MARCH 2022 CHEESE CLUB
WINE CLUB | CHEESE CLUB
ALL CLUB MEMBERS GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 CHEESES:
Black Sheep Creamery Fresh Cheese | Chehalis, Washington, USA
Pasteurized sheep’s milk
Back by popular demand! It's that time of year again — the babies have been born and the milk is flowing. It's the best time of the year to get fresh cheese, as it’s the cleanest, brightest, and sweetest it can possibly be. This local freshy is tickled with a little honey and vanilla, which makes it insanely easy to eat. Try it on some fresh fruit, or spread it on a graham cracker.
From this month’s wine club lineup, this cheese pairs well with: 2020 Alois Lageder Schiava
Essex Marcel Petite Comté | Franche-Comté, France
Raw cow's milk
This alpine Frenchy swings in with a huge flavor profile. Aged for 18 months, it’s a big fella that boasts notes of wild flowers, alliums, garrigue, roasted nuts, bacon drippings, sweet cream, and so much more. A cheese like this deserves to be with a wine with some pizazz.
Try it with: 2020 Roucas Toumba Pichot Roucas VDP
Caciocavallo | Southern Italy
Raw cow's milk
This little Italian specialty is in the pasta filata family, which means the curds are stretched — similarly to provolone, scamorza, or mozzarella. Ancient cheeses like this are built to last, and with a rind like this, you can see how the interior is well-protected. Note the excellent chew and the mildly vinegar-like acidity. If you feel like melting your Caciocavallo, check out its epic cheese pull!
Try it with: 2020 Domaine Emile Balland Le Beaux Jours Rosé
6-CHEESE MEMBERS ALSO GET TO ENJOY THESE 3:
Toma Peimontese | Piedmont, Italy
Pasteurized cow's milk
This traditional tomme-style table cheese comes from cows that graze on a plush, high-mountain pasture where they devour loads of organic vegetation that translates into their milk. Toma's semi-soft paste is chock-full of vegetal notes and meaty undertones.
Try it with: 2020 Cellar Frisach L'Abrunet Blanc
St. Nectaire | Auvergne, France
Raw cow's milk
This approachable cheese has been made with the same recipe since the 1600s, where the rind is washed and aged on a bed of straw. The toothsome paté is laden with hints of stone fruit, hazelnuts, and grass.
One thing to note: St. Nectaire has a tendency to develop a (completely benign) dark grayish mold on its rind, known as mucor mold or “cat's fur”. It’s common for cheeses like this, and the good news is it’s flavorless and harmless. Other cheeses where cat's fur commonly pop up are Garroxta, Fleur du Maquis, and many natural-rinded cheeses. The cheese paper we use to wrap the cheeses should protect the cheese's integrity, so if you don't finish it in the first round, go ahead and wrap it back up in its packaging.
Try it with: 2019 St. Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Blanc
Nabbabo | Lombardy, Italy
Pasteurized goat's milk
This washed-rind Italian is squidgy, velveteen, and yielding in texture. The flavor is both sweet like red cherries, and savory like smoked meat, so hop on this fun little roller coaster and enjoy!
Try it with: 2020 Itxas Harri Beltza
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).