In addition to our stay in Milwaukee, we spent a couple of days touring around the Driftless Region, visiting Taliesin and also The House on the Rock. Here is our report on the eats and drinks.
DANE
We stopped in at J. Henry and Sons distillery for a tasting, located on their farm property north of Madison. They have 500 acres and grow their own red-coloured corn (W335A, developed by the University of Wisconsin), wheat, and rye. They buy their malted barley.
We sampled five of their whiskeys::
- Small Batch, 92 proof - stewed fruits and some baking spices.
- Patton Road Reserve, single barrel, 121 proof - lots of vanilla and some spices. Our favourite and we bought a bottle.
- Bellefontaine Reserve, Cognac-finished, 102 proof - honey and coconut.
- La Flamme Reserve, 5-year blended, Armagnac-finished 118 proof - more cooked fruits and baking spices.
- Four Grain Rye (64% rye), 100 proof - apples and some baking spice.
SPRING GREEN
We had an enjoyable dinner at Reunion Family BBQ. Located in a former bank, they kept the original layout including the vault door, which looks into another dining area. They also have a big playroom for children. Food was OK to great. The wine selection was impressive, including several orange wines (e.g., Radikon). We selected a glass of Pullus, Pinot Grigio, Slovenia - lots of stone fruit. We also had draft New Glarus Spotted Cow.
To sample their wares, we ordered their BBQ Platter. For $80, you received an avalanche of food, enough that we had leftovers for another dinner the next night. The best meats were the chicken (gorgeous and moist), the smoked bratwurst sausage (very smokey), and the pork ribs (smokey and sweet). The pulled pork was fine, but less interesting. We could select 4 sides, the best of which were the yummy mac and cheese and the corn salad, made with grilled sweet corn cut off the cob. The stewed lima beans were good and the grits were too salty. The platter also came with corn bread, which was only OK. This largresse was accompanied by 4 sauces: Mustard-Que, Red BBQ, White BBQ (mayo with spices), Texas Pete hot sauce (in a bottle) - all pretty tasty.
We had a banana pudding for dessert, which was pleasant. We ordered their delicious radish salad with green goddess dressing to go, which we had with the rest of our leftovers the next night (plus a Sprecher root beer).
PLAIN
We stopped in at Cedar Grove Cheese for a “tour” which was more of a lesson on their cheese making process while watching the action through a viewing window. We got to sample a sharp and complex 7-year aged cheddar, Capriko (a nice blend of goat and cow), and a pleasant mild Colby. We also bought their Donatello, a nutty aged sheep milk cheese that we had for breakfast.
NEW GLARUS
Wanting to sample some Wisconsin wine, we stopped in at Bailey’s Run Vineyard and Winery. Not surprisingly given the climate, their wines were mainly based on hybrid varieties and all were mixed vintages. Although local tastes apparently lean towards sweet, we stuck mainly with their drier offerings:
- St. Pepin Reserve - mineral and quite acidic, with vanilla from the oak.
- Itasca - softer pear, honey, floral, tangy, and light, very pleasant.
- Edelweiss - off-dry, smelled strongly of pear, tasted tart and tangy, with a hint of sweetness at the end. We bought a bottle of this to share with friends.
- Petite Pearl red - smelled of earth, green pepper, and oregano or thyme; tasted of cherry and then herbal.
- Marquette red - like dark rose, smelling of wet earth, tasted earthy and fruity, with maybe a touch of honey or cherry blossom.
- Summer Haze red, Frontenac, sweet - tasted very much like sangria.
We also ate there because the place we wanted to try in New Glarus was closed. A large, freshly-baked Bavarian pretzel was quite good and served with beer cheese dip and stone-ground mustard. The Local Farmers Meat & Cheese Board featured gouda and munster from Edelweiss creamery and traditional and old fashioned summer sausages from Hoesly’s. The accompaniments included 5-grain rice crackers, pickles, and fresh grapes. Aimee’s Delight was a flatbread covered with mozzarella, peppers, onions, mushrooms, black olives, garlic, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil - decent, although the bread seemed oddly to be made of biscuit dough.
VIROQUA
We read good things about the farm-to-table Driftless Café and took a wide detour to try them for lunch. They were worth the extra effort.
In addition to some much appreciated drip coffee, we tried the Las Mujeres Piquette Cider from Readstown - a bit of fragrant pear along with the apples.
We had the noodle-less beef and cabbage phở , a lovely clove-scented soup with tender beef, served with local slightly-sour bread and Westby creamery butter.
The Beef Birria Tacos featured supple St. Brigid’s Meadows beef cheek, mozzarella, Harmony Valley cilantro, white onion, a rich and deeply flavoured beef consommé, pink pickled onion, and microgreens cilantro.
The Fish Sandwich had a moist filet of Red Lake Nation walleye in Spotted Cow beer batter (not oily), house slaw, pickles, red onions, tartar sauce, and pickle spears. We upgraded to a side salad of sharp greens, raspberries, cherry and grape tomatoes, white cucumber slices, loads of onion, and a pile of microgreens on top, with maple balsamic dressing.
For dessert we shared Cowboy Dave’s (a local caterer) carrot cake, which was a rich, dense, moist cake with raisins, nuts, coconut, maybe pineapple, cream cheese icing, and buttery candied cashews beside.
PRAIRIE DU SAC
On our way back to Milwaukee, we stopped at Wollersheim Winery for a quick tasting. We sampled 6 wines:
- 2023 St. Pepin Estate Dry, Chardonnay style - vanilla, creamy, stonefruit and lime.
- 2024 Riesling dry (really off-dry), grapes from Washington State - floral and honey.
- 2024 Prairie Fumé, Finger Lakes-grown Seyval Blanc - grapefruit, mango, pleasant and quite acidic.
- 2024 Prairie Blush, 10% estate Marechal Foch - semi-dry, tart cherry, strawberry, quite desserty
- 2023 Prairie Sunburst, estate grown, Marechal Foch, fermented on skins - very light, cherry, raspberry.
- Domaine du Sac, estate grown, 90% Marechal Foch 10% LĂ©on Millot - also fairly light, with mainly cherry and raspberry.
They also let us sample the ginger beer and wine cocktail, which was actually quite enjoyable.
Overall, a fun region to explore, both for the sights and the tastes.
