Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Wine Club 30: Wisconsin Wines & Christmas Brunch

Date: December 15th, 2012
Host: Christine
Served: Cranberry salad, blueberry muffins, sweet potato-andouille hash, lemon meringue pie
Bonus bottle: Poinsettias!

Wollersheim River Gold NV (Prairie Du Sac, WI, USA), Seyval Blanc grape, 10% alcohol, $8 at Wollersheim

Christine says (16): Very pale; cool, silvery color. Smelled of must, pear and floral. Sweet, with a tart bite. Short finish. Bright taste. Pleasant, likeable wine.

Kim says (16): A pale silver color which I found odd but attractive. Musty (but not too bad) and honeysuckle on the bouquet that made me think of a hot, summer day. Flavor was sweet (high sugar), buttery and rich (nice body). Rather unique for a wine... I could literally just drink this like juice!

Andrea says (17): This wine was very pale, looked like water. Bouquet that smelled like pear, banana and flowers. The taste was sweet and smooth. Pear and green apple flavors. This wine complimented the spices in the hash. I really like both (the hash and the wine).

Wollersheim Prairie Sunburst Red 2011 (Prairie Du Sac, WI, USA), Foch grape, 13% alcohol, $9 at Wollersheim

Christine says (11): Plum/garnet color. Thin appearance, but pretty. Cherries and vanilla in the bouquet. Tasted thin. Burned in the nose when tasted. Some spice, and slightly acidic. It reminded me of Barbera d'Asti with its light body and streak of acid.

Kim says (9): Hmm. Well, I apparently didn't have much to say about this wine because I didn't actually write anything down! Tannins were correct, and I felt this wine had good balance, good appeal and overall was a good wine. Looks like the low score was a result of being slightly off in all the other technical categories (color, body, acid, sugar, etc).

Andrea says (13): Ruby color like cranberries. I also smelled cherry and vanilla and something a little smokey. Tasted cranberry, raspberry and cherry. But I agree with Christine, thin taste. It seemed very different from when I had tasted it at the winery.... Unlike the River Gold, I thought it really clashed with the hash, made it extra spicy and burned my tongue.



I mixed Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Cava NV (Spain; $7 on sale at Whole Foods) with cranberry juice to make poinsettias. The humble hash doesn't look like much, but it tastes like heaven. What a delicious way to use up sweet potatoes! Top with a fried egg or two.

The salad is great for the holidays. I used 5 T. red wine vinegar instead of 3 T. balsamic. I subbed chopped green onions for the chives and shallots called for, and also tossed some green onions into the salad. Hold back some dressing to dress it to your tastes.

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