May 17th
Freestone Artisan Cheese and Paul Mathew Wines

Omar is such a delight to listen to, owner and cheese monger of Freestone Artisan Cheese. His cheese chatter is entertaining and insightful.

The selection of cheeses for this evenings tasting ran the full range, all local plus one from Wisconsin. Sheep, cow and goat were all present. Soft, gooey, semi and hard, all represented as well. To pair, we poured 2013 Rose' of Pinot, 2011 Chardonnay, 2012 Valdiguie and 2011 RRV Pinot.
The toughest job was to keep the crowd focused and get through tasting each cheese with each wine.

We did it!!!!!  The results are fascinating. The real truth is cheese is a very difficult subject for wine pairings, many don't work. My rule of thumb, where it's made. ie: Sancerre ( sauvignon blanc ) and goat cheese. We don't make a SB, so the closest, our 2013 Rose' of Pinot. Stainless steel fermentation, dry and crisp. Yet, this didn't really work with the goat cheese but the Pinot Noir did. We're not in France. The rules don't really apply because in CA all the cheeses are made in Sonoma / Marin Counties from all different milks. And our Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays and Pinot Noir styles run a full range as well. So, here are the results from out tasting....

Pugs Leap ( goat ) - semi soft. Went OK with Rose' which was expected to go best. Chardonnay was the favorite pairing with this cheese.
The Bomb by Bohemian Creamery ( cow ) - Rose' was the winning pair although Pinot came in second.
Gypsy ( goat ) - Non were great/ all were OK. The cheese was FAB!
Weirauch ( cow ) - What a wonderful cheese! We agreed that the wines were once again all OK but
Pepato, Bethweather ( sheep ) - One of the favorite cheeses and well paired with Pinot
Marissa from Wisconsin ( Sheep ) - Hard cheese that did pretty well with the Pinot. Mat G. liked it with the Rose' too.
Camembert - yummy, creamy not so great with any wine but wonderful with Nightengale Baguette!!!

The greatest quote of the night "Wine and cheese are two Diva's struggling for the title". Thank you Omar for enlightening us with fabulous cheese and some great cheese banter.

Never stop tasting cheese and wine or wine and cheese, whichever way you prefer to view it.
cheers