinning room" being "full" when it wasn't was incredibly ignorant. There were 15, to 20 tables in this room and only 4 or 5 were occupied. Don't tell me THAT was capacity-even with covid seating limitations! A table of 2 offered our extra member a seat and you (i'm assuming you were the lady who was rude to us) no longer had an argument. Obviously covid is real and we understood your rules but the way you handled yourself was uncalled for. ALSO, you have no right to tell anyone what kind of mask they wear. I wore that mask because I have asthma and cannot breathe in one. Rather than waste my time and energy arguing I found a way to be compliant . It simply does not make any sense to force us to wear a mask in the room UNLESS we are siping wine..it's not like the table becomes a force field once we are seated. The room was completely dead and didn't fill up, so your lying on that end. Also we did end up moving outside after the hate you gave us. Please do your research before you tell someone what kind of mask they can...

My wife and I stayed here for our 5 year anniversary. We had an amazing experience at Chateau Chantal. During our stay we tried the Wine Education dinner and had a blast. Some people might be turned off by the group meal setting but we found it made the experience more enjoyable talking with other couples between the courses. There was a couple there who had just gotten married so there was a large portion of the dinner group taken up by their wedding party which was fun to be a part of. The food was incredible and the wine pairings were perfect. We felt that the moderator and chef did an excellent job describing the meals and how the wine played with the course. The tour beforehand was enjoyable too, getting to learn the different steps in the making process. Overall I know more about wine now than I ever thought I would.

One of the nicest parts of staying at the Chateau Chantal was that you have the opportunity to have your tasting after everything has closed to the general public. They leave out the bottles with spouts on them so you can get in your wine tasting on your own (as part of staying overnight you get 6 samples and 1 glass per day). Since we had arrived later in the day and had to get ready for the wine education dinner we didn't have time to have our visit to the tasting room so we went after the dinner. It was an awesome experience just lounging around the tasting room and shop with the only people around being others that were staying the night.

The rooms were very large for a bed and breakfast with very reasonably priced items in the room to go with any wines you wanted. The breakfast the next day was great. I had expected something simple like pastries, fruit, and coffee and maybe a choice of some eggs but what was a pleasant surprise. There was crisp bacon, baked eggs and cheese, fruit, and homemade peach muffins that I couldn't stop eating.

The views from Chateau Chantal are amazing and I would recommend staying there in the fall if you can!

We'll definitely...

Chateau Chantal was on our advanced list of places to visit as it was mentioned in a number of books and articles that we had read. The location of this winery is the top selling point. Located back off the road you drive through the vineyards to make it back to the winery, inn, and tasting room. The winery is located on top of the hill with views of the bay on both sides. It is one of the best settings ever to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.

So let's talk about the three stars. First off, this place is designed to crank people through their tasting area. When you walk in the door you have to stop and purchase your ticket before you even walk into the tasting room. The tasting is $10 for a three-wine tasting, or you can get a single glass of wine for the same amount. Then you stand in a queue with your ticket in hand to go to a tasting station.

We had a nice young man working at the winery while attending the maritime college in Traverse City. He was helpful and set us up with our three tasters in a cool wine caddy so you can take your wines outside.

I would definitely stick to the roses and whites here. Our favorite was the sparkling rose, and we purchased a bottle for a friend who we would be visiting later on the trip. The reds on the other hand were underwhelming. They were not very deep in their flavors and just were not something that I would choose to drink regularly.

Then the staff starts throwing away box after box of wine bottles into a dumpster directly below where we were sitting. Do you know that sound of crashing glass that just makes you cringe? Do that over and over again and the setting is ruined. I wish we had been able to visit other wineries in the area to have more of a comparison, but this was not exactly what I...