Post-Turkey Day Delights… Nov. 25, 2023
One could be forgiven for assuming that cheese & wine are the last things on my mind after a holiday filled with both, but au contraire my cheese-loving friends.
I am nearly bursting with gratitude at all the moments of family, good friends, love and joy I got to experience over the Thanksgiving holiday. My family are very kind to indulge me in my passion and ask for all the details and stories behind the cheeses I brought home, and I loved sharing all the latest updates and learnings in my cheese journey.
When I returned to work at the shop on Saturday, they had some great cheese & wine pairings to help us all over the post-Thanksgiving coma, and get us ready for soon-to-be Christmas and December holiday parties!
Ocaso Malbec Sparkling Rose – Mendoza, Argentina | Paired with Tres Leches (La Gruta del Sol, Spain)
2022 Ingrid Groiss Gruner Veltliner - Weinviertel, Austria | Paired with Tomme Chabrin (Onetik Dairy, Pyrénées, France)
2021 Maidenhair Willamette Valley Pinot Noir - Willamette Valley, Oregon | Paired with Moser Riesling x Sylvaner (Forever Cheese, Solothurn, Switzerland)
2021 Salt Wine Co. Oregon Pinot Noir - Willamette Valley, Oregon | Paired with Moser Charmant (Forever Cheese, Solothurn, Switzerland)
First up, we’ve got an Ocaso Malbec Sparkling Rosé from Mendoza using 100% Malbec grapes. The non-vintage sparkler was lots of fun and packed with carbonation - making it perfect for a celebratory toast during the holidays. The color is gorgeous, and the bouquet was light and unobtrusive. The taste was bursting with tart red fruit, a bit of apple, plus juicy watermelon. I think it would be lovely in the summer as well, perfect for drinking by the pool or on the patio. It was mostly dry, with just a hint of sweetness. With the Tres Leches Spanish cheese, the bubbles helped cut through the strong, luscious fattiness perfectly. Tres Leches is incredibly creamy, so much so that it’s a unique texture not found very often in Spanish cheeses that either are based on or partly incorporate sheeps’ milk, as this does. As the name suggests, this cheese is made from cow, sheep, and goat milks. During the 90-day aging process, the rind is rubbed with olive oil, which imparts a sweet, earthy flavor that can counter the barn-y, tangy flavors from the sheep and goat milks. It’s really, really lovely, and the Sparkling Rosé really did complement the cheese’s flavor and texture without overpowering it.
Second, we tasted the 2022 Ingrid Groiss Organic Grüner Veltliner from Austria. This bottle gave me a singular note of apple, in fact you practically could have tricked me into thinking it was almost an apple cider rather than a wine! Only a couple other people agreed with that assessment however, so you’ll have to taste it to determine for yourself! Either way, it was a nice refreshing wine with a bit of minerality. The cheese pairing with this wine was my favorite of the four we sampled today. It was Tomme Chabrin, a goat’s milk cheese from the South of France, a velvety semi-firm cheese with a messy rind that’s very mellow and creamy with a hint of nuttiness. My exact note was, “holy hell! The tart apple on the palette does amazing things for the cheese!” With the wine, the finish of the cheese becomes more robust and the tart apple note from the wine helps break through and finish off the creaminess that lingers from the Tomme Chabrin. This off-dry wine helps finish off the fatty cheese perfectly. This was the most unexpected pairing of the day, and thus my favorite!
Third, we tried the 2021 Maidenhair Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, which gave a light woodsy, earthy bouquet with some cedar and baking spice thrown in. The color was really beautiful; it was almost like a dark rosé! It was more fruit-forward on the palette than the nose would have suggested, and even a little tart. Though light overall, the finish stays with you really nicely, which makes it a perfect wine to pair with a delicate bloomy rind cheese. The one we went with was Moser Riesling x Sylvaner. When I took it out of its minimalist packaging, I genuinely gave it a moment of appreciation for how adorable it is! It looked like a dainty, fluffy, plush little pillow that fit right in the palm of my hand (pictured above). So cute to look at, and looks even better on a cheese board! Moser Riesling x Sylvaner is soaked in white wine made from Müller-Thurgau grapes that grow in the Thurgau mountains of Switzerland. Because of the wine soaking, it does have a bit of fruitiness on the palette, and I thought it was a delicious feast for the tongue - and the eyes!
And our final wine was the 2021 Salt Wine Co. Oregon Pinot Noir, which I sold the most of by far throughout the day. The bouquet was very fruit-forward with dark, juicy ripe fruits and a hint of cassis. The taste was just as fruit-forward as the bouquet suggested, but still a bit of the earthiness that pinot noir is known for. Overall it was punchy and vibrant, which was a bit surprising. The tannins were light, though the punchiness of the fruit would definitely help finish each bite of a meal - perfect for Thanksgiving leftovers! We paired this pinot noir with Moser Charmant, a soft cow’s milk wheel from Switzerland that’s mild and mellow, with some distinct, lovely mushroom notes on the rind. It’s made by Forever Cheese, which produces the Moser Riesling x Sylvaner above and I can confirm that this wheel is just as cute! I do really like this cheese, but for me it may have done better paired with a lighter white wine with a hint of crisp acidity. I felt that this bolder pinot noir overpowered the cheese, but that could have very well just been my own palette! All of the customers seemed to like this combo very much. Pick some up from your local cheese shop and give it a try!
