Arts & Culture
Flavor enthusiasts sample Taste of Wisconsin treats
The Pointer
jspra793@uwsp.edu
This year’s Taste of Wisconsin, hosted by the Brewhaus at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, exhibited an array of the state’s finest delicacies last Friday with the addition of another winery and a few more breweries to savor.
Patrons meandered around the Alumni room as if playing musical chairs, but with tables displaying a variety of cheese, wine, beer and more to sample.
Linda Welbes from Brigadoon Winery, located in Tripoli, has had the opportunity to meet some “incredible people from all over the planet” since she and her husband David established their winery in 2004. This was their first year at the “Taste.”
Brigadoon Wineries produces 13 different varieties of wine. Their newest addition, Rustic Red, is a dry oak wine which boasts a fruity and flavorful taste.
“We make them natural to the sweetness of the berry and it works,” Welbes said of their desert wines.
Wine tasting tends to excite the palate into enhancing flavors of foods. Trying Mullin’s creamy havarti cheese seemed to agree with the taste buds for many attendees.
Other foods to munch included Wenzel’s farm sausage, a business owned by the family for five generations in Marshfield.
“Our recipes came from Germany with the original founder,” sales representative Bob Halle said.
Providing samples from “the number one selling microbrewery in Wisconsin” was sales representative Steve Molepske of New Glarus Brewing Company.
With over 16 kinds of beer in high demand, year-round or seasonally, for clients all over the state, it’s easy to see why they would be number one.
“They just came out with a new year-round beer,” Molepske said. “It’s called Cracked Wheat.”
The only place to find one is in Wisconsin. The brewery doesn’t sell outside of the state due to their popularity and smaller-scale operation.
Nueske’s Deli Specialties, of Wittenberg, presented a smoked liver pâté that received some interesting reactions.
“It’s so soft and flavorful,” UW-SP student Peter Deurkop said. “It’s like what cat food looks like, but top shelf.”
Kim Polum, operation’s coordinator for the Brewhaus, said, “It went really well. It was a pretty good turnout.”
As for plans for next year’s Taste of Wisconsin, “We’re going to try to get a bigger room for more to taste,” she said.
