Thanksgiving Pairing Tips

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's a time to celebrate and give thanks with family and friends. Unfortunately, with all the stress of menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking, one thing that may be forgotten is the wine. With so many different dishes on the table it is often difficult to choose just one wine. Luckily, white wines are quite versatile and pair well with a variety of foods.

Sauvignon Blanc pairs with everything from shrimp to butternut squash to roast turkey. Chardonnay (the less oak the better) has similar versatility and it's full body make it appropriate for creamed dishes. However, if your preference is red wine, Pinot Noir will subtly support most dishes on your Thanksgiving table without overpowering them.

More robust than white wines, Pinot Noir has very little tannin and will likely blend well with the entire holiday meal. Then there's dessert. Well-chilled late harvest Rieslings, Ice Wines, Gewurztraminer and Ports pair well with sweet desserts as long as the wine is as sweet or sweeter than the confection. Whatever your choice of wine, everything tastes better in the company of loved ones. Enjoy!

Good Wine, Good Food, Good Friends...

Andy Hilliard educating the Stumpjack masses on South African wine.
Image by Jaslyn Gilbert of the HTR.

What else could you ask for? Andrew Hilliard delighted us with both his smooth South African wines and tales of life at Beau Joubert. It was one of the most enjoyable and edifying wine tastings we've experienced. Outstanding wines (every single wine in their line was a thumbs up winner); a passionate and knowledgable presenter; a bunch of good friends; some tasty cheeses, bacon/scallops and prosciutto wrapped shrimp hors d'oeuvres...made for a very nice evening. Jaslyn Gilbert from the Herald Times Reporter was on hand snapping photos for an upcoming feature on the Beau Joubert Winery in the HTR's Lakeshore Living magazine.

South African Wines of Beau Joubert

BEAU JOUBERT's rich viticultural history spans back to 1695 when the governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel, allocated the property, Veelverjaagt to Coenraed Visser. One hundred years later, the farm was sold to a French Huguenot descendant, named Dirk Daniel Joubert. He in turn, divided the farm between his two sons; the one retained the Veelverjaagt name while the other named his portion La Provence, to honour the birthplace of his forefathers... from the Beau Joubert website.

I encourage you to check out the website of Beau Joubert vineyards of South Africa. It is quite beautiful! And their wines are wonderful! Meet Andrew Hilliard, Managing Director/Owner, this Thursday evening for a wine tasting event. We hope you can join us!

South African Wines of Beau Joubert
Thursday, Nov. 20th 6:30pm-8:00pm
Members: $15.00 Non-members: $20.00

I'm full!

Image from last night's tasting, courtesy of Brian Powell.

Last night's Beer & Salami Tasting was very enjoyable. A handful of good microbrew beers, an equal measure of tasty Italian meats, a half-dozen friends sitting around shooting the breeze...makes for a fun and gastronomically satisfying evening. The majority consensus seemed to be that Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale was the surprise beer of the night (a truly great beer from that brewery's line of excellent products). I think the favorites of the meats were the pastrami and the capicola (or capicollo). While we followed a format of pairing specific beers with specific cuts of meat, no specific pairing jumped out as the overwhelming favorite.

Thank you to Lee Brocher of Maretti's Italian Deli in Manitowoc for setting us up with an excellent variety of cured meats. After the tasting we went over to the Strand theater for a private screening of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which opens tonight. Big thumbs up on this gritty, action-packed flick. Thanks Gretchen and John!

Next week: Andrew Hilliard of the Beau Jobert South African Winery will be doing the tasting at Stumpjack. Details to follow.

post by David

And The Winner Is...

I was so pleased that everyone enjoyed the wine and cheese tasting. After pairing seven different wines and cheeses, the unanimous winner was the pairing of the Rheinhessen 2006er Morio-Muskat and the Saxon Green Fields cheese. The rich body of the Morio-Muskat featuring rose hips and pear was a great combination with Saxon Green Fields cheese created by Saxon Homestead Creamery in Cleveland Wisconsin, a semi-soft washed rind cheese from raw cow's milk, carefully tended for 70 days. Stumpjack Wine Bar carries both. Wine can be purchased by the glass or bottle. So even if you missed the tasting, you can sample this delectable pairing on your own.

Did you know that Stumpjack also carries a variety of hand-crafted microbrew beers?

Join us for a

Beer and Sausage Tasting
Thursday, Nov. 13th
6:30pm-8:00pm
Members: $15.00
Nonmembers: $20.00
Please call 553-5282 to register or email stumpjack@gmail.com

Last night's tasting

We had a really lovely time last night at the first Thursday night Stumpjack Wine Bar tasting. It was fun, relaxed and easy. Thank you, everyone who came, for making this such a nice evening. Be sure to keep abreast of what will be regular Thursday night tastings at the Stumpjack Wine Bar. The current calendar is on the right.

Becky, Maria, Kim, Darla, Lucy, Brian, Donna...and David taking the picture.

I'll give Kim props for a job well done! The wines and cheeses that she chose to pair made for a very interesting evening. The combinations ranged from subtle, sophisticated and creamy to powerful, rich and tangy. Individual tastes being what they are, I don't think there was a clear consensus on any particular pairing. Although while everyone expressed their enjoyment with the variety of tastes, aromas and textures, we all seemed to have at least one or two pairings that we wanted to remember for future reference. This turned out to be such an enjoyable couple of hours...wonderful food and drink, good people and lively conversation. And as an added bonus I think we all learned something too. I'm giving it a big thumbs up. Next week is my turn, with beer and sausage on the agenda. I hope it goes as nicely as last night's. ---David

We had an awesome time at the tasting last night. Kim did a great job hosting this. Thanks for the cheese gift that we won as well. See you next tasting and several times in between.
What a great, fun, social mecca you've created in downtown TR. ---Brian

That was fun last night. That was my first wine tasting. Kim did a very good job. ---Donna

That was fun last night. I learned something, and that's always nice. ...tell Kim how much I enjoyed the wine/cheese ---Lucy

A New Taste in Town...

The grand opening of Stumpjack Wine Bar was held on Sunday, September 28th. Guests sampled several varietals of wine, in addition to artisan cheese and tapas. Stumpjack Wine Bar is proud to offer both locally produced wines and selections from around the world.

Thursday evenings feature special events such as wine tastings and pairings. Live entertainment is offered most Friday and Saturday evenings. The Stumpjack Wine Bar was created to offer an alternative to the typical bar scene by creating a relaxing, yet stimulating environment. It all adds up to a great night out! Private parties are available by reservation. Join us for our next event.

Wine and Cheese Tasting
Thursday, November 6th
6:30pm-8:00pm
Members: $15.00
Non-members: $20.00
Please either call (920-553-5282)or email (stumpjack@gmail.com) to reserve your tickets or to receive information on scheduled events.

Greetings Wine Lovers:

Happy Halloween! Yes, I know I'm a day late, but we are celebrating the season with our annual costume party this evening. Hope you can join us! We are featuring this tasty Pinot Noir directly from Vampire Vineyards tonight. Happy haunting...


Powerful forest fruit and wild strawberry aromas persist on the nose, balanced by hints of fine French oak. The vibrant ruby red colors hint at a young wine, but the taste reveals a remarkable maturity. Elegant soft fruit flavors are already finely integrated into the structure of the wine, as is the oak, adding a subtle but powerful complexity to the flavor. This is a light smooth wine, easy to drink at any time of the year and exhibiting typical character of a young Pinot Noir. This wine has been made for early drinking using advance cold macceration techniques, but will age well for several years to come. It has a 100% malolactic fermentation - allowing the perfect integration of the natural acides into the structure of the wine.

Vampire Pinot Noir is well suited to Venison and game dishes, and is equally well adapted to pasta dishes featuring basil and tomato sauces. It can also be enjoyed as an aperitif or as an after dinner wine with snacks and blue cheeses.