Ms. Schnitzel's May-be Not Wine Bowl

Zum Wohl und Wilkommen to Day 3 of Ms. Schnitzel's Oktoberfest Extravaganza!

It might be apparent by now that we like to fiddle with recipes to accommodate ingredient availability as well as lifestyle and taste preferences. This beautiful libation is no exception! 

A bit of research on Waldmeister and Woodruff made it clear why this punch was dubbed "Strawberries in May Wine Bowl". This ingredient is a plant with small white flowers that lends a fragrant and herbal note when steeped in liquid, such as wine. 

And it is in season in May.

We shed a bit of a tear when we read this because it was August, and we did not want to wait until May to try what we imagined could only be like a German Sangria. In case you're not aware, Jen is kind of like the Queen of Sangria, mixing up concoctions that would convert any Sangria skeptic. 

So we did what anyone in our situation would do - we completely changed the recipe!

 

Well, not completely...

A couple of decisions had to be made. First, and most importantly, how do we replace the Woodruff? Our answer: St. Germain Elderflower liqueur! We know, it's not German. But Germain looks kind of like German, right?? And we've been kind of obsessed with this stuff lately... Second, what kind of wine should we try? Answer: Let's experiment! Wine not? Haha, get it?

We bought these two bottles at Trader Joe's, since we've had a pretty hard time finding wines that are actually from Germany. And local is good. These are both California wines, but are from grapes common to Germany:

And the winner is.... Vintjs Gewürztraminer!  We found the taste of this wine to be far superior, at least in this context.  We didn't try them straight.  

Bottoms up!

Schnitzel notes:

* We began by marinating together one bottle of wine, 1/4 cup St. Germain, and 1/2 pint strawberries per pitcher for a couple of hours; overnight would be preferable. 

* We did not add the brandy, but it might be good if you want a little more punch. No pun (or double entendre!) intended.

* When ready to serve, we added 1/4 bottle or so of sparkling wine and 16oz. of club soda to each pitcher.  

* We had some extra apples and some mint on hand that we decided to throw in on a whim, and both were lovely in this cocktail!

* Feel free to double the St. Germain, you really can't have too much of this stuff.

* Come May, we will find ourselves some Woodruff and we will make the authentic version.  It will be interesting to see how different our version tastes - stay tuned for part 2!