Medieval(ish)

We just spent a long weekend in Traverse City, Charlevoix and Petoskey, and I had a good food find. We visited the Traverse City wine tasting bar of Black Star Farms, a Leelenau Peninsula vineyard, and in the midst of examining their wines, I discovered a bottle of "Verjus" - verjuice, in other words. I posted about an earlier find here.

Now, when not cooking feasts or preparing dishes for local functions - long story, but I haven't been doing much with the SCA in recent months - one doesn't have a lot of call for verjuice, so I hadn't tried it yet. However, after getting the bottle of Black Star Farms Verjus home, I read the label more carefully, and discovered the following:

Verjus... the wine friendly alternative to vinegar. this unfermented juice of early harvested grapes offers a sweet-sour balance.

Use anyway you would use vinegar in salads, sauces and marinades or try our...

Virgo Cocktail
1-1/2 oz. Black Star Farms Verjus
1-1/2 oz. Club Soda
Add a squeeze of lime and serve on the rocks.

Well, I had to try that, of course, and it gave me an excuse to actually taste verjuice for the first time. It tastes mild, just a little tart. More reminiscent of vinegar than like it.

As for the cocktail? Well, it's ok. But I'll be using the rest of the bottle for cooking, I think.