Le Tastevin Wine Club - Notes on Cheeses – March 11, 2020

Tonight's cheese, bread and Pâté comes from Whole Foods in Ann Arbor. In the past cheese pairings with Châteauneuf-du-Pape have had a pairing with Morbier, Manchego, Piave or Gouda. Tonight we had a different cheese plus a reliable Gouda. These should be a good paring with our full-bodied reds.

Baetje Farms Beer-Washed Vallee (pasteurized goat’s milk) is a cheese made with 100% goat milk washed in a whiskey barrel stout made by Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City, Missouri. Steve and Veronica Baetje have been making cheese at Baetje Farms in the foothills of the Ozarks since 2006. The milk is seduced from a large herd of Saanen dairy goats, and the owners produce their cheeses along with several employees. This semi-soft paste has notes of sweet cream, bacon and toasted onion that become prominent as it approaches room temperature and softer in texture. The company's website also states there are aromas of hops (East Kent Goldings?), although I do not find it notable; stouts, with their larger use of specialty malts, largely use hops in lower levels merely to balance the sweetness of the grain bill.

Clarina Gouda (pasteurized cow’s milk) is an 18-month aged cheese from Holland. This cheese is medium hard, slaty, and a little nutty. Salt crystals throughout. Best tasted in thin slices when it has warmed to just under room temperature.

Page last updated: March 14, 2020 (EB)