Easter & Passover Cheese, Wine & Family

Easter & Passover

Cheese, Wine & Family

Come and Indulge with us!

Let us setup your cheese and charcuterie platters and pair your wines.

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Our Holiday Cheese Picks

Mt Tam, Cowgirl Creamery’s signature cheese, is a smooth, creamy, elegant, 8 oz, triple-cream. It is made with tasty organic milk from the Straus Family Dairy. Mt Tam is firm, yet buttery with a mellow, earthy flavor reminiscent of white mushrooms.

Chiriboga Blue

Made by Ecuadorian cheesemaker Arturo Chiriboga at the Obere Muhle co-op dairy in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps (the story goes that Chiriboga fell in love with a German woman and stayed on to make cheese–seriously, how much more romantic can you get?), Chiriboga is unlike any blue cheese we’ve ever tasted.  Made from raw cow’s milk, it’s only slightly veiny and barely gamy, and tastes exactly like it looks: almost unbelievably creamy, slightly sweet, and downright buttery. It’s quite mild and easy, but there’s just enough pungency to keep things interesting.

Tomme Fleur Verte

Fleur Verte (green flower) is a rindless soft creamy cheese covered in fresh green herbs and pink peppercorns. The scalloped edges of this large, very fresh goat tomme and the lovely combination of herbs — mostly tarragon, savory, and thyme — pressed into the rind make for a gorgeous appearance and a cheese that embodies spring time, any time of the year. The herbs are edible, and their refreshing green color nicely contrasts with the semi-soft alabaster-white paste.  Creamy, smooth, mild and lemony, with notes of white pepper and the clean yet lingering taste of tarragon. Not strong or “barnyardy”.  Pasteurized, made in Perigord, France. The herbs and pink peppercorns do not overpower the creaminess of the cheese, it is mild, even if you bite one of the peppercorns.  The texture is sublime, thick and succulent, but with a melty mouthfeel, like the great cheeses from the Pyrenees. Goat Tomme and summery beers are a match made in heaven.  A semi-firm, grassy goat cheese like this one always pairs well with Rosé, or with crisp, appely white wines, or even hard cider.      Use whats left, if any, in your morning omelet.

Tomme d’Abondance

Tomme d’Abondance or Abondance is a medium-sized mountain cheese from the Haute Savoie region of France in the Rhone-Alps.  For centuries, this deep golden cheese has been made in mountain chalets, near the border between France and Switzerland.  It is made exclusively from unpasteurized milk produced by the Abondance breed of cattle. Since 1990, the cheese has been enjoying the prestigious AOC designation.  The handcrafted, wheel shaped cheese, is made using traditional methods only in the geographical area specified by AOC/PDO label.  It has a strong smell and an intensely fruity, buttery and hazelnut flavor, with balance of acidity and sweetness, followed by a lingering aftertaste.  Unearth an aroma of nutty vegetation as you slice the cheese.  However, remember the crust including the gray layer beneath, should be removed before eating.  Firm but supple and slightly grainy, the texture of the ivory-yellow cheese is creamy and velvety.  Its rind is smooth with an amber color showing canvas marks. The affinage takes at least 100 days, so all the subtle aromas are realized.

Our Holiday Wine Picks

Mestres Coquet Cava Gran Reserva Brut Nature,

Spain 2007 $25

Mestres appear in the historical record as wine merchants in Catalonia dating back to 1312, and the first record of their ownership of the Coquet vineyard is from 1607. An early producer of the regional sparkling specialty, they also boast the first registered use of the name “Cava”, in 1959. True to this extensive heritage, this wine is still handmade in the traditional method. A blend of 30% macabeu, 40% xarel*lo, and 30% parellada, it is made in the ‘Brut Nature’ style, with no sugars added, resulting in an austerely dry bubbly; very aromatic, with white fruit and citrus, the dryness and very fine bubbles make it wonderfully refreshing.

Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett,

Mosel, Germany 2009 $23

If Mosel is arguably the world’s riesling heart, the Sonnenuhr is one of the valley’s greatest vineyards; extremely steep vineyards overlooking the river, graced with an old sundial (Sonnenuhr in German) that used to help the vineyard workers time their wine break. The Selbach family have grown riesling in the Mosel since 1661, and their style is known for its elegance and finesse. They harvest by hand (often a necessity in the sharply sloping vineyards of the Mosel) and ferment the wine in traditional large wooden barrels. This bottling is bursting with fresh peach fruit, finishing with a crisp, mouthwatering acidity and a touch of minerality. Low alcohol makes for a light touch as an addition to a meal.

D’Alfonso dal Sordo ‘Catipanus’ Bombino Bianco,

Puglia, Italy 2011 $13

This wine is made from the little-known but widely grown Italian grape variety bombino bianco. Known for its reliability and prolific yield, the grape is often used in everyday table wines for the European market, and is known locally by several nicknames that reflect its ability to consistently cover the farmer’s bills. However, it can also be used to produce quality wines with subtlety and balance, if the producer carefully restricts the amount of grapes the vines produce. This is one such producer, and the wine is a refreshing warm weather treat and a great value–straw yellow, with apple and pear fruit, herbs, and a soft nuttiness.

Belle Pente ‘Belle Pente Vineyard’ chardonnay, Yamhill-Carlton District,

Willamette Valley, Oregon 2008 $37

If you’ve never had a fine chardonnay from Oregon, you owe it to yourself to try this one, from the outstanding producer Belle Pente. The grapes are grown in their estate vineyard, a small, two acre site on a steep slope, located in the Yamhill-Carlton district, home of some of the region’s oldest soils, and grown and vinified with largely organic and biodynamic practices. A combination of site, vine age, careful handling in the gravity-flow winery, restrained use of oak, and an outstanding vintage yield this excellent wine; apple, pear, and hazelnuts, with a nice balance of roundness and crispness.

Brooks pinot noir,

Willamette Valley, Oregon 2011 $27

The makers of Brooks pinot noir draw their fruit from several sites located in different parts of the Willamette Valley, known as one of the greatest regions in the USA for this grape, choosing vineyards with different soils and climates to create a blend reflective of what the valley has to offer. Friendly and approachable, this is a great glass of wine and a wonderful food partner. The nose shows tart red fruit–think raspberries, cherries, and cranberries–and, on the palate, has nice fruit balanced with light minerality and a woodsy touch. Medium-bodied, with bright acidity.

Domaine de Piaugier ‘la Grange de Piaugier’

Côtes du Rhône,  France 2011 $15

Piaugier are known for their range of excellent wines in the Southern Rhône Valley, including this great value Rhône blend. Grenache, carignan, cinsaut, and syrah, from mature vines averaging 45 years of age, grown in a range of small plots reflecting the various soil types of the region. The wine is on the serious and dark side for a Côtes du Rhône; deep colour and ripe, spicy aromas introduce a layered and full red with black fruit, stewed plums, pepper, and dried Mediterranean herbs. Lots of wine for the money!

Les Cadrans de Lassègue St. Émilion Grand Cru,

Bordeaux, France 2008 $38

If you’re having lamb for your Easter meal, consider a classic pairing–Bordeaux. Reds from the Right Bank of the Gironde, such as those of St. Émilion, show the robust complexity associated with all good Bordeaux, with the benefit of often drinking well at a younger age than some of their more cabernet sauvignon driven neighbours across the river. The Lassègue property is nicely situated to take advantage of all the important soil types of the appellation, a diverse assortment as the ground slopes down from the St. Émilion crest. The wine is a blend of 60% merlot, 25% cabernet franc, and 15% cabernet sauvignon. A classic combination of dark fruit, licorice, cocoa, and vanilla, with round tannin and a plush depth.