WINE CLUB | CHEESE CLUB

ALL CLUB MEMBERS GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 CHEESES:

Mt. Tam | Point Reyes Station, California, USA

Pasteurized cow’s milk
This bloomy rinded Californian serves a dulcet, buttery dollop that undergoes a special process during whey expulsion. The curds are rinsed with water to remove acids and make for a slower maturation process. Washing the curds is most commonly practiced in Gouda production, so to do so with a bloomy rinded cheese is something special. This cheese is sweet and lipidous with a button mushroom aroma and mouth-coating texture. Fatties like Mt. Tam deserve some bubs.
From this month’s wine club lineup, this cheese pairs well with: Lingot Martin Bugey-Cerdon Sparkling Gamay Rose NV

Brouère de Vosges | Alsace, France

Raw cow’s milk
This approachable mountain cheese is made with spring milk when the cows are grazing on fresh mountain pasture with newly blossomed flowers, green, leafy herbs, and more. Spring milk is the cleanest of the year, and with the animals out on the mountainside, the result is a nuanced, easy-to-eat table cheese. It’s got a gorgeous rind imprinted with fir trees and Bruyère cockerels that speak to the origin of this cheese and make it regionally recognizable.
Try it with: 2021 Cantine Elvio Tintero Bianco

Grand Noir | Bavaria, Germany

Pasteurized cow’s milk
This bluey is made with high-quality milk from Swiss Brown Cows that graze in the mountains of the Allgäu region. It’s rich, unctuous, full-fat, and medium strength (as far as blue piquancy goes). It likes a good malty beer, a dry cider, dessert wine, and coffee.
Try it with: 2021 Bodegas Navarrsotillo Gaupasa Tinto

6-CHEESE MEMBERS ALSO GET TO ENJOY THESE 3:

Marbré des Alpes | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

Raw cow’s milk
This Morbier-style cheese hails from Southeast France. Traditionally, Morbier was made as a means of using leftover curd and milk from Cómte production. Soot from the cauldron that heated the milk and subsequently coagulated the curds was dusted on top of the curds to prevent drying out and insect and debris contamination. The following morning, the leftover curd from the day’s milking and cómte production would be put on top of the ash, and then the wheels would get washed in brine as the curds knit together. This cheese has a slight pungency, so it needs something that can stand up to its flavor profile.
Try it with: 2021 Scala Ciro Bianco Greco

Veigadarte | Castilla-Leon, Spain

Pasteurized goat’s milk
This ash-ripened, bloomy rinded Spaniard boasts peppery notes from the rind and tend to coat the palate like fudge. Saline, warm-milky, fudgy, and piquant, this cheese is an excellent representation of what Spanish goat cheeses are like.
Try it with: 2021 Dm. de Maubet Rouge Cotes de Gascogne

Raclette | France

Raw cow’s milk
Raclette is mentioned in medieval texts from convents in Switzerland dating back nearly 800 years ago. It was initially considered to be food for peasants who lived in the Swiss Cantons of Valais and Fribourg, as well as the commoners residing in Haute-Savoie and Savoie, France. It’s traditionally a raw cow’s milk, washed-rind mountain cheese that was originally carried along by cow herders who would roast it on the fire in the cool evenings.

The French infinitive racler means to scrape. From this, the infamous nomen du fromage was born. Historically, Raclette was heated in front of an open fire with the paste (the non-rind part) facing the heat. Once its paté was adequately bubbly and deliquesced, it was then grazed off the wheel, rind included (the exterior crisps up and caramelizes), onto the evening’s humble banquet. Raclette was once served over potatoes and preserved foods, such as cornichons, pickled onions, and dried, cured meat such as salumi. Today, with an abundance of victuals at the ready, we can scrape this mountain cheese onto anything we want. Some of my favorite recipients of a hefty dousing are cruciferous vegetables, crusty bread, pickled radishes, and herby ham. Basically, peasant food. Pair with Kirsch, black tea, or a white from Savoie.

Note: 95% of Raclette is made industrially, so we’re over the moon to get to support these small producers (like Schmidhauser, the French affineur) while we still can.
Try it with: Cantina Della Pioppa Lambrusco NV