If I had a dime for all the times I’m asked about Minnesota Wine, I’d be a very wealthy lady.  Or, if I had a FAQ List of the things I’m asked about coming from a wine basis every nite – What do you think about Minnesota Wine? – would be at the top of the list as #1.  So what do I think?

I’ve put together a couple of blog posts along the way along with a video or two reviewing some Minnesota Wines – yet, I find myself getting deeper behind some of Minnesota’s Wine Growing History. 

Did you know that much of the Minnesota’s Grape Growing History dates back to the mid 70s with Winery, Alexis Bailly, acting as the first to open its doors in 1978?  Or, how bout the fact that much of what is grown here, in the way of grapes, was agriculturally composed at the University of Minnesota?  And what about the fact that a U of M constructed grape by the name of Frontenac, is one of THE most popular red grapes to date in the Midwest?  And finally, that we have over 1500 acres now under vine in the state of Minnesota?  Pretty cool, huh?

(For more Minnesota Grape Growing History)

Often times, I end up in these conversations with folks – as they so snootily have their noses turned up – stating that the grapes we have here should not be compared to the hierarchy of grape scale that we are used to consuming - deriving many of their roots from European countries.  Recently, I accepted a comment from a MN Grape Grower, applauding my ‘open mindedness’ when it came to the grapes of MN.  Happy that I had not compared them to the Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noirs of the world.  Stating that he too felt that the world should not, just in the same sentence, compare Burgundy to Bordeaux as regions.  Different profiles, styles, climates, soils and lastly…grapes!

I suppose that is my purpose as a sommelier, to keep YOUR world of wine – OPEN.  I didn’t stick to working only restaurants, or selling wine, or really any one facet of my industry.  I’ve made sure to work every angle of my industry – from the field, table-side, distribution and all the way through to an educative role.  My idea of ‘great’ wine is a rare find – and as great winemaker friend once told me – there aren’t many on this planet.  Yet, there are a zillion good and even really good wines out there.  So I say – Try them all and really, check them all out.  Eat them with everything and THEN and only then, can you begin to really figure out for yourself what you think is good, really good and great. 

My most recent saying ‘Don’t kick a grape out of your life, until you’ve tried it around the globe’

Although you may feel like you’re a Chardonnay drinker, have you tried it from every corner of the world?  Or, the same for Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Merlot?  Remember, the U.S. is NOT where many of your favorite wine grapes began.  However, the opposite can be said for many of these Minnesota grapes grown right here in our own backyards.  Just because it reads a little funny and comes away with a different grape name than you’re used to – doesn’t mean you can or should discount it – until you’ve really tried it and perhaps tried it with just the right foods.

Case in point…I was asked a few weeks back to host a Minnesota Wine Tasting alongside a Minnesota Beer Tasting with my pal, Cicerone Michael Agnew, of A Perfect Pint.  Of course Michael’s job, a piece of cake.  Think of ALL the options he had to choose from?  With an audience ranging in every age group and state location – I had to certainly choose wines – just as had to with beer – that were fitting as a style for many different palates.  While the range went deep, here were a couple of my favorites and incidentally, great wines for your summer table.

Alexis Bailly Vineyards VOYAGEUR
Hastings, Minnesota
STYLE: A bold red wine of blended old world french grapes and new varieties developed to survive Minnesota winters
ALCOHOL: 13%, no residual sweetness

The Voyageur wine was named for the French/Canadian pioneers who paddled the waterways in their birch bark canoes from the St. Lawrence seaway through the Mississippi, finding their way to Hastings led by the winery owner’s 4th great grandfather, Alexis Bailly.

The wine reflects that pioneering spirit in taking our old world grape varieties from France (the Leon Millot and Marechal Foch grapes) that were the original plantings in our vineyard in 1973 and blending them with the new world grapes developed at the University of Minnesota (the Frontenac grape).
The wine is deeply colored with rich flavor, bold and opulent fruit flavors of black berries, smoky vanilla aromas from extensive aging in new mid-western oak barrels, a wonderfully balanced wine that drinks deliciously when young yet rewards you with greater complexity as it ages from 3 ­ 8 years in the bottle. Pair with similarly robust foods, hearty pastas, grilled meats, wild game, but know that it drinks soft and supple all on its own.

 Cannon River Winery ST PEPIN
Cannon Falls, Minnesota
Crisp flavors with a hint of pineapple, apple, and pear aromas, off-dry with a medium body; similar to Sauvignon Blanc.
Grapes Used: St. Pepin – a Minnesota grape grown in our vineyard.
The winery has created a family of wines that has something for wine lovers… and wine likers. They are proud to say that their wines are based on Minnesota hybrid varieties, such as St. Pepin, LaCrosse and Frontenac, to name a few. Like most Minnesotans, these grapes survive our tough winters in good spirits, and show plenty of character as a result.

To be honest, both of these wines were delicious!  While most expected the wines to end up sweet or even a little fat, comparing them to a variety of fruit wine – my audience was ALL very pleasantly surprised. 

The white, a fabulous summer sipper with hints of lemongrass and white peach – dry and the Voyageur, a delightful pairing to any holiday BBQ gathering.  Also, a very nice accoutrement to any hearty winter supper.  Both, really some of THE best wines I’ve had now in the Midwest.  Proud and of course, very happy, to always represent my community when I can and also, excited to share my two new favorites with you all.  Run out and get ’em for your 4th of July table this weekend and really, celebrate those who work hard in our community to bring them to you from their farms!

Salut to these American Made Wines!

Funny how life brings us to where we are.  Just 4 and 1/2 years ago, I sat in an office perched above the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley.  My life, belonging to one of the most coveted Oregon wineries, was quite…as I look back at it…a pretty kick ass life.  Director to one of the world’s most prestigious Pinot Noir houses in the New World, Archery Summit Winery.

Today my life, hard to imagine, even better.  Living in the Midwest brings me back to my roots, my heart and soul.  With a life more fulfilling than well, life itself.  And as it turns out, is outstanding.  Who knew life would bring me thus far.  A dually certified Sommelier, working on my own coveted existance, a long road hopefully ending with a certification as a Master Sommelier.  All topped off with a successful business of my own, Amusée…life is pretty outstanding.

YET…this is not the purpose of my post today.  Tonite, I sit in a bit of fog, comparing two outstanding Willamette Valley Oregon wineries.  Archery Summit, my once home and also my then, competition, Sokol Blosser Winery.  The best part THEN, my office sat just above Susan Sokol’s main estate and property – Sokol Blosser Winery.  The window to my office, just a peak over the Archery Summit Estate of Archery Summit Winery into Susan and her Family’s Winery.  Not. A. Bad. Gig.  Not to mention- a visual into some of my life’s most rewarding ‘wine’ memories.

Now, my husband and I are a part of the Archery Summit ‘A-List’ Wine Club – a club I helped produce – and buy locally, the gorgeous wines of Sokol Blosser Winery.  While I am – yes, yes, yes – a HUGE fan of both of their Pinot Noirs, tonite our enjoyment comes from each of their Pinot Gris wines.  

Wine #1 ~ Archery Summit ‘Ab Ovo’ ~  A wine only offered through the A-List wine club of Archery Summit Winery.  A latin named derived ‘from the egg’ – concrete egg that is.  Aging, only ‘from the concrete egg’ it sat in.  Lean, unified and somehow so gorgeously integrated – all of its balanced fruit & acid tone extending from a concrete egg.

A bottle, I so graciously paid over $40 for and so GRACIOUSLY, sat on a waiting list for.  And as it came to be, after sitting on a ‘wish list’ of sorts,  and finally having the allowance of buying a total of 4 t bottles as a household.

Tasting Notes ~  L-O-V-E.  Maybe I’m biased, but dude, I know the work that goes into tending these vineyards.  Leah Bartholomew, ASW’s Vineyard Mgr, one of the best in the U.S. & Anna M, a ridiculously talented Winemaker with more words to describe wine than the Oxford Dictionary – awesome.  And with Corey Buyer, Cellarmaster, at the helm – the trio is a triple threat to wine.

Creamy, yet loaded with fresh papaya and round honeydew – the $’s definitely add up.  Delicious and a wine that I pulled out tonite because I wanted to celebrate my nite off with my hotty husband.  Floral with a lush, white flower peel, supple and yet, very crisp at the finish.  Are the dollars, however, adding up to the whopping 40 some dollars we paid for it?  That’s the question.

Wine #2 ~ Sokol Blosser Pinot Gris ~ a wine so fabulously offered through the channels of distribution here in Minnesota.  A wine, at the same time, offered at almost HALF the price as Archery Summit’s coveted Ab Ovo.  And, a wine…again, that can be purchased just down the street at one of my favorite wine shops, France 44.

Tasting Notes ~ F-A-B.  However, a completely different wine with a completely set of tasting notes.  Baked apple, pear and really fresh, cooked fruit.  Yeasty in quality, giving the mouth-feel a full sensation.  Fat with complexity, and interesting in the same moment.  A baked chicken, perhaps, the right dish here.  Or, just a piece of American Apple Pie.  Again, nice – elegant and really quite beautiful and complex for the $20 price point.

While I’m sensitive to price point and really look out for what is WORTH THA DOLLA - I think you have to look at both for their price points and quality.

Conclusion ~  Archery Summit Ab Ovo for $40+ and as a Winery Exclusive = pretty kick A$$.  I have to give it to Anna.  Y-U-M.

But wait!  What if you’re not part of the supposed ‘A-List’ of ASW’s Wine Club?  That’s the bummer and sometimes exclusive parts to the wine world I both love and don’t always love…

So with equal manner, Sokol Blosser’s Pinot Gris, is a fabulous choice. I feel, not as crispy clean, fresh and floral as the ASW’s Ab Ovo – BUT is a full, earthy, round gorgeous Pac NW Pinot Gris for the dollar.  Well well worth the BUCK!

So there you have it…

Want more from Archery Summit and Sokol Blosser, both from the Dundee Hills of the Willamette (yes, like Dammit!) Valley?

~ Check them both out at Archery Summit Winery & Sokol Blosser Winery.

Salut! Best of all, to TWO fabulous wines paired to S-U-M-M-E-R!

Summer brings out the best in our grilling skills, doesn’t it?  While hot dogs and hamburgers are a quick and easy way to satisfy your inner grill master, why not whip up a fabulous marinade to throw on your favorite cut of meat, throw it on and call it good? 

Here, in Cooking Club Magazine, is my piece for the June issue relating to a number of grilling marinades and the wines that pair to them – for a fresh, sizzlin’ steak right off the grill.  Check ‘em out!

 Wishing you all a super duper summer so far!

 Wanted to fill you all in on one amazing event coming up here in the next couple of weeks. 

 I am organizing an event with the ladies of Minneapolis’s Casa Verde Design Studio to put on one outstanding event for a phenomenal charity, The Smile Network  On Friday, June 24th (details listed in invite) at the Casa Verde Design location, we plan to make this one of the Twin Cities Largest Charitable Events of the Summer, raising monies to assist this amazing organization. 

 Our ‘Sips for Smiles’ Event includes:

 A variety of wine tasting stations sommelier selected to pair to a number of outstanding hand crafted food stations!

 An artisanal cheese station provided by France 44, handmade appetizers with chef demo’d stations provided by Chefs Mike Shannon & Maggie Lyon of Cooks of Crocus Hill and hand-rolled truffles and caramels will be served by Randy Kingsbury of Randy’s Candies – all have which have been organized to provide a number of fabulous treats paired to a corresponding wine station. 

 While the food and wine are certainly a hi-lite to our event, we’re hoping the number of fabulous auction lot pieces The Smile Network has been able to collect will draw the most excitement!

 Auction lot items include:

 A number of originally hand-signed John Lennon Lithographs

A selection of autographed professional guitars by artists:  Rascal Flats, Sugarland, Cheryl Crow and Styx

A selection of handmade clothes, bags and art pieces provided by citizens of the countries the Smile Network has assisted

 AND a $250,000 wine collection including a number of world renowned verticals.  Verticals and single bottle vineyards include a number of First Growth Bordeauxs, Cult Status-ed Californian Wines (like Screaming Eagle and more) – along with a smattering of unbelievable international wines that most have only ‘heard’ about!  This is truly one opportunity you may never have again – outside of a Christie’s Wine Auction!!  And, all available for you to bid on and take home…

 Again, all proceeds from the auction pieces and a portion of your ticket cost will go to The Smile Network! 

 We are hoping to have over 300 folks attend our event, so we’d love to see you there.   If you know someone that may be interested in our event, pls go ahead and pass this email on.

Click here for more details and to reserve your ticket today!

 Thanks again to you all for your unbelievable support and I hope to see you soon.

 Cheers!

Planning your summer can be a pretty tough job. 

With all that sneaks up on you, before you know it – the summer will be half way over and you’ll be wondering where it all went. 

So before it all gets away from you, start planning for some of the summer’s most fun wine events now!  With a slew of variety and whole ton of fun to be had, check into some of the Twin Cities hottest food and wine pairing classes before it’s too late.  These classes sell out quick, we’d hate for you to miss out on some of our most popular classes like Steak and Cab, Super Summer Sippers & Small Plates and more. 

Click here for more details…and we’ll see you there! 

I love summer!

Yes, I know we went from late winter to just about practically July, but I don’t care.  I love the heat, the smell that the humidity gives the air and more.  There isn’t much I don’t appreciate about the hot summer sun on my face.  Yet, one of my favorite things about summer – is all the delicious produce that it produces!

After a long weekend of relaxing in the sun, picking weeds from my flower garden, and enjoying my time away from work - I couldn’t wait each nite to dive into the basket of local organic fruits and vegetables I had purchased throughout the weekend.  Perusing through a slew of fresh goodies from the local farmer’s markets in my hood, I was instantly reminded of the goodness that surrounds my community.  Peeps working hard to give me the best darn ingredients possible when it comes to the food that I eat.  One gem…fresh strawberries.  There isn’t anything like them.  Red through the center and juicy through to the last bite, I love fresh strawberries! 

One of THE best darn recipes, I swear, to date that I’ve had with fresh strawberries comes from my friend, Chef Mike Shannon of Cooks of Crocus Hill.  Last week at a class that Mike and I taught at Cooks on Grand in St Paul – he reminded me of that super summer recipe he makes with fresh summer strawberries.  What made this recipe even better?  The wine that I paired to it! 

The recipe (below) for Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries, I promise, will send you into orbit.  But truly, it was the wine… Contero Brachetto d’Acqui…that stole the show with this pairing.  Truly a match made in heaven and labeled in my book ~ a delightful perfect pairing!

With its scintillating ruby red color and bouquet of rose petals and raspberries, this delicious, pleasantly sweet, effervescent wine is a natural to begin or end a romantic dinner, or break out for friends and family to enjoy for holiday parties and New Year’s Eve. At only about 5.5% alcohol, Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG makes a great afternoon aperitif and pairs well with bitter chocolate, light sweets, fruit tarts, and sugar cookies.  

According to the regulation of DOCG status of 1996, Brachetto d’Acqui must be produced from 100% Brachetto grapes from the specified terroir. Brachetto grapes are harvested from the end of August to mid-September. The must soaks with the skins for two days in order to obtain the desired ruby color, then aged three months in the bottle. It should be drunk young to reveal its tantalizing scent of Bulgarian roses, must, and fruit.

Served chilled in a sparkling glass ~ this sumptuous libation will have your dinner guests raving!

Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

Serves 8

Recipe Complements of Chef Mike Shannon ~ Cooks of Crocus Hill

4 cups heavy cream (or half-and-half)

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)

6 tablespoons cold water

 Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat. Scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then rewarm the mixture before continuing.

 Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.

 Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

 Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm ~ 2-4 hours.

 Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and top with balsamic strawberries.

Balsamic Strawberries

2 pints strawberries, hulled, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons quality balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and pepper 1 hour before serving. Set aside at room temperature.

Don’t miss out on this spectacular summer kick off at Wayzata CC this Friday!
Are you a member?  What are you waiting for?  Sign up and get in for one of the summer’s hottest club events…

It’s Time for Wine!

 Our Summer Wine Lawn Party is on Friday, June 3^rd and I wanted to make sure you knew about it.  Leslee Miller our Wine Sommelier has invited multiple Wine vendors to dazzle you with their portfolio’s.  It will be an evening of superb wines and great friends and we would love for you to be a part of it all!