Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room — Shelby Township

This is where it started. Shannon and Cortney Casey, both certified sommeliers, opened the first Michigan By The Bottle tasting room on Hayes Road in 2012 — and in doing so created what’s generally credited as the first room in the state to pour multiple unaffiliated Michigan wineries side by side. That format now runs to four locations and a good many imitators.

The model is the same everywhere: a rotating cast of Michigan’s boutique, family-run wineries, flights and glasses, bottles to take home shelved by style, small bites, outside food currently permitted. Shelby’s outdoor seating is modest next to the others — a few shaded tables and chairs rather than a proper patio — but it exists, which means the dog can come too.

We’ve been to the Auburn Hills location and not to this one, so treat this as a pointer rather than a verdict. The thing to know before you drive out is the schedule: the original now opens three days a week, Friday through Sunday. Plan around that, and go for the history as much as the wine.