Cheese, a Chilean native varietal, and Upcoming Wine Classes
- Posted on
March 22, 2022
Hello from The Caviste,
We are enjoying the more relaxed but safe environment existing currently. There have been some wonderful days to sit on the back porch and enjoy a glass of wine and we have several new items arriving at the store as well as the new vintages of some old favorites. To welcome spring, we offer you these -
- Cheese - perfect with wine, see details below.
- An intriguing Chilean red from a winemaker who has a PhD in terroir (!),
- A vendor tasting
- And our fun, educational wine classes.
Cheese Cheese Cheese
Arriving Next Week
Our friend and cheesemonger extraordinaire, Leslie Ellis, has done it again with a curated list of available cheeses. We are accumulating pre-orders (please email us your orders by Sunday night, March 20). The cheeses will arrive later in the week, with them ready to pick up next Friday.
We would like to get as many pre-orders as possible, BUT will also have a little extra to sell - if we don't eat them ourselves. We will also have wine pairings to take home as well.
Logistics:
Pre-order deadline: Sunday night, March 20,
Pick Up - Friday night, March 25
Friday 6pm, March 25, Leslie will be at the shop with the cheese for sale, for pick-up from pre-orders, and cheese plate/wine pairing available.
Gruyere AOP 1655, hard, Cow, Switzerland, $35/lb
Ok, you know this cheese but you may not know this quality - absolutely delicious. A firm mountain style cheese made high in the Alps where animals graze during the summer months. This is the benchmark gruyere - sweet, salty, nutty, with a slight crystally crunch. Melt in your next fondue, grate on top of French onion soup, or add to your next BLT sandwich.
Ur-Eiche (“Old Oak”), semi-hard, Cow, Switzerland, $39/lb
Female cheesemaker, Christa Egli, master cheesemaker from the village dairy Girenbad, Switzerland. Washed in oak, smells like pineapple but tastes like cheese, with notes of toasted brioche, macademia nuts, barrique wood and of course, pineapple. A totally unique experience of umami flavors in a medium, soft creamy texture.
Fleur de Nuits, soft, Cow, France, $19/lb; whole wheel (average weight about 3/4 lb) or 1/2 wheel only
Modeled after Chaource, a soft ripened cow’s milk, a hint of fresh earth with the brightness of spring. It is a classic Burgundian cheese, home of some of the bloomiest rind cheeses. Mild, slightly salty, buttery, fruity.
Durrus, Cow, semi-soft, Ireland, $37/lb; whole wheel (average weight about 3/4 lb) or 1/2 wheel only
One of the last Irish farms to use raw cow’s milk. Another female cheesemaker who hand-crafts each wheel, hand-moulding the curds and washing them in salt brine. Gentle fruity flavor, mellow and grassy, and with a bit of age, can end up strong and earthy.
Herve Mons 1924 Blue, Cow and Sheep, France, $34/lb
A unique, old-school style Roquefort, before the consortium regulated that Roquefort could only be made with sheep’s milk. Extra creamy interior, with a natural rind evoking notes of woodsy and mushroomy aromas balancing out the blue cheese tang. Hay, sweet nuttiness, a bit of salt. This is what blue cheese used to be like. Light, minerally, finish with meaty, spicy, nutty finish.
Vendor Tasting - Advintage
Wednesday March 30th,
4:30 - 7:00
Italian Wine from Portofino
Ian Spotz of Advintage Distributors will be in the shop pouring a delicious range of wines from the Portofino wine portfolio. Many have already been enjoying some of these delicious and value priced wines, this is an opportunity to explore the portfolio further. This tasting will see one of our favorite Proseccos return, the seemingly namesake Alice, as well as a delicious Primitivo from Puglia and some intriguing Sardegnian wines as well. Be sure to join us for this unique tasting and take some new bottles home.
Pedro Parra, Vinista - Itata Valley, Chile
Our wine offerings continue to surprise us and some of our customers as we find delicious bottlings in newer regions for the store. This is due to the fact more and more wines are being made and coming into the state that reflect a natural (read low chemical) wine making style and offer delicious and vibrant flavors. A case in point is this delicious Païs from Chile.
Pais (also known as Listan Prieto in the Canary Islands) underwent a revival the past decade with winemakers' renewed focus on producing Chilean heritage varietals. This is a light medium bodied wine that is going to be perfect for summertime red wine sipping and should pair well with most everything coming from a grill but the heaviest of tomahawk steaks. Crunchy black raspberry notes, a hint of steeped black tea and a crisp finish reminiscent of a light pinot noir. This is as easy drinking as a well worn polo shirt is to wear in the summer time and a great value at $19
Upcoming Wine Classes
We are planning to increase the opportunities to explore and learn about the variety of wines this coming year. In this vein, we have lined up two knowledgeable suppliers to host some limited seating classes that will be more singularly focused on a specific region's wines. To start, we are focusing on the countries of France and Italy, with the first class being Italy in February. We aim to hold the classes around the bar at 6pm.
Tuesday April 5, 6pm
Explore the Languedoc with Nick Demos
$45, RSVP only
A fantastic opportunity to explore wines ranging across the Southern portion of France. From intriguing reds at the foothills of the Pyrennes to rich reds and delightful roses ranging along the mediterranean coast running towards Italy. This class present some of the original core producers in the Kermit Lynch portfolio with some of his newer discoveries. We will do comparative pairs to explore the region and the breadth of its style of wines. This promises to be another educational wine experience with Nick Demos.
- Rosés - Mas Champart and Clos St Magdelein
- Reds - Fontsainte and Daupilhac
- Upper End Reds - Maxine Magnon and Tempier Bandol
Tuesday, April 26, 6pm
Two Sicilies with Jay Murrie of Piedmont Wine Imports
$45, RSVP
May 3rd, 6pm
The Rhone Valley with Nick Demos
Details to Follow
Come see us on an evening for a glass of wine or join us for an upcoming event. If we can help with any of your wine needs, we would be glad to do so.
Thanks from,
The Caviste Team