by stambrose | Jun 8, 2016 | Tasting Room
Food specials return this weekend at the tasting room! We’re going to have some delicious panini options for you, courtesy of kitchen wiz Crystal! Let’s let her explain what we’ve got cookin’:
The Panini
The panini will be on Crescent Bakery peasant bread. It’s going to be a grilled vegetable panini with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a roasted red pepper mayo. The vegetables will be lightly glazed with star thistle honey during the grilling process and will include carrots, zucchini and eggplant.
Red Wine Pairing:
This panini should pair well with a lot of our products. Most reds will pair well with this but I think the
Cottage Red would be a really good pair…roasted vegetables tend to compliment the flavors of red wines. I think this combination will bring out more of what the Cottage Red has to offer for flavors and balance on the palate well.
White Wine Pairing:
I would also pair this with the
Chardonnay. The crispness of the wine will contrast the earthiness of the vegetables, thus creating a sensation on the palate when all the contrasts his every area of the tongue for a unique ride of flavors.
Mead Pairings:
All the drafts will likely pair well but I feel the
Wild Ginger will be an especially good pair….ginger, being a root, is practically family to the vegetables and therefore works together on the palate in a pleasing manner – plus the ginger is a great flavor used in cooking and by drinking the ginger draft, it adds that component without actually putting it in the panini.
The
Star Thistle mead would be nice along side this panini, too. It will help to bring out the light glaze of honey on the panini vegetables while keeping it balanced and not letting the honey overpower the other flavors.
There you have it! The sandwiches will be available Friday and Saturday night – and will make a great light dinner to enjoy while watching
Davey O. perform in the tasting room from 6-9pm on Friday!
by stambrose | Jun 6, 2016 | Tasting Room
Tupelo was a shy man. But he felt the burning need to express what lay inside his bottle. To spill his golden notes across the room and fill every cup with his love. He anxiously awaited his turn at the microphone. After his wife left him, he had been needing to let loose with his art a bit. Just needed someone to listen. Listen without judging. Jenni called him to the front – he ambled across the room. Being a bottle it was difficult. But he made it.
"Buttery smooth honey floating tunes
Through the skies bees zoom
pollen! oh pollen!
all abounds
to tanks and bottles and bears
and me
to the big steel tanks in great ranks
marching to mead
mead to be
a need to mead
mead needs
i mead to need to be
a mead i be
me
the tupelo
mead"
The crowd clapped politely. Tupelo exhaled. He felt better. It was time for the next act, and he had survived.
Join us for Open Mic tomorrow night – sign up at 5pm! We’ll be here with Jenni ’til 8pm! Will Tupelo Mead make his return? We shall see.
by stambrose | Jun 2, 2016 | Tasting Room
Next time you’re at St. Ambrose, we encourage you to try one of our three food plates. We offer a small, a medium, and a large option to fill your stomach up while you’re enjoying our meads.
A Little Something
$4
Includes Sleeping Bear Farms honey mustard, homemade jerky dip, pretzels, and gluten-free crackers for dipping.
A Little Something More
$8
Includes two types of local meats and cheese, along with marinated asparagus, garlic stuffed olives, dilled beets, and gluten-free crackers.
A Whole Lotta Something
$14
Includes a variety of local meats and cheeses, marinated asparagus, garlic stuffed olives, homemade jerky dip, dilled beets, brie wedges drizzled with a homemade blackberry honey topping, dilled sweet relishes, and gluten-free crackers.
As you may now, we’ve been having specials on Friday nights as well. The specials will be returning next week – with some new surprises for you all! Stay tuned all summer for some exciting food developments.
by stambrose | Jun 1, 2016 | Tasting Room
Have you been to Speakeasy, the Open Mic night series hosted by Jenni Rae? If not … what are you waiting for? Here’s a sample of some of the entertainment that you can expect:
With local music scene all-stars like Jenni, Al, our own Nathon Lane and Kirk Jones, and who knows who else stopping by, you can’t afford to miss it! It’s a no-pressure way to enjoy some mead and wine, grab a food plate, and jam with some truly talented folks. The more the merrier!
We start every Tuesday at 5PM. Clear your schedule and come out next week to join the fun.
by stambrose | May 31, 2016 | Tasting Room
Starting this Friday, June 3rd, St. Ambrose Cellars will host – in addition to our weekly music series – games of Ultimate Frisbee on the lawn. One of our brilliant beverage makers, Scott, will be hosting the fun out front. This is a great way to spend a summer evening and get a bit of exercise. All are welcome to join. Curious about ultimate frisbee? Here’s a rundown on the rules:
The Field
Ultimate is played on a rectangular field, with endzones at each end – similar to a football field. Regulation fields are 70 yards long by 40 yards wide, with a 25 yard deep endzone.
Play
A point beings with each team lining up on the front of their end zone line. The defense throws the disc to the offense (like a kickoff). Each team should have 7 players.
Scoring
Each time the offense completes a pass into the other team’s endzone, the offense gets a point
Movement
The disc can be thrown in any direction to a teammate. PLayers cannot run with the disc. The person with the disc has ten seconds to throw the disc. The defender guarding the thrower is responsible for counting to 10.
Change of Possession
When a pass is not completed (out of bounds, dropped, blocked, interception) the defense takes possession of the disc and becomes the offense.
Substitution
Players not in the game may replace players in the game after a score or during an injury time out.
Non-Contact
No physical contact, picks, or screens are allowed. When contact occurs, a foul is called.
Fouls
When a player initiates contact, a foul occurs. If a foul disrupts possession, the play resumes as if the possession was retained. If the player committing the foul disagrees with the call, the play is redone.
Self-Officiating
Players are responsible for their own foul and line calls.
Spirit of the Game
Ultimate is about sportsmanship and fair play. Be competitive, but never at the expense of respect, the rules, and basic joy of play.
There you have it. Basically – be cool. And if you’re confused, don’t worry! We’ll help you out. See you Friday!
by stambrose | May 19, 2016 | Tasting Room
Betsie Bay Furniture
Thursday – 5.19
You’ll find our wine at Betsie Bay Furniture’s 3rd Thursday Benefit Night. This benefit for Benzie Beds for Kids & DUNE GRASS SOCIETY helps our local Benzie County children with beds, bedding & more! It will also feature an act we’ve had here at the tasting room twice this winter – Saldaje. It’ll be a great time!
Empire Asparagus Festival
Friday and Saturday 5.20 & 5.21
Summer in the north means festivals, and festival season kicks off this weekend with a perennial favorite – the Empire Asparagus Festival. Featuring the world famous Asparagus Parade, a beverage tent, amazing food, and the music of K. Jones and The Benzie Playboys, this is sure to be a fantastic time. Of course, St. Ambrose Cellars will be pouring the mead you crave at the tent on both Friday and Saturday night. You can check the full schedule of events here.
Deadlight Holiday & Friday Night Flights
Friday 5.20
Deadlight Holiday returns to the tasting room on Friday night. You can learn more about the band in our post from earlier this week.
In addition to the music, we’ll continue our Friday Night Flight series. It’ll be so much easier to let Crystal, our kitchen magician in charge of this delight, to explain what we’ll be offering this week:
“We will have a half an Italian panini (cut into two smaller triangles – so that two people can share if desired) with some root vegetable chips. The half panini will be on crescent bakery bread with the same pepperoni sausage that goes on our usual food plates, along with ham, salami and provolone cheese and just a little Italian dressing.”
Sounds amazing, eh? For the flight special, we’ll be pairing with Secret Beach, ’13 Riesling Reserve, Clockwork Orange and XR Cyser.
Why these four? Let’s go back to Crystal:
“The fruitiness and sweetness of the Secret Beach will make a complimenting contrast to the slight spiciness of the panini. The flavors will balance on the palate without either one overtaking the other. You can pick up some of the different fruit flavors as they mingle with the contrasting flavors of the meats. Very nice pairing.
’13 Riesling Reserve because a Riesling is a great pair with foods like this. As with the Secret Beach, the sweetness creates an blend on the tongue that is just plain nice. Neither the food or the wine takes the lead here…they dance on the tongue in an equal balance.
The tiny mellow flavored bubbles of the Clockwork Orange break up the heaviness of the bread and allow the panini flavors to come forward but yet they don’t get lost either…you can still taste the light flavors of the mead. These balance well, but in a different way than the wines…it’s not something easy to explain but enjoyable to taste.
XR Cyser … as if we needed another reason to love it?!? The apple actually really meshes with the Italian flavors. I didn’t really expect it and just tried it on a whim but this pair has a lot going for it. The tiny bubbles really do add a new dimension to the palate…kind of like how a lot of people just love a soda or beer with pizza…the carbonation just pairs well on tongue with the other textures. It’s also amazing that you can pick up the cinnamon and apple but still get all the spice of the meats…and they all work. The sweetness, as with the other pairs, works well with the panini flavors in an opposites attract kind of way.”
Well thank you Crystal!
LuLaRoe at St. Ambrose Cellars
Sunday 5.22
This Sunday in the tasting room and out on the porch, St Ambrose will be hosting our second Lula Roe party for our cherished customers!
Lula Roe, a pop up boutique of women & girl’s clothing, was quite a hit back in March for our Women’s Wellness Wednesday series. The consultants TOOK OVER the tasting room with their extensive stock of fashionable apparel. The great thing about Lula Roe is that you take home your order as you shop!
Each party features new designs of dresses, skirts, shirts and have you heard about their leggings? The softest material we’ve ever worn, with solid colors across the rainbow as well as fun & funky designs.
For May’s Lula Roe you’ll be able to shop for the upcoming summer weather, that IS COMING, we can feel it here on the property! The birds and blossoms are primed for a fun day of shopping and of course our delicious wines, meads and food pairings.
We will also have available some brunch offerings to sustain you as you shop til you drop! Chef Crystal will prepare small plates of beautiful fresh fruit salad, bagel chips and a creamy honey and cheese “schmear”. And how about Mimosas made with our tantalizing Secret Beach and white sangria made from our Marsanne Viogner?
Sunday sounds like a great Girls Day, so grab your sisters and your sistas and join us from 12-3 Sunday May 22 at St Ambrose Cellars, 841 S Pioneer Road in Beatific Beulah Michigan!
More information on this event is available here.
Alright Then
Wheeeeeeeeeew. Busy weekend. It’s looking like sun, 70s, and early summer beauty will be abundant. We also recommend stopping out during the day so that you can catch the bees hard at work on the tree blossoms in front of the tasting room!
