Cheese and Pinot Pairings
Super Aged Gouda
Serve with Renegade Ridge Estate Pinot Noir
Winchester Cheese Company is owned and operated by Jules Wesselink, originally born and raised in Haarlem, Holland. His philosophies subscribe to the traditional Holland cheese making styles of Boere Kaas, which means “home made on the farm”. In a class by itself, it is distinguished by its delicious and unique flavor in comparison to many cheeses mass produced. The Wesselink’s cheese is currently hand produced and made in very limited quantities. Winchester Cheese Company takes pride in making Gouda in Winchester, California in the same traditional way as it has been done by their families in Holland for many generations. It is aged like fine wine - to perfection.
Tasting Notes: This super aged gouda is an ultimately superior cow’s milk cheese aged over one year in the Boere Kaas (farm made) style. It has a very sharp taste and is an excellent and flavorful accent for a Pinot Noir with bolder flavors of red currant and blue fruits, perfect with the Renegade Ridge Estate.
Oregon Blue Vein
Serve with Arcus Estate Pinot Noir
The Rogue Creamery has become one of the finest artisan cheese operations in the world today. Proprietors, Cary Bryant and David Gremmels, have devoted themselves to carry on the tradition of Old World hand-milled cheeses. The couple has produced award-winning cheeses, including accolading one of the industries highest honors - the London World Cheese Award for the best blue cheese in 2003. This was the first time an American cheese factory had won this high of an honor. Today, the tradition continues with a variety of award-winning blue and cheddar cheeses. Step inside the unassuming cinderblock creamery to discover an assortment of some of the best hand-milled cheddar cheese in the world. Most importantly, however, it should be stated that The Rogue Creamery is home to the Oregon Blue Vein, one of the world’s finest blue cheeses.
Tasting Notes: The Oregon Blue Vein cheese has been the West Coast’s exemplary award winning gold medal raw cow’s milk blue cheese. It is a Roquefort style blue with a semi-soft creamy texture and subtle, sweet tangy guarrigue flavor. With its distinct blue flavors, the fruit on our Arcus Estate rises to the top of one’s pallete as it melds harmoniously with the sharp characteristics of this creamy sensation.
Humboldt Fog
Serve with Red Hills Estate Pinot Noir
From the very beginning, Cypress Grove has been recognized for its superior quality; winning more than 30 Gold Medals and Best of Show in national competitions. The Humboldt Fog, a truly unique and technically styled cheese lends itself to many palettes with its soft and creamy texture and beautiful aromas. The layers are said to hold, on the top half, the morning milk and the bottom half is the evening milk from the area’s finest goats. With a very thin line of ash separating the two layers, the two produce one of the country’s smoothest tasting cheeses.
Tasting Notes: This fine American goat’s milk chevre, evocative of its terroir has a light, creamy, yet earthy flavor when young that turns stronger and more complex with age. With a central layer and outer covering of ash, this tome ripens with a soft white exterior mold. The rich, minerality of our Red Hills Estate pairs perfectly with this sus-bois developed cheese, bringing to the surface, the scents of forest floor and mushrooms.
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