by stambrose | Nov 21, 2016 | Music
Celebrate the weekend with a great lineup of music this week at St. Ambrose Cellars! We’ve got shows on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday this week. Kick off the holiday with the musical stylings of Soul Patch, starting at 6PM – then take a load off after your Black Friday shopping with the always wonderful DeDe Alder, again starting at 6PM! And finally, Maggie McCabe comes out to St. Ambrose for the first time. All these events are – as usual – no cover and you’ll be able to enjoy our mead, wine, and food specials.
by stambrose | Nov 17, 2016 | Honey, Mead, Wine
It’s Thanksgiving season! You know what that means – food, family, and fun. And yeah, plenty of associated travel, stress, and potentially awkward situations. The holidays are stuffed full of the good, the bad, the awkward, and the ugly. We’re going to give you four ways that St. Ambrose Cellars can you help you survive unscathed.
Exercise Your Right
Uncle Joe has some strong opinions on recent events. Your cousins in college have been doing a lot of reading. And there’s always a nosy relative asking everyone questions a bit too personal. What’s the solution?
We, of course, want you to exercise your rights to free speech – but in a crowded space with lots of sharp kitchen utensils, you might want to exercise your right to refreshment instead. While everyone waits for the turkey, plop down a few of our XR Cyser bottles and change the topic of conversation yourself. “Apple Pie in a Bottle” is sure to get people talking about something a little less contentious.
Blend In
Ok, so maybe that didn’t work. Or maybe food is taking a lot longer than anticipated. Need to get away? The Real Tree AP Camo St. Ambrose long-sleeve will buy you the time you need. If the house doesn’t have a forest foliage themed wallpaper scheme, you can always run into the backyard. Nobody will notice, and you’ll get some needed alone time!
Show Your Red, White, and Blue Pride
The key to a peaceful dinner? Having a drink for everyone. We’ve got you covered, and you can show your patriotism.
For the red, we’ve got our 2013 Pinot Noir. Easy drinking Pinot goes great with the wide variety of big flavors you’re going to encounter on the Thanksgiving buffet table.
For the white, you’ve got 2011 Riesling Reserve. This classic from our cellar is running out and you’re going to want some of this before it’s gone! The refreshing taste of Riesling helps you get ready to mow down another turkey leg or six without overpowering the food.
For the blue, how about bringing in the Star Thistle? This traditional mead is unique and will be a new addition to many of your friends palettes. Star Thistle Mead is a semi-dry mead in the traditional style– simply fermented honey and water. It is a perfect entry point to the world of still mead and features a rich honey flavor with a crisp, dry finish.
Sweeten the Deal
Ok, let’s lay off the booze for a minute. How about adding some sweet, sweet, honey to your Thanksgiving meal? You could try this glazed shallot recipe, which features XR Cyser, for something different. Or you could some cinnamon raw honey, or the classic Tupelo, to pretty much anything on the table.
Close Strong
Finish the night strong with one of our dessert wine or dessert mead options. 2011 Forte is a red port-style wine that goes great with your favorite cigar, cheese, chocolate, or other after-dinner refreshment of choice, if you catch my drift. On the other side of the aisle, we’ve got the incomparable Royal Reserve.
Royal Reserve is aged in bourbon barrels for almost two years. As Noel says on the website, it is “The Nectar of the Gods!”.
There you go – a surefire survival guide to your Thanksgiving. And plenty of advertisements.
by stambrose | Aug 10, 2016 | Mead
Invoke the Goddess of Divine Blackberry Mead. Make the pilgrimage to the halls of St. Ambrose and experience the wonders of the Black Madonna. This one-of-a-kind sour blackberry mead will tantalize the taste buds and serenade the senses.
Black Madonna sour mead is a “session” mead in a draft style. While still-mead is in the 12% or higher ABV range, this easy drinking draft is 6.9% ABV – like a slightly strong beer.
Sour mead is mead co-fermented with yeast and friendly pro-biotics, creating a very pleasant naturally fruity mead that we make in the draft carbonated version.
It is very similar to the sour beer that is an old tradition in parts of Europe and is becoming more and more popular in the contemporary beer world. Razz and Wild Ginger also feature this unique sour fermentation technique – and there are more on the way.
What is Black Madonna?
Historically, “Black Madonna” refers to statues or paintings (usually of medieval origin) featuring the Virgin Mary with dark or black features. These works are mostly wooden, but some are stone and painted. There are approximately 500 Black Madonna works in Europe, mostly in traditionally Catholic countries.
There is no one explanation for these Black Madonna works. Some appear to be designed to reflect the local population, others have turned black over the years due to the materials used in their creation, and others simply do not fall into either category.
Black Madonna Mixes
Black Madonna is one of our most popular meads to mix. For an especially delightful day, try a 50/50 mix with John Lemon – it’s wild!
by stambrose | Jun 17, 2016 | Tasting Room
It’s Father’s Day weekend! It’s also a double-shot music packed weekend at the Cellars, and it’s looking to be beautiful in the Northern Michigan area after lots of rain early in the week. Get out, hit the links, fill a growler, catch a show, do some paddling – it’s the reason we live here.
Alfredo Improvisational Quartet
Alfredo takes the stage twice this weekend at St. Ambrose Cellars. On Friday night, they’ll play their traditional 6PM slot here in the tasting room. On Saturday night, again at 6PM, there are rumors of a barn show! Will this come true? There’s only way to find out. Be here – no cover, lots of drinks, and perhaps some of the food special will still be available!
Weekend Food Special
Crystal has once again cooked up something special for the weekend food special. Let’s let her tell us all about it:
We’re keeping it simple for a warm summer weekend – a honey (star thistle from Sleeping Bear Farms), apricot and almond goat cheese spread, served with grilled toast points which will be made on our panini grill.
This will pair well with John Lemon – the citrus will contrast and break up the creaminess of the cheese and the sweetness of the apricot. Also good will be Late Harvest Vignoles…the sweetness of the honey and apricot will blend nicely without being so sweet it overpowers the wine. Star Thistle mead will naturally compliment the honey and also the almonds for a nice highlight of flavors. I also think the Wild Ginger, 14 Riesling Reserve, Vin Gris and Pinot Noir would make interesting pairs.
Father’s Day
On Father’s Day, stop by St. Ambrose and try our new Sangria Sunday. Featuring our delicious Marsanne Viognier, this Sangria is available all day Sunday and you can take the recipe home with you as well! Grab a bottle and make your own additions.
LuLaRoe Returns
The ever-popular LuLaRoe show returns to St. Ambrose on Monday evening – you can find more details at the Facebook event.
by stambrose | Jun 9, 2016 | Tasting Room
It’s time for another beautiful weekend in Northern Michigan as summer really starts to roll! Schools are wrapping up, the temperature is back on the rise after a bit of a dip, and St. Ambrose Cellars has weekend entertainment for the whole family.
Davey O. Friday Night
Davey O. graces the tasting room on Friday night. His Americana stylings are going to bring a new element to the scene here and we are super excited to have him. You can learn a bit more about him and view some of his clips in a post from earlier this week.
Food Specials
Crystal is going to bring the deliciousness to the tasting room on Friday night and Saturday with a panini special! Get all the details here. Stop by for lunch and enjoy a sandwich and mead out on the beautiful patio, where you can play with one of the bag toss games made with boxes from our friends at Grow Benzie and Sleeping Bear Farms. If you really like them, take one home from the tasting room – all the proceeds go to help with the Hivemined program you can learn about here.
Mt. Pleasant Craft Beer Festival
Come out and meet n’ greet some of the St. Ambrose team this weekend in Mt. Pleasant! Smiling faces will be waiting to pour you a draft mead from our new shiny setup at the Mt. Pleasant Craft Beer Festivals. More details on this event are available here and we hope to see you there if you are in the area!
Free Fishing Weekend
Everyone – residents and nonresidents – can fish Michigan waters this weekend without a license, though all other fishing regulations still apply. Michigan has offered the free fishing weekend annually since 1986 as an easy, affordable way to showcase the state’s vast water resources. Stop in before or after you hit the water!
And Have Fun!
Make sure to have a great time, whatever you end up doing! We’ll be here waiting with our family friendly Michigan meadery and winery to entertain you!
