COMMON CENTS WINE + CLUB March 2021 | 6-cheese line up

Black Sheep Creamery Vanilla & Honey Fresh Cheese | Chehalis, WA Pasteurized ewe’s milk We’re thrilled to share that the cheesemaker personally made this spreadable (and stuffable) cheese for us (this week!) from their animals that just recently started milking. Fresh cheese in the spring is the cleanest, sweetest, and lightest of the year. As the season progresses, and the animals are grazing in pasture, the milk will develop more solids, and subsequently, more volatility. They added a kiss of vanilla and honey to the mix, which goes perfectly with apricots and strawberries, plus a crisp white, rosé, or bubbles.

From this month’s wine club lineup, this cheese pairs well with: 2019 Schlosskellerei Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner

Seascape | Central Coast Creamery, California Pasteurized cow and mixed-milk tomme This cheese smells of sweet, cultured cream and is sure to please even the most cantankerous of palates. Rich, fatty cow’s milk combined with tangy goat’s milk creates a smooth, balanced, snackable cheese that serves as a versatile pairing partner with a variety of wines.

Try it with: 2019 Tenuta Le Calcinaie Vernaccia di San Gimignano

Caciocavallo Silano | Apennine Mountains, Raw cow’s milk This pasta-filata (stretched curd) cheese is prevalent in this part of southern Italy. This oblong-shaped, rope-bound, dangle-aged (they literally hang it to age, which enables it to absorb ambient microbes evenly and thoroughly) cheese stems from antiquity — it was first mentioned by Hippocrates around 500 BCE, and it’s just as popular of a table cheese today as it was hundreds of years ago. Caciocavallo has an excellent chew and flavours reminiscent of the best provolone you’ve ever tasted. It maintains good acidity, which makes it a contender for acidic whites or bold, full-bodied reds like Primitivo.

Try it with: 2018 Latta Kind Stranger Alter Lost Peacock Creamery’s Fresh Whipped Chèvre | Olympia, WA Pasteurized, fresh goat cheese Early spring is the best time of year for fresh goat cheese because the babies have just been weaned and the milk has recently begun to flow. Like fresh sheep’s milk, March milk is the cleanest and sweetest of the season, so if you want the best expression of chèvre, now’s the time! The whipped texture makes this freshy easily spreadable, and the bright, amicable flavor will surely elicit a few “mmm”s. It goes perfectly with jam and many wines.

Try it with: 2019 Domaine Dupeuble Beaujolais Rosé

Gabietou | Southwest France Raw cow and sheep mixed-milk mountain tomme This cheese is aged by a world-famous affineur named Herve Mons. Mons is single-handedly keeping the artisan cheese movement alive in France. He takes handmade, artisan and ages them in (mostly) old railroad tunnels-turned-cheese caves, and then he exports them to cheesemongers who understand and appreciate quality fromage. Gabietou is a balanced, approachable table cheese that enjoys an audacious red or even a fuller, viscous, floral white like Semillon or Viognier.

Try it with: 2019 Tenuta Le Calcinaie Vernaccia di San Gimignano

Landaff | Greensboro Bend, Vermont Raw cow’s milk, natural rind This special aged cheese comes to us from a family-owned creamery in the White Mountain Foothills, that’s matured at the Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm. This brilliant, earthy, cheese is modeled after the Welsch classic, Caerphilly. It has a tangy, crumbly, buttermilky paste and astounding retronasal (that place where your nasal passage and the tongue meet and where most flavor is gleaned) complexity. Sadly, the cheesemakers are retiring, and with them, they’re retiring Landaff’s recipe, so this is one of the last wheels in existence. We hope you enjoy it!

Try it with: 2018 Ca' del Baio Langhe Nebbiolo

And some tips to keep your cheese happy at home

● Protect your cheese from drying out by keeping it in your fridge in a lidded container (like tupperware), a plastic baggie, or the crisper drawer. ● After opening, always use fresh plastic wrap for any cheese you’re not planning to eat within a day, unless it’s being kept in a container (which we recommend). ● In general, we suggest eating your cheese within a week or so of purchasing. Some cheeses will last longer, but, you know, why wait! ● Keep bloomy rinds and blues separated when possible. The molds are quite zealous and will grow on any cheese they can latch onto, so just keep them in separate containers and you’ll be fine. ● A word about mold ○ If it’s growing on your semi-firm or firm cheeses, just cut it off and eat it! This white and blue mold is just fine — these cheeses lack the water to host the nasty molds. But if mold is growing on your fresh mozzarella, , , or fresh chevre, throw it out. The amount of water in these cheeses provides a great environment for the nasty stuff. If you start to see mold, you can be sure that the filaments are already running throughout the cheese :( ● For the best flavors, take your cheese out of the fridge for an hour or so before serving. When cheeses are too cold, all their delicious flavors, aromas, and textures get shy. Serve at room temperature to enjoy to the fullest.

This month’s fromage was carefully curated by Seattle’s Resident Cheese Lady, Rachael Lucas, ACS CCP, CCSE. Rachael is a cheese buyer for the Ballinger Thriftway in Shoreline, a fromage writer for tastewashingtontravel.com, a blogger at cheeseladyloveswine.com, and she’s on the Board of Directors for WASCA (Washington State Cheesemaker’s Association).