30 Days of Local Wine
30 Days of Local Wine

Our 30 Days of Local Wine campaign takes place throughout the entire month of December. Each day we’ll be featuring a different local wine from several of the Essex Pelee Island Coast wineries along with recipes for food, cocktails (yes, wine cocktails), desserts, party tips and more. Click here for the complete list of 30 wines.

Also, we want to see how you enjoy your local wine. We encourage you to use the #30DLW hashtag on Instagram to win prizes like a day for 2 on a tandem bicycle on our award winning Wine Trail Ride Cycling Tours. Click here for more details on the 30 Days of Local Wine Contest.

Pinot Grigio from Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery
Pinot Grigio from Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery

Although the summer days seem like a distant memory, it doesn’t mean that the white wine and sangria’s need to come to an end. Far from it. This delicious white wine from Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery is a very popular seller at the LCBO, with a profile that is illustrative of a traditional Pinot Grigio.

The flavour is light, crisp and fresh, with a clean finish, which makes it a very easy drinking wine. This Pinot goes perfectly with fresh salads, light meats like chicken or with seafood. Bringing a bottle to a holiday party and we’re sure that you’ll be invited back again!

Calzone sausage by Robbie's Gourmet Sausage Co.
Calzone sausage by Robbie’s Gourmet Sausage Co.

We wanted to create something special for this wine so we reached out to sausage making legend Robbie Bornais of Robbie’s Gourmet Sausage Co. As a national award winning sausage maker, Robbie felt he should combine two great things, a calzone and a sausage, into one great, tasty Calzone sausage.

He’s gone one step further, though. Not only are you being given the personal recipe of a sausage making king, but, if you’re not in the mood to be hanging sausages to dry throughout your house he’s selling a limited batch of 25lbs of Calzone sausage at his shop starting today!

He’ll never post a recipe again nor will he ever make these sausages again., so hurry and get them because once they’re gone, they’re gone! As Robbie says, “this recipe will self-destruct in 24 hours.”

Calzone Sausage

Ingredients

  • 5lbs Pork Shoulder
  • Kosher Salt 1tbsp + 2 tsp
  • Black Pepper 2 tsp
  • Sweet Hungarian Paprika 2 tsp + ½ tsp
  • Oregano 1 tsp
  • Nutmeg ½ tsp
  • Thyme 1 tsp
  • Red Chili Pepper Flakes 1 tsp
  • Rubbed Basil 1 tsp
  • Skim Milk Powder 2 tsp
  • Green Peppers (diced) 3.5oz
  • Pepperoni (diced) 3.2oz
  • Mozzarella (diced) 3.4oz
  • Pizza Sauce 80ml
Sausages!
Sausages!

Method

  1. Dice all the peppers, pepperoni, mozzarella into 1/4″ cubes.
  2. Make pizza sauce (recipe below).
  3. Grind the pork shoulder in a 1/4 die twice through.
  4. Place ground pork in freezer for 20 minutes to keep the fat cold. It helps hold the sausage together.
  5. Mix all the ingredients minus the green peppers, pepperoni, mozzarella and pizza sauce together in a bowl while the pork is cooling down in the freezer.
  6. In a large tub, mix all the ingredients together until consistency is “sticky”.
  7. Place pork mixture into sausage stuffing machine. Use a medium hog casing to fill. Remember to soak casings at least two hours in advance in warm water.
  8. Tie the links and hang to dry for roughly 20-25 minutes in front of fan.
  9. Place in fridge overnight to allow spices and flavours to mellow.

Sprucewood Pinot Grigio Robbies Sausage - 771

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion
  • 2 celery stalks
  • olive oil from Dressed by an Olive
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • Sprucewood Shores Estate Winery Pinot Grigio
  • 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp dried rubbed thyme
  • 2 tbsp dried rubbed basil
  • 2 tbsp dried rubbed oregano

Method

  1. Sautee in medium pot ½ of a large onion diced and 2 celery stalks diced in olive oil until soft.
  2. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
  3. Season the sautéed vegetables with salt and pepper.
  4. Deglaze pot with 1 cup of Sprucewood Shores Pinot Grigio and cook down until ¼ cup of the wine remains.
  5. Add 1 large can of crushed tomatoes. Stir well.
  6. Move mixture to Blender and blend until smooth.
  7. Return to pot. Bring to a boil then lower heat to simmer.
  8. Add 1 tbsp dried rubbed thyme, 2 tbsp dried rubbed basil and 2 tbsp dried rubbed oregano.
  9. Simmer until sauce reduces by half.
  10. Season with salt as needed.
  11. Set aside to cool.