Heat oven to 225. Bake bread slices for 40 minutes turning over halfway through baking. When cooled butter one side of each slice.

Cook sausage over medium heat breaking it apart into crumbles. Once browned, add shallots and cook until translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms no longer release any liquid, about 6 or 7 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring white wine to a simmer and reduce to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes.

Grease 8 inch square baking dish and place half of the bread slices, butter side up, in a single layer. Spread half of the sausage mixture and 1/2 cup of cheese over the bread. Arrange remaining bread over on top of the cheese, spread remaining sausage mixture and another 1/2 cup of cheese over the bread.

Whisk eggs, add reduced wine, half and half, and 1 tsp salt to whisked eggs. Pour egg mixture over the bread layers and cover strata tightly with plastic wrap. Place something heavy on top of plastic wrap to press down on the strata, and let sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Remove strata from refrigerator and let sit for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325 while strata is sitting.

Uncover strata and add remaining cheese. Bake until edges and center are puffy and begin pulling away from the baking dish, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Allow to cool,for 5 minutes. Serve.