While staying, and dining, at O'Bryon's Village Inn in Cornucopia, Wisconsin, last summer, we were intrigued by a selection of local wines on the restaurant's wine list. They were made from locally grown fruit--not grapes, but apples and pears, some flavored with other local products like cranberries and black currants. The wines were all from the Bayfield Winery located at Hauser's Superior View Farm, a few miles down the shore. We ordered a bottle of apple-based wine as well at the Dry Pear shown above, and while I admit we weren't exactly expecting Montrachet, we were pleasantly surprised. The apple wine was a bit sweet but with good balancing acidity, and it was excellent with the rich, full-flavored lake trout and whitefish entrées. The pear, with sherry-like notes and subtle sweetness, made a fine digestif, and would do just as well as an aperitif.
We visited the winery the next day, in its exalted seat overlooking the lake, and bought half a dozen bottles to take back to Saint Paul. We enjoyed them back in the city, but this is probably the best setting to appreciate them, a summer's evening on the beach at Corny:
Text and photos copyright 2009 by Brett Laidlaw
Let's see: my list of local delights in no particular order:
ReplyDelete• Deep Roots sweet potato pie, available at the Global Market during holiday time. THis year's was incredible;
• Mala's crepes at the market
• Real bread's brioche loaf (my kids go through one in about 5 minutes)
• Hope creamery butter—the best
• Apple picking at Fall Harvest Farm
• Birchwood cafe's granola
• The Salty Tart (Also at the Global Market)
• Surly "Bender"
Also, tomatoes and produce from my own side yard kitchen garden, scratched out and put in late, but still a bounty of fresh things and a great eudcataion for my kids!
Hi Carol: Thanks for writing. I'm sorry I missed that sweet potato pie--it's not something you see a lot of around here.
ReplyDeleteI second, third, and fourth the nomination of Creperie Mala's crepes, my breakfast every Saturday of the summer.
Surly's "Bender" beer is one of our most distinctive local micro-brews.
As for Hope Creamery's butter, I spend so much time talking it up, I oughta get a stipend--it is, of course, one of the main ingredients in Real Bread brioche.
Great eating to you in '09~ Brett
That's "education".... as in got to get me some....
ReplyDeletejeesh!
Well, Carol, re your "eudcataion," I wasn't going to say anything, figuring, maybe just an extended case of "holiday cheer..."! But I'm happy for the chance to add congratulations on your new garden. Literally home-grown is the best kind of local food there is, so delicious and so gratifying, and, as you say, instructive for the young-uns. Plus, it really makes you appreciate the skill and hard work of the farmers who fill our market stalls and CSA boxes each week.
ReplyDeleteGreat gardening in '09~ Brett