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.

Wine Club 33: Wisconsin Wine, Winter Squash Lasagna

Date: January 18th, 2013
Host: Christine
Served: Chop block bread, Butternut Squash Lasagna, Dijon-Walnut Spinach Salad, blondies
Bonus bottle (from the host's personal inventory): 2011 Rosemount Traminer Riesling

Domaine de la Terrière Beaujolais; Wollersheim Prairie Fumé

Wollersheim Prairie Fumé 2011 (Prairie du Sac, WI, USA), seyval blanc grape. 10% alcohol, $9.00

Christine says (16.5): Very pale, with slate edges. Pears, grassiness, lime and green apple in the bouquet. Taste was surprisingly honeyed, with a rich mouthfeel. This would be great with a variety of foods! Andrea said this is Wollersheim's most popular wine, and I can see why. 

Kim says (16): an odd, pale silver color... almost clear. While my olfactory perception is not half as discerning as Christine or Andrea’s, I could smell pear, grass, honey and lemon (usually I am the one that just smells “dirt” or “fruit”). Based on just the taste, I would say this wine has good appeal and paired well with the bread.

Andrea says (18.5): I really enjoyed this wine! The bouquet was awesome, and it really tasted like it smelled. Tart at first, like lime and green apple but also like honey, pear, and apricot. Great with the bread!

Domaine de la Terrière Beaujolais 2011 (France). 12% alcohol, $12.00

Christine says (15.5): Hmmm. This wine really had me stumped from the outset. It smelled like vanilla and pop tarts to me (sweet and toasty, with sugar icing). Maybe like a glazed doughnut, too. It tasted like red berries and cherries, and had a long, lingering finish. Did I also taste woodsy/wet leaves/smokiness? Yes, but I'm not sure which one. This was not your typical Beaujolais. Too many surprises! Also check out how translucent this wine was...it almost looked like colored water!

Kim says (11.5): my own score surprises me because I have a bit of a soft spot for Beaujolais. It was the first varietal that I came across that I consistently liked... steady and dependable. As Christine says, Beaujolais is a good “gateway” wine! While this particular Beaujolais scored well in the categories of tannin, acid, finish and body (interesting, given its extreme translucence), I thought it came up short in aroma and appeal. And I smelled something I never detected in a wine before... while I like the smell of a campfire, this just made me think of wet ash in the fire pit after it had been pouring rain all night. That being said, funny thing is throughout our entire meal, my glass of Beaujolais is the one I kept reaching for as it paired extremely well with Christine's amazing lasagna!

Andrea says (13): I was surprised by my score as well, I'm usually a fan of Beaujolais. The color was nice but surprisingly transparent for Beaujolais. For me, the down side was the aroma, which is how I best experience wine. All I could seem to smell was alcohol, dirt, and some how fish? The taste was nice, raspberry, cherry, and smokey. I thought it went best with the salad which had cranberry and toasted pecans, yum! I gave it a good score, but not my usually great score.

My riff on the lasagna from Vegetarian Times was a success! I decreased the squash, used cooked lasagna noodles, and added mozzarella, eggs and herbs.

1 medium butternut squash (3 pounds)
8  lasagna noodles
2 eggs

15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. each dried basil and chervil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese



1. Cut squash in half, seed, prick skin with a knife and roast at 350 in 1/4 inch of water for 1 hour or until tender. Cool.

2. Boil lasagna noodles and drain.
3. Combine 1 egg, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a bowl.
4. Scoop squash pulp into a second bowl and beat until smooth. Add 1 egg, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and the herbs; mix well.
5. Spread 1/2 cup squash mixture into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Top with two noodles (having cut one noodle in half to make a single layer three noodles wide). Top with half of the remaining squash mixture.
6. Layer with two more noodles, half of the ricotta mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella, two noodles, remaining squash, remaining noodles and remaining cheeses (ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella).
7. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 35-40 minutes longer or until golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

                                                                  

Awww...Valentine blondies

Sun-dried tomato chop block bread

Pretty keeps us all in check!