Wine Club 56: Fall Brunch

Date: October 20th, 2013
Host: Andrea
Served: Pumpkin latte pancakes, fried eggs, sausage, caramel apple cider

The Seeker Riesling 2012 (Mosel, Germany) 10.5% alcohol, $11 at Otto's Wine Cask

Andrea says (16.5): Very pale wine, almost a mint green color. Smelled like honey, apples, and a dusty mineral smell. Smooth mouth feel, tart, nice body. taste of honey and lemon.

Kim says (16): Yep, I decided to let my geek flag fly on this one. In a nod to Terry Goodkind's Legend of the Seeker series and of course, dual recognition to Once Upon a Time and our own The Vine Diary, these two wines made my inner sci-fi/fantasy fan and wine geek smile! Anyway, this wine smelled perfectly of a crisp, autumn day... like granny smith apples and slightly dusty. The taste was a study in contrast- smooth, tart, acidic, sweet. Like Christine said- honey and lemons. Very well-balanced, even with the bit of pucker on the finish... yum! Unfortunately, clashed with breakfast.

Christine says (13): Very pale appearance, like water. Smelled like flowers, lemon, apples and maybe lime peel. Bright and green smell. A bit puckery, but had a rich, viscous mouthfeel. Tart finish.



Once Upon a Vine The Fairest Chardonnay 2011 (CA, USA) 13.5% alcohol, $8 at Otto's Wine Cask

Andrea says (14.5): I loved the title of this wine! Cute name. This wine was also very pale, but more of a lemon/lime color. Smelled like pear, floral and a little smokey. Also a little yeasty which sometimes I describe as a "baby food" smell. This wine was smooth and sweet, smokey, nice body, tasted like tart apple.

Kim says (10): Not the warm, rich, gold color I think of with a chardonnay- a pale, almost greenish cast. Something funky on the nose... sweet potato skin? Lacking in bouquet and body, I also found this chardonnay to be high acid and low sugar. How do I really feel about this one? Ambivalent.

Christine says (15.5): Light pale greenish gold, with very small bubbles. Smelled of yeast, pears, slight vanilla and a little sweat. Alcohol taste, viscous, green apples and a sharp taste (of oak?). Pretty long finish. It didn't taste frizzante, despite the bubbles. Good for the price!




I could eat breakfast food all day...

Always some wildlife at Andrea's!
Christine identified this guy as a cormorant.







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.