by stambrose | Mar 18, 2016 | Wine
In honor of the sweetness of spring, we have a nectarous treat now available here in the tasting room. It pairs so nicely with our range of Rieslings that you can get this deliciousness alongside a flight of all four for $12.
As our menu expands, it was time to add a little sweet to all our savory options. This feature includes decadent chocolate glazed pretzels served alongside a rich and creamy spreadable coconut and rosewater aperitif, sprinkled with pistachios, dried cherries & sunflower seeds.
Our flight of Rieslings include our 2011, ’12 & ‘13 Riesling Reserve(s) and our Late Harvest Riesling from 2013. We are especially proud of these noble wines because the grapes were all grown for us right here in our beloved Benzie County.
Our 2011 & 2012 Riesling Reserve & Our 2013 Late Harvest Riesling were produced from Evans Bros Block II Vineyards and our 2013 Riesling Reserve grapes come from the Schutzki Family at Daddy Long Legs Vineyards.
Evan’s Bros, out in Joyfield Township, come from a long line of farmers in our county’s most well-known farming district. Five generations of their family have tended to their land and fruit crops and have helped us produce a world class wine.
Daddy Long Legs Vineyard is the result of hard work, focus and deep pride. The Schutzki family all tend devotedly to their horticultural crops just down the road from St Ambrose.
It is a privilege to partner with these two family farms to produce these delicious wines, which vary greatly in taste despite being the same grape. We love the subtle nuances that a grape can pick up from different season and harvesting times. That’s why we make wine.
You’ll notice the 2011 Riesling Reserve is quite dry but packs a punch with notes of citrus and traditional Riesling flavors. The growing season in 2012 was quite warm, and thus allowed us to extend the growing season and pick fully ripened fruit, so our 2012 Riesling Reserve is much sweeter, but with just enough acidity to provide structure to this perfectly balanced wine.
Our 2013 Riesling Reserve was fermented in Hungarian Oak barrels, which added complexity and structure to the cluster pressed fruit, and the 2013 Late Harvest Riesling takes its rich sweet flavor from allowing the grapes to mature on the vine, concentrating the flavors.
Come see for yourself how the chocolate with coconut cream just melt in your mouth, paired with these beautiful wine selections.
by stambrose | Feb 4, 2016 | Mead, Wine
The big news? Pardon us, but we want to make sure that everyone knows we have our mead available in convenient 16.9oz bottles for all to enjoy. You can find them online, at stores throughout Michigan, and right here in our tasting room.
Our Drafts
We’ve got five of our honey & pleasure packed draft meads available in 16.9 ounce bottles. A shout out to our new bottling system and our production guys for getting these out of the tanks and into your hands! You’ll find our most loved and innovative flavors have been bottled and are available here in the tasting room, regionally at your favorite shop, and online. Our customers wanted a way to ship or fly with our drafts and we found it! The bottling process allows for all the bubbly fun that makes our pours so unique to cross state lines and time zones because it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!
This shareable size can be a great introduction to trying out yet another flavor to love of our carbonated honey wine or a great way to mix and match your favorites! Our draft meads are a hit in the tasting room and beyond and we are so excited about this newest way to spread the love!
Here in the tasting room you will find these select five flavors bottled, on our shelves & good to go!
Like true love and hot yoga class, this one really gets your heart pumpin’ with notes of cinnamon, apple, maple syrup and of course honey.
That moment when sweet cherry meets spicy ginger and nothing is ever the same…
Our signature Sour Mead using lacto-yeast fermentation and good vibes –where bold blackberry gets funky and invites you to Bee One With The Universe.
Also using some of those friendly probiotics, Razz is slightly sour with just a hint of that luscious raspberry sweetness. Our newest take on raspberry draft mead is sassy enough to make you blush and sweet enough to make you say more, please.
A love song to the peppery ginger root, perfectly accompanied by orange zest, this slightly sour mead is not for the faint of heart!
Coming soon (think spring!) we will add everyone’s favorite, John Lemon, to the bottled varieties available. We’re so excited about it we plan to have a release party! So stay tuned, and until then, stop in, belly up & cheers with us for 5 more ways to enjoy the nectar of the gods…
Cider in Traverse City
Our friends at Taproot Ciders have opened up in Downtown Traverse City! If you’re in town, give them a look sometime.
Winter Beverage Expo
Wuerfel Park in Traverse City’s Chum’s Village will host the 2016 Winter Craft Beverage Expo on Friday, Feb. 5 – featuring St. Ambrose meads and wines and many other Northern Michigan beverages!
by stambrose | Jan 20, 2016 | Wine
The weather outside is frightful, and that’s quite delightful for some .. including ice wine connoisseurs.
Ice wine? The heck is that?
You might be thinking about a glass of red that some barbarian dropped an ice cube into it, but we assure you, that’s incorrect.
Ice wine is a specialty wine that’s made from grapes which have frozen a bit while still on the vine. Normally you want to harvest your grapes (or anything, really) well before the frosts and ice start, but this is an exception.
The sugars of these grapes are not frozen, but the water in the grape is, which makes for a concentrated grape must to be extracted during the pressing process. The resulting wine ends up being heavily concentrated, almost “thick”, and very sweet.
The history of ice wine may trace all the way back to the Roman Empire, where it was written that some grape varieties were not harvested until the first frost. We don’t have any exact confirmation on the how and why – at least until we get a time machine – so we have to settle and say the first documented ice wine was likely created in Germany in the 1700s. The first extensively documented harvest of ice wine was in 1830, also in Germany. From these humble beginnings, the art of ice wine emerged.
Throughout its history, ice wine harvests have been relatively rare and difficult. To produce ice wine, one must be ready to harvest grapes at the first opportunity and get to work – requiring prep and planning for an event that may not happen. While lucky folks like us in Northern Michigan and our Canadian friends can count on winter coming at some point, the perfect conditions for ice wine (and the grapes required) don’t always lineup, even here.
To count as an ice wine by regulations, the grapes need to go through a “hard freeze”, while on the vine, after they are ripe. Freezing after harvest, light frosts, and such do not count. For a good ice wine crop, one needs the freeze to arrive before the grapes have rotted too much, and the freeze must be hard, but not so severe that it is impossible to extract the juices. It’s a slippery business. While waiting for these “just-right” conditions, one must also protect the grapes from wild animals and other forces of nature.
So, the freeze happens, everything is great, now what?
The grapes need to be harvested practically immediately. Then they need to pressed, while still frozen. This means a long day and night for the workers, between harvesting and then working to press the precious ice grapes in an environment where they stay frozen. Sound cozy?
After pressing, patience takes over. Ice wine does not ferment as quickly as other wines. The erratic nature of the harvest, difficulties of the harvest, and long fermentation add up to a wine that tends to hit you in the wallet a bit harder than some other varieties.
Our foray into the ice wine world is Frost Song. This dry ice wine brings together some interesting flavors – peach pie, pears, and raisins, for instance – for a unique tasting experience. We recommend that you pair it with a hard cheese.
Our Late Harvest wines are similar to ice wine, but not quite the same. Late Harvest wines do not have the same exacting specifications as a true ice wine, but are similar in their profile. It’s a story for a different time…
by stambrose | Jan 14, 2016 | Mead, News, Wine
Your (occasionally) weekly look at some of the news in the mead, wine, and craft beverage industry – distilled down to the good stuff by the folks at St. Ambrose Cellars.
What Percentage Are You Actually Drinking?
We’ve all woken up with a headache and found something other than ourselves to blame. What if I told you … you might have been right?
It might not be off by much, but your wine bottle might be off just a bit on the ABV of the product. According to a study published in the Journal of Wine Economics, which tested more than 91,000 bottles tested from all over the world, the vast majority inaccurately listed the alcohol content. In most cases, 57.1 percent, the bottles were boozier than their labels said. Another 32.2 percent of the bottles contained less alcohol than listed.
And that’s absolutely legal. Here in the United States, laws allow wines with less than 14% ABV to by off by 1.5% on their label, and wines with more are allowed a 1% leeway. This makes a lot of sense, in reality, as the percentage can vary slightly between batches and tanks. You can read more here.
Former Wolverine Winning in Wine
You might remember Charles Woodson as the first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy during his legendary career at the University of Michigan. Or perhaps you remember his exceptional NFL career and Super Bowl triumph with the Green Bay Packers. But soon, you might be remembering him for his wine. Woodson has been involved with wine-making for several years, and you can learn more about his adventures here.
Watson the Winemaker
Remember Watson, the IBM Supercomputer that took on Ken Jennings in Jeopardy? Well, he’s gotten into the wine game too now. Will Watson replace human winemakers and usher in the Age of the Machines as a boozy SkyNet? Should we stockpile goods for his inevitable conquering of mankind? Find out here.
Michigan Mead Laws
You can learn about the movement afoot to help Michigan mead-makers reduce red tape and out-dated laws in this article from the Detroit Free Press.
