Setting Up Dexter

It's another year (it's amazing how fast the time flies) and time again to open the tasting room inside the Dexter Cider Mill. The tasting room is open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as long as the Cider Mill is open -- generally late August through early to mid-November.

This morning, my Dad, Angelo, and I loaded up the pick-up and my car with two cases of each of our wines and headed east to the mill.

I missed the smells. The Dexter Cider Mill is one of the nicest smelling places on earth. Apples, fresh donuts, oak, historic building. Ummmm.

We set up the store, placing the bottles of wine in the old apple crates on the walls. I'll be there on Friday to open it to the public for the first time this season.

Doin' Dexter

This is our 2nd year in the Dexter Cider Mill and we just love it. Now that we've gotten past the liquor licensing tribulations (I don't think it's EVER easy!) of last year, this year has been such a pleasure.

The Dexter Cider Mill is the oldest continuously operating cider mill in Michigan. It was built in the 1880s and sits on the banks of the Huron River, just north of downtown Dexter. As you might expect, the mill originally operated with power from the river. Other than electricity now powering the mill, the cider is pressed as it always was, in oak. Most cider mills now press in stainless steel -- the old oak gives the cider a wonderful flavor. It's super-fresh and unpasteurized, so drink it quickly and enjoy the lovely, deep, sweet, complex flavors.

Nancy Steinhauer and her family run the mill. Just like us, they're a three-generation farm family.

We're located in the oldest part of the building. Last year we built a little tasting room, using old apple crates for wine storage. We carry the entire wine list for tasting and purchase. Stop by and visit us soon!