Organic and Biodynamic Wines

This past Monday, my friend Sarah and I attended an organic and biodynamic wine tasting at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. Having no idea what biodynamic wines were, we looked at it as an afternoon of catching up, boozing for free and maybe learning a couple of things or two. Owning a liquor store, she gets invited to these events all the time and as her favorite wino friend who doesn’t have a day job, I get invited. I tease her that after seventeen years of friendship, it is all starting to pay off. Of course that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Our first two assumptions about organic wines were that they do not cellar, meaning you can’t keep it in your basement for twenty years and open it and have an extremely better wine then you had twenty years prior, like a Brunello. FALSE. Second, that on the average they cost much more then other wines because of the labor intensity that is involved in their creation. FALSE. The majority of the wines we tasted were in the $12-$25 range. Very reasonable. We also learned that biodynamic farming means treating the farm and all of its living organisms as one entity. It works on a self-nourishing system so whatever you are taking out of the ground is then put back into it. Biodynamic farming also has to do with the moon patterns. Picking and cultivating is only done at certain times depending on the position of the moon.

Three of my favorites were Podere Concori’s 2006 Toscana. The vines are grown on land of pebbles, boulders and standstone, giving it a very interesting and smooth finish. It is why I like Italian wines so much. This vineyard also had a white Melograno which was a fresh palate cleansing wine. Full of acidity, it could easily be drank as an aperitif in the summer months. They work very hard to make these wines organic and biodynamic.

Second was an Austrian wine named Meinklang. Angela and Werner Michlits (who are my age) run this family wine estate. They age the wine in ceramic barrels in their basement and you can definitely taste the love and passion that they put into it. All of their wines were delish but in particular was this sparkling Pinot Noir. It had no label and was in a bottle like the one my mom makes her lethal limoncello in. Just when you thought the bubbles were coming, they would cut off. We stayed at this table for awhile. Meinklang is an organic and biodynamic winery.

Lastly, was a higher end wine from Rutherford, Napa Valley called Frogs Leap. Their 2006 Merlot was full of everything: currants, cherry, tobacco, herbs and plum. They use all of the fruits from around their vineyard. They have been practicing organic, sustainable and dry farming since 1988 which makes it well worth the big bucks.
What would be wine without cheese? France’s Comte (con-TAY) made a special appearance along with cheese from the nearby Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent, NY. Both cheeses were very tasty, firm, strong and organic. They were a nice change from the dozens of wines we were refusing to spit.

Before the wine tasting we grabbed a bite to eat at a small trattoria, le Zie where we indulged in a little charcutterie. Here is a photo of the cutting board. The small yellow and white squares were grilled polenta. The sopresetta and prosciutto were where it was at. Another wonderful day of fancy food and drink.

My Future tis of Cheese, Sweet Land of Liberty

So it’s 2009 and we have an extremely handsome, intelligent, cool and charismatic man as our President and some really handsome and cool cheeses to go along with it. A couple of Sundays ago was themed Cheeses of the USA. Purchasing all of them at Whole Foods, each one had extremely interesting and unique characteristics.

First (left to right in photo) was Nancy’s Camembert from Old Chatham, New York. This buttery, soft and moist cheese is everything you wouldn’t expect from a New Yorker. A mix of cow and sheep milk, the bloomy rind has a barnyardy and lingering tanginess that reminds you of why you like cheese so much. This cheese is a great excuse for city dwellers to take a break and travel upstate for the weekend to meet Benoit Maillol and Brian Booth, the cheesemakers of this tasty one. Pair this cheese with a Sauvignon Blanc and you have yourself a pawty (pronounced with NY accent).
http://www.blacksheepcheese.com/
The second cheese was one in its own. Truffle Tremor will make you tremble. Produced in Humboldt County, California, this pasteurized goat cheese appears to be the mixing of two cheeses together. Mary Keehen is responsible for this velvety, creamy and runny cheese. Filled with specks of truffles, this cheese is one of the newer cheeses of Cypress Grove Creamery. With all due respect, I still favor the Pecorino Tartufo in regards to truffle cheeses. This cheese should be paired with a buttery California Chardonnay.
http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/
Third was Haystack Mountain’s Red Cloud. This raw goat’s milk cheese is washed in brine which gives it a stinky aroma. Surprisingly, it has a very clean and balanced flavor that can be enjoyed with a Riesling or Gewürztraminer. It seems that all of their cheeses are given names related to nature. It’s is like a haiku in your mouth. http://www.haystackgoatcheese.com/
Lastly was my definite favorite of the four. Constant Bliss (which it surely was) is a small white mountain of bloomy raw cheese made from the lovely cows in Greensboro, Vermont. It was assertive, fluffy, moist, springy and clean. It simply, made me happy. The story behind the name of the cheese is told as, “We named Constant Bliss after a revolutionary war scout killed in Greensboro by native Americans in 1781. He was guarding the Bayley Hazen Military Road with his compatriot Moses Sleeper, who died with him.” They continued with this tradition and named another one of their cheeses Bayley Hazen. I must hunt this one down. War has never tasted so good.
http://www.jasperhillfarm.com/
Tasting cheeses that have something in common whether its animal, country, cheese type or raw versus pasteurized allows one to have a better understanding of what you are tasting and gives you something to compare it to. For me, I like themes because I think you can be much more concentrated and can learn a lot more from it. So, what will be my next theme???

Up on Cripple Sprout Creek Farm

The Jersey and Guernsey cows have done me well at Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie, New York. They seem to do just about everything there from their wonderful creamery to their camp for children on local and sustainable farming. These grass-fed cows produce really tasty and very different cheeses.

Waking up early on a Sunday morning (something I almost never do) I was proudly the first at the door of the White Plains County Center indoor farmer’s market. I shoot right over to the Sprout Creek table where the woman is feeling chatty and extremely generous with her slices of cheese. Ignoring the Colgate fresh mint toothpaste that is still lingering in my mouth I try one of each of the seven cheeses she has…..and then repeat a few. I end up buying Barat which is a raw, hard cow’s milk cheese that is full of nut flavors. The white, cratered and flakey rind is aged and protects the cheese so that it can last for awhile. On the drier side, Barat would be good to shave over pasta or even better, polenta.

The second cheese was Batch 35. It was named due to the 35 tries it took for the cheese to get where the Cheese Makers thought it was closest to perfection. Aged for 60 days, this cow’s milk coppery colored cheese has an earthy and pungent taste. Balanced and still complex, the smoothness and softness makes it easy to eat this cheese anywhere and at anytime.
Raw cheeses seem to be the way to go. Buying locally, it is much easier to get cheeses that have not had added hormones or preservatives. No matter how inexperienced ones palate is, the freshness and authenticity of the cheese is obvious in unpasteurized cheeses. During the summer, Sprout Creek Farm gives classes on making cheese. I think it would be a really important learning experience for me and one that I am excited to partake in.

The next farmer’s market is March 15th. You can also visit the creamery market Wednesday thru Sunday.

http://www.sproutcreekfarm.org/

Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary is a symbol of loyalty, friendship and fidelity. It is also my favorite herb, one that reminds me of the Mediterranean. I love rosemary on just about anything from steak to fish to chicken and especially, cheese! So it is no surprise that I have found true love with this cheese, known as, Cabra al Romero. A firm goat milk cheese, Cabra al Romero is smothered in rosemary giving the paste a well balanced herbaceous flavor with a lemon finish. The texture is smooth, soft and almost clay like, making it really hard to have just one small piece. It is reminiscent of the Murica al Vino and with good reason. Cabra al Romero is made in La Mancha, Spain by Lorenzo, the same maker of the Murica al Vino. This relatively new cheese should be enjoyed with a lighter red wine, such as a Pinot Noir. I have definitely found a new friend that I plan on staying true and loyal to.

Gettin’ Edubacated

Monday night I went to a class, Cheese 101- Pairing Wine and Cheese at Artisanal Premium Cheese Center in Manhattan. Taught by the cheese man himself, Max McCalman gave us new ways to pair cheese with wine. When we got there, there was a spread of artisanal cheeses, fondue and Cava. We spent the first half hour drinking and eating while the staff prepared the classroom. When we finally entered the classroom a place setting was set up for each of us containing three different wines and seven different cheeses.

The three wines (left to right) were a 2007 Trimbach Alsace Riesling from France, a 2005 Menguante Carinena Garnacha from Spain and a French Merlot/ Cabernet 2006 Bordeaux Chateau Peychaud Cotes de Bourg (say that ten times fast, or even once). The pairing method was that first we tasted all of the wines. Then, we started with the cheese at 6 o’clock (moving clockwise) tasted it alone first and then with each wine, then moved on to the next cheese tasted it alone and then with each wine and so on and so on. The idea was to see which pair was harmonious and which were flops. Here are the cheeses that we ate in order:

1.) Queso de Aracena- This Spanish goat milk is raw with clay like texture. When you first bring it to your nose, the smell is much different then the initial taste or finish. I enjoyed it most with the Bordeaux. I think it will be hard to find this cheese since it is rarely exported.
2.) Queijo Serra da Estrela- It’s a little ironic that the Spanish word for, “I want” (Quiero) is very close to the name of this cheese because after one small bite I wanted more and more and more. Extremely oily, this cheese has a custardy texture and with a soft finish. For once I didn’t need any wine. The cheese stands alone!
3.) Robiola Rocchetta- Oh how I wish I were living in Piedmont, Italy so I could eat Robiola straight from the vat or hide in the caves and spoon it out while nobody is looking. This bloomy mixed milk cheese is absolutely exquisite. By the end I was licking it straight off the knife. I didn’t care who was looking.
4.) Tomme de Savoie- One of France’s oldest and most known cow milk cheese is the Tomme de Savoie. Made in the French Alps, the nutty flavor melts in your mouth and lingers for what you would wish would be eternity. This cheese needs a wine that can keep to its grandness which I didn’t think was provided at this particular tasting.
5.) Idiazabal- If I could swap my boyfriends cologne for the smell of the Idiazabal, I would. Extremely smoky, this cheese is lightly smoked over beechwood or cherry for 10 days. Because it is made from sheep’s milk and has a grainy texture, you are getting more nutrients and protein from this cheese. Hallelujah! Screw you protein shake!
6.) Prattigauer Beermat- This cheese from Switzerland (not Swiss cheese) comes in a range of colors with a very nutty flavor. The woman sitting next to me had a piece that was a beautiful orange, while mine was more yellow or cream colored. The Bordeaux was big enough for the cheese and maybe my favorite it terms of pairing.
7.) Fourme d’Ambert- This French blue cheese has a much more intense smell then taste. When I first gave it a whiff, my nose hairs screamed, but when tasting it, its earthy and smooth paste definitely reminded me of why my motto is “the bluer the better.” There were no wines that harmonized with this cheese. It needed a Sauterne or Moscato.

All in all, the class was a lot of fun and I learned many new things about tasting cheese and pairing cheese with wine. I will definitely go back for some more classes with Max. I also bought two of his books that he personalized and signed for me. I am now indefinitely entering the world of cheese.

Tapas Tapas Ta-Pas

The long awaited tapas party has come and gone. A sure success, we filled a small house with small plates of delicious traditional Spanish plates along with not so small wheels of traditional Spanish cheeses. After weeks of preparation and research, two cheese plates were made with some of the oldest and well-known cheeses of Spain.

First, was from the Manchega sheep, known as, Villajos Manchego. Hailing from La Mancha, Spain this firm cheese definitely has the gamey and grassy taste that sheep milk tends to lend us, but its sharpness is not at all overpowering. Alone, you can keep it, but paired with the infamous, Membrillo, a sticky quince paste and a Martinez Lacuesta Rioja turns out to be a Spanish pairing orgasm or as the Spaniards like to call it orgasmo.

Next, was a cheese that had one of the most wearable packaging I’ve seen yet. Torta de la Serena comes wrapped in a cotton cloth, that after a couple sips of Cava we were wearing around our heads. This unpasteurized semisoft sheep’s milk cheese comes from the Merino sheep in the region of La Serena. Eaten with a piece of chorizo and a sip of the wonderful Pado Florentino Tempranillo, you will be hollering, “Vive al queso!”

Taramundi Asturin is a cheese that was easy to forget. This mixed milk of cow and goat has a buttery texture and is ideal for melting or sauces. Fondue anyone??? It should be paired with a crisp white wine.

If I had to use one word to describe the Queso Cabrales it would be STRONG! Made from cow, sheep and goat milk, this ménagetuois of a cheese, lingers in every part of your mouth. The sweetness and acidity of a Moscatel and the fierceness of the Cabrales creates a smoothness of that of the tango.

Here are cheese and olive skewers I made. The olives are stuffed with lemon, hence the halved lemons used to hold them. Goya makes these and you can buy them at any grocery store in the Spanish aisle. They also make olives stuffed with anchovies. They are unbelievable. The cheese is a Spanish Murcia al Vino. I’ve talked about this cheese in previous blogs. Its soft and smooth texture complements the mild and sweet paste.

Due to the sweat, tears and hundreds of phone calls between my mother and I, I am forced to mention the other wonderful tapas that we created for this party.

Deviled eggs, which is where the sweat and tears came from. A lot of work, but well worth it. They not only look really good, but taste even better.

Like any good Spanish family, we had Jamón and plenty of it. For a long time I was truly scared of it. I’m not sure what I thought was going to happen, but I did have a few nightmares where it came alive. Now that has passed and I have embraced the Jamón as if it was one of my own.

All of the cheeses were purchased at http://www.latienda.com/ , an online market that sells specialty Spanish cheeses and other Spanish gourmet items. It is a great resource to learn about cheese and one that I visit quite often.

The Menu

Squid with Caramelized Onion
Traditional Catalan Flatbread
Baked Clams with Chorizo
Artichokes with Jamón
Deviled Eggs with Capers
Onion Confit Tartlets
Empanadas
Potato and Onion Tortilla
Meatballs in a Saffron Sauce
Shrimp in a Green Mayonnaise
Shrimp with Garlic
Cumin Carrot Salad
Pimento Cauliflower Salad
Chicken Thighs with Honey Sauce