We both like museums and history, not to mention meals with wine.  My Bride has mentioned the museum often to one of her friends and off we went to Frankenmuth, Michigan for a nice day trip.  We have covered Frankenmuth, Michigan a few times.  Now keep your lederhosen on, and we will get back to museum soon enough.

I first heard about the Michigan Heroes Museum on the radio.  The museum is not about war, or battles; rather it is unique in that it honors the men and women of Michigan and their individual ordinary lives, caught up in and sometimes ended by the experience of war.  There are over nine-hundred exhibits, most of which rotate, because of the lack of space, starting with the Spanish-American War to the War on Terrorism, and with a side exhibit honoring the Michiganders in the Space Program. It also features more Medals of Honor than any other museum in the United States.  The volunteers that were there were truly dedicated, and one said that during the lockdown in the state, they received massive amounts of material honoring individuals I was stopped by an exhibit that I may have missed the last time honoring Commander Chaffee of Grand Rapids, and I remember as a kid in elementary school how we were all fascinated by NASA and the Space Program.  We were watching the pre-launch flight of Apollo 1, when in burst into flames and he died with his fellow astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom and Ed White at Cape Kennedy.

After our tour we went to a wine bar in Frankenmuth called Prost Bar and Charcuterie, owned by a couple from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.  We started with Bavarian Pretzels with Honey Mustard and Warm Beer Cheese.  Our friend had a Kale Salad, and my Bride had a Caesar Salad, and the salads were so large, they couldn’t eat it all.  The ladies had Mary Taylor Coteaux du Giennois Blanc Cuvée Alice Berthier Loire 2023.  Mary Taylor Wine represents the two decades of working in European wine industry.  She prefers the European system of “place name” or appellation and tries to offer the terroir of the region.  The Coteaux du Giennois received AOP status in 1998, although the region has been producing wine sine the Second Century.  Alice is from the Vignobles Berthier, a thirty-two hectare winery in the Loire, and now the winery is managed by her nephews.  The soil is a mix of fifty percent silex from St. Pere, thirty percent limestone and twenty percent clay from Pougny; with the vines being about thirty years of age and each plot is vinified separately.  The Sauvignon Blanc grapes are immediately pressed and the juice is allowed to settle for thirty-six hours and Initial Fermentation is from indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks.  The wine goes through Malolactic Fermentation until the spring on its lees and then rests in the bottle for eight months prior to release.  The pale golden wine offered notes of pear, white florals and a hint of Sous-bois.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of pears and apples with dried grass blending with a touch of crisp acidity and ending with a good-medium-count finish of fruit, herbs and terroir.

I skipped the salads and went with a “Smash Burger” with Potato Wedges, that I shared with the ladies.  I went with a glass of Bodegas Ego Goru-Verde (Goru-Organic Monastrell Jumilla, Spain 2024, since I was the only one having meat or as the ladies prefer – protein.   Bodegas Ego or Ego Bodegas was established in 2011 by the husband-and-wife team of Santos Ortiz and Ioana Paunescu and is about thirty-five hectares of vineyards, planted predominantly to Monastrell (Mourvèdre).  The vineyards are on the average of twenty-years of age, and they are certified organic farming.  The wine was fermented and aged was not oaked, but the vatting was not stated.  A deep purple wine that offered notes of blueberries, violets and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed notes of black and red fruits blending with soft tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of cherries, spices and herbs.