Let's talk about wine...

Just over a year ago, Mark and I accidentally discovered the most amazing little winery while taking a weekend away from the kids for our wedding anniversary.

Located in Tecumseh, MI, Pentamere Winery has become a "must stop" destination for us. Most Thursdays will find us heading North to T-ville, to have lunch in the British tea room, stock up on handcrafted cheeses and other gourmet goodies (more about Erika's later!) and wandering in to Pentamere's tasting room to fill the wine rack again. I fell in love with their Garnet, and find their refreshing Celebration White to be one of the most versatile wines extant. Drink it? Yup. Cook with it? Yup yup! Their wines always have a place on my table.

The gang at Pentamere has become more than just people we buy wine from. Dan, Maria, Ed, Annie, Nathan, Pete, Brandon and Daniel have become our friends. We get great pleasure just from visiting, chatting a bit, and hearing about what's coming up. We've had the good fortune to arrive on bottling day twice now, and both times have been offered a glass of wine right from the vat. When the new Garnet was getting ready for release, Ed took us downstairs and pulled a coupld of glasses right from the vat to see if we liked it. (We did. It's different from last year's Garnet, but oh so very lovely.) We were thrilled to be asked to pour for them at the recent Ella Sharp Festival in Jackson, MI - how can you say no to people who welcome you warmly and treat you like family?

As with all of my friends, I like to cook for them or with things they've produced. I recently started playing with dessert sauces made from Pentamere's wines, inspired by a mosey through Mario Batali's Molto Italiano. I took a pint of my first batch up - Chambourcin with cloves - and it was met with great approval.

So today, I'm doing another one...don't cringe, Ed...

Pentamere's amazing off-dry Cherry wine is currently sold out. Yet somehow, I've still got a bottle in my wine rack. I could hang on to it until the next Cherry is released in two months...but remember that lovely Vanilla Ice Cream we made this morning?

It's crying. It wants to be covered in Cherry Wine Sauce.

2 cups Cherry wine (obviously, I prefer Pentamere's. But any slightly dry Cherry will do.)
2 cups sugar
2 tsps cinnamon

Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the head to low. Simmer uncovered until reduced by a third. If you like your sauces a little thicker, simmer a little longer, until it reaches the desired thickness.

Cool, then refrigerate at least an hour. Serve over ice cream. Or pie. Or eat it with a spoon!