JULY 2021 CHEESE CLUB
WINE CLUB | CHEESE CLUB
ALL CLUB MEMBERS GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 CHEESES:
Petite Breakfast | Vermont, USA
Pasteurized cow's milk
This little mini is made like a bloomy-rind, but skips the aging process altogether which makes for a fresh, spongey, tangy, versatile bite. You could go savory or sweet with this cheese — try plopping a dollop of olive tapenade on top or drizzling some honey over it. Delicious with all wines.
From this month’s wine club lineup, this cheese pairs well with: 2015 Valle de Uco Alma 4 Mendoza
Leonora | Castille y Leon, Spain
Pasteurized goat's milk
This soft-ripened cheese shows off everything that we love in a goat cheese, particularly the mouth filling creaminess, acidic twang, and a distinct pepperiness in the rind. It’s rich, fudge-textured, and coating, which begs for an acidic white wine to refresh the palate.
Try it with: 2018 Weingut Ziereisen Heugumber Gutedel Baden
Ewephoria | The Netherlands
Pasteurized sheep's milk
A gouda-style cheese that’s textural, flavorful, and approachable. Expect a good, sturdy chew and an intermittent, crystalline crunch. This nutty, caramelesque cheese does well with wines that have lots of body and character — try a rich red, or for extra credit, an Oloroso Sherry.
Try it with: 2018 Caduceus Merkin Vineyards Chupacabra
6-CHEESE MEMBERS ALSO GET TO ENJOY THESE 3:
Canestrato di Capra | Emilia Romagna, Italy
Pasteurized goat's milk
This farm cheese provides a warmed milky flavor and a cottony sort of texture. It’s a very simple table cheese that could do well with something bold.
Try it with: 2020 Via Revolucionaria La Criolla Grande
Sleeping Beauty | Trout Lake, Washington, USA
Raw cow's milk
Now we bring you this natural-rinded stunner that’s aged in real caves, and the rind smells as such. The paste tastes of buttered popcorn and sweet cream, while the rind provides an earthy minerality that really rounds out the complexity. This cheese needs a wine with soft tannins or even a fuller, floral white.
Try it with: 2020 Vigne Surrau Limizzani Vermentino di Gallura
Bosina | Piedmont, Italy
Pasteurized cow + sheep milk mix
This genre of cheese is known as a robiola, which is essentially Italy's version of brie. It’s toothsome, rich, and a tremendous representation of Piedmont's undulating terroir. This cheese loves Nebbiolo.
Try it with: 2020 Livverá Bequignol
AND SOME TIPS TO KEEP YOUR CHEESE HAPPY AT HOME
Protect your cheese from drying out by keeping it in your fridge in a lidded container (like tupperware), a plastic baggie, or the crisper drawer.
After opening, always use fresh plastic wrap for any cheese you’re not planning to eat within a day, unless it’s being kept in a container (which we recommend).
In general, we suggest eating your cheese within a week or so of purchasing. Some cheeses will last longer, but, you know, why wait!
Keep bloomy rinds and blues separated when possible. The molds are quite zealous and will grow on any cheese they can latch onto, so just keep them in separate containers and you’ll be fine.
A word about mold: If it’s growing on your semi-firm or firm cheeses, just cut it off and eat it! This white and blue mold is just fine — these cheeses lack the water to host the nasty molds. But if mold is growing on your fresh mozzarella, feta, cream cheese, or fresh chèvre, throw it out. The amount of water in these cheeses provides a great environment for the nasty stuff. If you start to see mold, you can be sure that the filaments are already running throughout the cheese :(
For the best flavors, take your cheese out of the fridge for an hour or so before serving. When cheeses are too cold, all their delicious flavors, aromas, and textures get shy. Serve at room temperature to enjoy to the fullest.
This month’s cheese was carefully curated by Seattle’s Resident Cheese Lady, Rachael Lucas, ACS CCP, CCSE. Rachael is a cheese buyer for the Ballinger Thriftway in Shoreline, a fromage writer for tastewashingtontravel.com, and she’s on the Board of Directors for WASCA (Washington State Cheesemaker’s Association).