Red Schoolhouse Wines

It’s no secret amongst my friends that I never like their boyfriends…or at least I’m slow to warm up to them. This past Memorial Day Weekend I went to Wisconsin to visit my Lifey (aka best friend) Megan and her fiancé Tom. Tom has slowly but surely been winning me over the past year but he totally took the cake during this visit.

Tom was tasked with planning the activities for our visit. Looking back I don’t think he could have done a better job. He combined all of our favorite activities into one day and I love him for it!

To start off the day Tom made us a killer breakfast and told us to get ready. Once he got us all piled into the car we started driving towards Spooner Wisconsin, which is about 45 min from their place. Along the way, we stopped at Poor Richards Antiques (post coming soon) before reaching our final destination of Red Schoolhouse Wines in Stone Lake.

When we pulled up this place definitely seemed too good to be true. I have never experienced anything so picturesque. The building was nestled down just off the road amongst a little clearing in the trees. What was once an old schoolhouse has now become a beautiful wine bar and restaurant.

I could hardly wait to get out of the car and get out on their stellar patio. After taking a quick walk around to scope out the pace we headed inside. We weren’t sure the protocol on wine bars and we didn’t want to do it wrong so we headed inside to find someone who could guide us. We were instantly greeted by the smiling faces of the kind women running the shop that day. We were handed some paper menus to select our meals and left in peace (I love when the staff doesn’t hover) with someone ready to help us should we need them.

To be honest, I was really struggling to pick out my meal, I instantly loved the very first menu item but as I read on I realized everything sounded amazing and I didn’t know how to choose. I love going out with my friends because everyone orders different meals which gives the group a chance to taste and try a little bit of everything. Megan and I ended up going with my first instinct and chose the first menu item, the Wilderness Turkey Sandwich. Tom ordered the Wisconsin Ham and Cheese, and Alex got the Fruit of the Bog Salad (not the most appealing name in my opinion).

After placing our food orders in the front shop we headed towards the back of the building to the bar excited to see what they had to offer. The lady running the bar was such a rockstar. She made a few suggestions and directed us towards her favorite Cab, which we ordered in a bottle to share, except Tom who ordered a Spotted Cow. It was so fun learning some tricks to wine serving and tasting. Our server taught us about wine aerators and explained what they do to improve the wine. She also told us that if we don’t own an aerator or have one on hand that pouring your wine back and forth between two wine glasses a few times to get the same effect. After getting our wine we ordered a cheese plate (because we were feeling fancy) and headed out to the patio to find a table.

We found a perfect spot away from the only other group there. We picked a table with an umbrella in the far corner of the patio where we could enjoy the sun and have a perfect view of everything that was going on. I think my friends were starting to think I was losing my mind. I was grinning ear to ear the whole time periodically chiming in how perfect the day was and what a great time I was having.

As we chatted while waiting for our food we devoured our cheese plate, the Herb Crusted Salami and Smoked Havarti (I think that was the cheese if I remember correctly) were to die for. We actually tried to buy the salami on our way out but they were out of stock and anxiously waiting for their next shipment.

We didn’t have to wait very long for our food to be delivered. The server who took our food order brought out our meals in little paper tubs with a very rustic Pinterest worthy caddy filled with all our fixings and utensils. The table fell silent as we dove into our meals without a second thought to table manners. The food was so good we completely lost ourselves in the meal and the perfect day. We did taste a little bit of each other’s meals but for the most part, we didn’t leave much to share.

As we ate we noticed that the shop and patio were beginning to fill up. Even though we weren’t sitting there I was a little sad when someone grabbed the table next to one of the most amazing outdoor stone fireplaces I have seen in a long time that I was dying to go and take a closer look at.

We eventually decided to head back inside to do a little shopping. We must have come at the right time because now the place was packed and there was no hope of getting near the bar. It was so great to see a local business just crushing it! We took a little staircase upstairs to a small room filled with artwork and fun items for sale. I fell in love with a leopard wine travel case and a little wine crate perfect for a wedding gift. Neither of which I bought and now regret not getting. The store had gotten a little full that we ended up just paid our bill and headed out to allow for other people to enjoy their day.

Since that visit, I have taken every opportunity to tell anyone headed into Wisconsin about Red Schoolhouse Wines. I had such a wonderful time, the food and service were completely on point and with their renovations that will be finished soon, it is definitely a place that I can’t wait to visit again.