Family-owned orchard opens long-awaited wine room

It began as a simple roadside stand selling apples; now Cottage Creek Orchard is branching out with Casali Winery.

It’s a family business, run by Anthony and Tracy Casali, on the corner of Harper and Okemos Roads in Mason. 

For 13 years, the orchard has served a variety of Michigan products, specialty goods and home decor. And, of course, apples including Honeycrisp, Gala, Ruby Mac, Jonaprince and Granny Smith. The orchard picked about twenty thousand pounds of apples last year, Tracy Casali told City Pulse. (Editor’s note: an apple pie needs about two or three pounds of apples).

Adding a wine room was always part of the plan. 

“It’s taken a few years to get the business up and going,” Casali said. 

Casali said the barn, designed and built by the family, was constructed with intention. 

“Many people have said it reminds them of being up north or like a Traverse City field,” she said. “It’s not what you would expect from what it looks like on the outside.”

She handled the barn’s interior design. “We wanted it to be some place that people go to feel comfortable,” she said.

Casali recently retired after 30 years teaching art at local schools and is still serving Mason; it just looks a little different. Instead of paintbrushes and watercolors, she’s politely handing out wine flights and cider growlers. “We want to provide those moments for people in the community to make those memories and have those good times,” she said. 

The winery’s menu has a dozen wines and four hard ciders on tap. For something more solid, a light food menu features charcuterie, bread with dipping oil and chips with an orchard-made salsa. They opted for a light menu this season to keep things simple. “We’ve always prided ourselves on doing something at the top level,” Casali said. They plan to have non-alcoholic options as well.

While there was a soft opening before the orchard closed in January, the wine room is officially ready for the season on Sept. 10. Customers will have access to a patio and covered porch in addition to the wine room itself. Casali said the patio is new  this year, “so we just want to make sure we roll it out correctly.”

Kids are welcome to the orchard, but Casali said the experience is geared towards adults. “It’s a little bit more of an elevated experience.” 

The orchard hours for the 2026 season will be 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. The orchard typically closes for the season in early January.