A Weekend For Two · Wine For Two
Sit Down For The Wine.
A crowded tasting bar on a summer Saturday is a different outing from a seat at a table with someone pouring for the two of you. The good news is that some of the best sit-down tastings on the lake are within a few minutes of the cottage.
Two or three in a day is plenty. Book the first one, and leave the afternoon loose.
Book A Seat
All on the east side, all close to the cottage.
Forge Cellars
Burdett · east side · Under Ten Minutes
A guided, sit-down tasting in their Summer House, booked ahead. Right in Burdett, so it is the nearest serious pour to the cottage.
- Tastings by reservation only
- Wednesday to Saturday, at 11 or 1
- Their salon is open Wednesday to Sunday
From their own website · source · checked September 17, 2026
Hillick & Hobbs
Burdett · east side · Under Ten Minutes
A dry Riesling estate on steep slate slopes above the lake. Sit down for a vertical of their Rieslings, or walk the vineyard first and taste after.
- Seated tasting, $22 each
- Vineyard tour, 75 minutes, $35 — April 18 to November 15
- Open until 8 on Thursdays
- Wine by the glass or bottle without booking a tasting
From their own website · source · checked September 17, 2026
Atwater Vineyards
Hector · east side · Under Ten Minutes
Five wines at a table with a little cheese, walked through by someone who knows them. An unhurried hour.
- Guided seated tasting of five wines with a small cheese sampling
- About 45 to 60 minutes
- Reservations recommended
From their own website · source · checked September 17, 2026
When You Didn’t Plan
One more thing: Bloomer Creek, in Hector, still turns up in searches, but it stopped public tastings in 2022. Don’t drive there expecting a pour.
For the afternoon you did not plan. A standing tasting bar with no booking, and the bistro next door if it turns into dinner.
- No reservation needed
- 11 to 5 daily
From their own website · source · checked September 17, 2026
Before You Drive Anywhere
Every place here was checked, and each one says where the information came from and when. Most come from the business’s own website or the agency that runs the park; where only a third party vouches for a place, we say so. Policies change, especially on busy summer weekends, so a quick call is never wasted. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Then Back To The Dock.
A one-bedroom cottage on the east shore, where the sun goes down over the water in front of your chairs.