Wine Merchant Cheese Class

It has been so long since I went to a Wine Merchant cheese class, that I hadn't gotten to try out the new location yet. I was concerned since I had a hard time finding the parking lot behind the building but all my concerns went to the wayside as soon as I walked inside.

First off, kudos on the huge ramp to the back door.

Second, there are two floors and a separate tasting room that looks like a board room with comfy leather chairs. And then there is STILL room for a tasting area.

Two bathrooms and an elevator. It's that sweet.

Although my favorite part was these giant maps!! (Don't worry, there is still a ton of room for wine on the floor.)

Wine maps!

Since I was there on a Friday night, they had a California bubbles tasting going on... great way to start the weekend!

Now on to the class... I wish I had taken a picture of the board room, I mean tasting room. You feel like a posh executive. It was even better with this wine and cheese list.

Wine and Cheese Pairing list

The first two wines were whites and were plenty high in acid to cut through the richness of the goat cheeses. Both cheese were soft and not too gamey, which you can get with goat cheese. The second pairing was a nicely matched wine and cheese from the Loire Valley, France.

A red wine was definitely needed to be paired up against the Black Truffle cheese from Italy, so a Primitivo  from Puglia, Italy was paired. Both had bold flavors, and that was just the start of the "in-your-face" flavors for the night.

A little bit of an "opposite" pairing was the Cabernet Sauvignon from Yakima Valley AVA in Washington state paired with the Cabot "Clothbound" cheddar from Vermont. This cheese is one of their special edition ones and  had quite a kick to stand up to the Cab.

The most intense pairing was the 2013 Herman Story Syrah, made from grapes all over California so it has a generic Califnoria AVA label. The Amirabella reminded me a lot of Epoisses. Both the wine AND the cheese had that barnyard smell and very funky taste! Woah! But what an explosion of flavors together!

(Why yes, I did purchase some Epoisses using my class discount!)

Then Jason was super nice and gave us a bonus pour of Non Vintage G.D. Vajra Barolo Chinato Vino Aromatizzato paired with dark chocolate almonds. I almost ate the entire box myself.

Resources:

Wine Merchant = http://www.winemerchantltd.com/

Wine Merchant Cheese Class November 2014

The Wine Merchant in Clayton is now on the second round of going through the top cheesemaking countries so for the second time this year, I attended a "USA" themed cheese class. This makes sense since there are so many cheeses to go through! While cheese making hasn't been around as long in the United States, there are still plenty to choose from and always something new to taste.

American Cheeses

I was thrilled that the first cheese of the night was the Midnight Moon, which if you know, is my all time favorite. It's a goat cheese, but firm due to aging and has a rich, nutty flavor. I learned tonight that this cheese is made in a gouda style, so that probably adds to the heavy flavors. 

Normally I tell people to pair this with red wine because because of its strong flavor, so I was surprised this was paired with a Bonny Doon Riesling 2013. Even more suprising is that this Riesling came from a southern California winery, but it was explained to me that the grapes come from all over the eastern United States. So two of my favorites together means a top pairing in my book.

Next up was the Domaine Napa Chardonnay 2012 and this was also a good pairing because the rich oaky wine was able to match the coffee flavors in the Barely Buzzed cow cheese. 

The first red wine was a soft Mahoney Pinor Noir Carneros 2011, which is well known for its "French-style" lightness, but I thought it still had plenty of body to stand up to the Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a raw cow cheese that is similar to a cheddar.

We went upscale on the next two wines: Silver Peak Cabernet 2011 and a Ramey Syrah Sonoma Coast 2012. Both were necessary to pair with the soft and rich, brie-like Kunik (a mix of goat and cow's milk), and the pungent, cow's milk Ameribella, which was hard for me to get through.

I had a much easier time with the Rogue River Blue, which paired really well with the jammy Austin Hope Troublemaker. I instantly thought this would make for a good Thanksgiving wine to stand up to all the rich flavors.

Resources:

Wine Merchant = http://winemerchantltd.com/

Wine Merchant Cheese Class July 2014

Since the Wine Merchant had already covered the top countries for cheese production so far this year, this month's theme was "party"! Sounds like fun right? Really, the class could have been called "how best to pair wine and cheese" since Simon, the cheesemonger at The Wine Merchant, really covered that aspect quite well.

Simon picked a really nice wide variety of wines and cheeses and a lot of them "grew together" so you know that they'll "go together" well.

While Simon pointed out that typically, one would serve hunks of cheese with a small cheese knife on a wooden (cutting) board to allow your guests to serve themselves, I laughed to myself for a couple of reasons. (During class, our plates are prepared with individual slices, so he pointed out that is not the norm when serving cheese.)

I wonder if this is not common knowledge and he had to point it out? But then again, I AM a cheese snob. Anyway, I have found that the best way to serve cheese (in the most accessible manner), is to cut it up in about 1 ounce cubes (well...some kind of shape). This way your guests can easily grab a piece (one handed if they're holding a plate or glass) with their fingers, fork, or toothpick. I also think they feel less guilty grabbing a handful of cheese if it's in a smaller piece...

The other important aspect to serving cheese is labeling! People want to know what it is they are eating before they'll grab. People love to know they're eating some unique cheese or that it's local. And I've met quite a few people who can only eat goat cheese. I used to leave the labels hanging off but that looked quite crude and cheese signs don't stand up in cut up cheese, so now I use a Sharpie to write the info on the edge of a paper plate. When I do use a cheeseboard, I sometimes make little sign tents as well.

Anyway, some of the highlights from this cheese class:

Cheese Plate

Gruyere is often paired with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir since they're in the same region. The Alpage Gruyere that we had was from Burgandy area.

Cabot cheese is actually a co-op of about 300 dairy farmers. I am definitely a big fan of the Vermont dairy's cheddar for sure. (Possible siteseeing someday?)

My favorite was the Langres since it reminded me so much of Epoisses.

The Sottocenere and Truffle Gouda were a bit strong for me, but luckily they were paired with a Ogier Syrah d'Ogier so as not to be too overpowering. Simon said he liked the Sottocenere on grilled cheese!

Since the class was completely full, we got to enjoy some higher end wines and cheese, and Simon even threw in some venison pate, which was new to me as well.

Menu

Resources:

The Wine Merchant = http://www.winemerchantltd.com

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Wine Merchant Cheese Class June 2014

This month's cheese class theme was Italy, and like wine, is also my second favorite after France.

I was a little overwhelmed by the powerful six pairings of wine, and I had to eat quite a bit of bread so that I could drive after the class...luckily the cheese was able to stand up to the wine as well.

Menu

My favorites had to be the first couple since I love the highly acide, creamy cheeses: Tenerone (Goat's milk) and Pina Brigante (Sheep's milk).

Although, the Taleggio had an awesome flavor and was perfectly paired up with teh 2009 Podernuovo IGT "Therra" from Tuscan region, aka a "Super Tuscan".

And I should have know that the rich and intense Amarone would pair up well with a blue cheese.

Italian cheese plate

Resources:

The Wine Merchant = http://www.winemerchantltd.com

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Wine Merchant Cheese Class May 2014

As a follow up to the American cheese class in April, the May version featured French cheeses, not only my favorite country for wine and cheese, but the class included my all time favorite cheese, Epoisses.

Kicking off the night were traditional light, white wines with high acid that's always a wonderful compliment to the creamier cheeses, shown in the upper right on the plate below.

The second cheese, Langres, a cow's milk cheese from the Champagne region, was even washed in a white wine to make for an easy pairing.

Once we switched over to the reds, the cheeses became richer in order to stand up to the fruity and drier wines. I learned that the cows make larger wheels in the summer, but since there is less milk in the winter, the flavor can be more concentrated.

Also for the first time, I got to try an Ossau Iraty Fermier, the largest wedge on the plate, which is a higher standard designation due to the milk coming from a single farm. This sheep's milk cheese, the richest cheeses over cow and goat, along with the Epoisses, pictured just to the left of the Osau Iraty, went fabulously with the bold Chateauneuf du Pape.

Luckily, my personal photographer attended with me this time so the menu and delicious cheeses are featured below.

French cheeses

French Cheese Class Menu

Resources:

The Wine Merchant = http://www.winemerchantltd.com

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Wine Merchant Cheese Class April 2014

I actually don't remember the last time I went to a Wine Merchant cheese class although I did find some blog posts from 2009. I know I would try to take a food pairing class here and there since those have always been my favorite, but my class schedule definitely had become too full the last couple of years.

Thanks to my schedule finally slowing down and a holiday weekend, I just happened to be available on the right night for their cheese class. For over a year, the cheese classes were scheduled for Saturday nights, so I jumped at the chance to take one on a Friday night again!

While at first I wasn't too excited about a "USA" themed wine and cheese class, I was happy to review the menu when I got to class and (believe it or not), I had never tasted any of the cheeses that were served tonight. I always love learning and tasting new cheeses/wine/food/etc.

Even though I hadn't been in the Clayton store for quite awhile, I recognized most of the staff and that really impressed me. They must be doing something right if employees continue to stay. My hero, cheesemonger Simon Lehrer, told me he has reached ten years!

Anyway, I didn't remember there being six tastings per class, but I did appreciate getting to try that many cheeses. Luckily, Simon didn't pour too heavy, but I did have to share some of the red wines with a friend!

1st Pairing:
2012 Melville Chardonnay Clone 76-Inox from Sta. Rita Hills, CA
Capriole Sofia, Goat cheese from Indiana

This was one of my top favorites because the crispness and acid of the wine (no oak!) really helped to cut through the creamy goat cheese. I always love that balance between the two.

2nd Pairing:
2011 Autumn Selection Viognier, from Columbia Valley, WA
Pondhopper, Goat cheese from Bend, OR

The Viognier was more floral on the nose, but had a very mellow finish, so it couldn't quite keep up with the richness and nutty, caramel flavor of the firm goat cheese, which reminded me A LOT of my favorite, Midnight Moon. This cheese definitely stands alone.

3rd Pairing:
2012 haden fig Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, OR
Jasper Hill Winnemere, Raw Cow's milk from Vermont

You know this is THE place to get Pinot Noir from in this country. This is a great example of a quaffable red wine...yes, a red wine that *I* like since it has such a fruity finish with little dryness.

Yet, it just isn't a wine that could handle the super gooey and "stinky" cheese that is very similar to one of my all time favorite cheeses: Epoisses. I learned from Simon that most cheese is made from summer milk when the grass is greener and there is more variety. Yet, this cheese was made from winter milk, that has a higher fat content and all the flavor comes from washing the rind. This rind was bathed in a lambic beer so I'm sure you can imagine how delicious those flavors added to the cheese. Let's just say I did get leftovers of this cheese from two friends.

4th Pairing:
2008 Nicholson Jones Selection Syrah from Napa Valley, CA
Cobb HIll Ascutney Mountain from Vermont

I pretty much needed a knife and fork to drink this Syrah. Of course all the "red heads" loved this wine. The rich, firm, raw cow's milk cheese just could not stand up to it. I think this and the Winnemere should have been switched.

5th Pairing:
2012 Waterbrook Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley, WA
Nettle Meadow Simply Sheep from Vermont

I was surprised to be tasting a Cabernet after the Syrah, since I could drink this wine more easily. I thought this was a pretty good pairing with the creamy sheep's milk cheese. I learned that Sheep's cheese are usually lower in acid and higher in fat.

6th Pairing:
2012 Bedrock Lorenzo's Heritage from Dry Creek Valley, CA
Roelli Dunbarton Blue, Raw Cow's milk from Wisconsin

This might be the best blue cheese I have ever tried since it is the only one I have heard of going through the cheddaring process, which prevented the blue from overpowering the wine, which actually had a fruity finish. I was quite surprised. Possibly the best pairing, but you could easily have both of these by themselves.

Again, I totally dropped the ball on taking a picture of my plate of cheeses...I have gotten quite out of practice. But next month, cheese class is on a Friday night again! Yes!

Resources:

The Wine Merchant = http://winemerchantltd.com/

Mei Lee Wine Pairing

I know it was a good wine pairing class since I actually drank all my wine! I finally made it to a Mei Lee (http://maileerestaurant.com) wine pairing at The Wine Merchant (http://www.winemerchantltd.com). I haven’t been there in a while since they stopped having cheese classes and I made sure to point that out to them.

Anyway, when I think Mei Lee, a Vietnamese restaurant (that I unfortunately haven’t been to since they’ve moved), I automatically think spicy, which usually signals sweeter white wines or some strong reds. Luckily, I was quite pleased to find out there were a variety of dishes beyond the traditional noodles and curries that immediately came to mind. The class leader also noted that Mei Lee has an extensive wine list thanks to a close relationship with the Wine Merchant.

We started off with a Lotus Root Salad, which was a light, simple dish with vegetables and shrimp, so of course this went well with a white wine. But the salad was slightly tangy and was paired with a dry Pinot Grigio from Italy. I was surprised because although the wine had a fruity smell, it tasted much drier.

Next up was a Chicken Curry dish that I was initially nervous about but ended up having a real mild coconut flavor. This paired well with a creamy Chardonnay, that actually came from Washington state. Robert Parker gave the 2008 Cote Bonneville Chardonnay 94 points, and the class leader went on to explain how unique climates such as higher elevations make for excellent places to grow grapes. Locations such as Chile and New Zealand as well asclimates that have sunny days and cool nights, in addition to a long growing season like in Washington, really make for excellent wine producing areas.

Switching back to appetizers, we were served a Crispy Sweet Potato Cake which was fried shoestring potatoes with a giant shrimp trapped in the middle. Our leader explained that fried, oily foods need more of an acidic wine to be paired with them so he served a dry Rose that was excellent. Quite a few of the attendees were surprised that Rose was not the usual sweet flavor.

Another appetizer, a traditional spring roll that contained pork was paired with a full bodied Pinot Noir from the Santa Barbara region of California. I expected a greasy flavor from the pork to require a red wine, but it turned out neither one was overpowering and the Pinot was actually quite smooth. This was definitely the best wine of the night.

For the first time, I tried a dish called Bahn Bao, which looked like a hamburger. A doughy biscuit filled with a flat sausage patty and a hard-boiled egg on top. Together, it was a sweet, heavy dish, served with an equally heavy (full bodied) Chateauneuf-du-Pape. While this is not my typical favorite style of wine, I often purchase this as gifts for those who enjoy dark reds.

The last dish consisted of a Rare Beef that was very spicy, even though I drowned it in the fish oil. This was paired with a sweet Muscat from Alsace, France, but it wasn’t enough to keep my nose from running and downing several glasses of water!

I certainly hope the Wine Merchant does more food and wine pairings in the future and the coolest one the class leader talked about was a pizza and wine pairing! I hope I can make it!

Here are the pairings:

Lotus Root Salad
2010 Scarpetta Pinot Grigio
Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy

Chicken Curry
2008 Cote Bonneville Chardonnay
Yakima Valley, Washington

Crispy Sweet Potato Cake
2010 Chateau de Manissy Rose
Tavel, France

Pork Roll
2009 Belle Glos Pinot Noir
Santa Maria Valley, California

Bahn Bao
2008 La Ferme du Mont Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Southern Rhone Valley, France

Rare Beef
2008 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Muscat
Alsace, France

Seafood Class June 2010

I know it’s been awhile since I blogged but hopefully it was worth the wait in between posts since this week was seafood class! Now that the cheese classes are defunct, I don’t get to go to Whole Foods too often anymore. They do have a monthly wine class but they’re always on Thursday nights when I have football practice. (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/st-louis/store-calendar/) Rumor has it that the instructor, Jill Aboussie, always pairs the wines with quite a few cheeses and other Whole Foods goodies during the classes, but I prefer to hold out for the real thing.
Wine Merchant in Clayton had a couple of Friday night cheese classes this month but I called too late to sign up for them. I guess I should let a few others learn how awesome cheese can be!
I have been attending Angie Ortman’s (STLWineGirl) classes at Provisions on a regular basis since those are on Tuesday nights and she has just finished her summer schedule. (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/UpcomingEvents.html) Not only does she have her regular food/wine pairings, but she will also be teaching wine and cheese pairings at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton on Forsyth (http://www.wineandcheeseplace.com/).
Anyway, this month’s seafood class theme was Alaskan Seafood, which we had done at some point last year so the Cod Cakes were a repeat, but it was one of my favorites so I didn’t mind. The cod cakes actually had some chipotle peppers so they had a little bit of a kick by themselves but when dipped in the mustard sauce…watch out! I think there was more than just a pinch of Cayenne pepper in them. That’ll teach me not to fill half of my plate with sauce!
We actually started with halibut tacos which was a light course. Chef Matt heated the tortilla shells so they were crispy, which made them hard to fold. I probably would have left them room temperature, especially since the tacos also had other “cool” toppings like mango, avocado, and shredded cheese.
One of my favorites for the evening was a Yukon (potato) wrapped sable fillet. I have never had sable before much less eating anything wrapped in a potato slice! The potatoes were sliced very thin (using a mandolin slicer…that’s fun to say!) so they could be wrapped around the cut of fish and held together with a kabob stick. After the kabob stick was full, he cooked them in a skillet with vegetable oil, using the stick to flip ‘em. I thought that was pretty slick.
When it came time to eat, the fish really didn’t stay inside of the potato blanket, but the fish was super tasty because it had the flavor from the potato grease. Not to mention the fish was so light and soft…it melted like butter! I definitely would be interested in trying more sable if it always tasted that light.
For the first three courses, white wines were paired, which is typical for fish, but for the salmon course, a red wine was paired and held up pretty well. The last course is always something special and this class did not disappoint. Chef Matt pulled out a full Copper River Sockeye Salmon that had been caught on Saturday and delivered on Tuesday morning! That’s pretty darn fresh for St. Louis!
Luckily the fish had already been beheaded and gutted so all Chef Matt had to do was cut the fish into steak slices. It definitely put me in the mood for some sushi! Hehe The steaks were just salted and peppered and squirted with olive oil…that’s almost something *I* could do! Even the Dijon mustard marinade (with balsamic vinegar and a heavy dose of honey) even seems like something I could handle, and it made for a very sweet topping for the salmon.
I learned that fish should only sit in marinade for fifteen minutes at most or else the fish becomes mushy. The salmon was cooked with the skin and bones to hold in the flavor so you had to be careful while eating, but the meat was so soft the bones came right out. Chef Matt said there are fewer bones from the stomach to tail than from the stomach to the head too.
Since Whole Foods does not hold classes in August, the next seafood class won’t be until September.
Even though I haven’t been going to as many classes, I haven’t been starving by any means and have been going out quite a lot lately. I took a friend who was new to the St. Louis area to one of my favorite brew houses, Trailhead Brewery on St. Charles Main Street (http://www.trailheadbrewing.com/), and I finally got to try Iron Barley (http://www.ironbarley.com/). Great steaks, incredible beer selection, but super far away.
Earlier in the month, I went to visit a friend in Ames, Iowa so I also got to make stops at Dublin Bay, which I’m pretty sure is THE Irish pub of Ames (http://www.dublinbayames.com/), and Prairie Moon Winery (http://www.prairiemoonwinery.com/). At Dublin Bay, I had “Irish nachos” for the first time…all the usual nacho goodies on top of waffle fries! Hehe At the winery, I picked out a gouda, gruyere, and an aged cheddar to bring with me and we had their sweet white, Moon Beam White. Since most of Ames is surrounded by farmland, it was nice that we didn’t have to go that far to get to it! Hehe Definitely the highlight of my trip.

2010 Classes!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile but there isn't much going on with the holidays. Been busy cleaning out my fridge instead...

I DID get a lovely bottle of wine as a present so details on that forthcoming when I crack that open.

The highlight of the holidays was splitting a 2004 Stag's Leap Cabernet (http://www.stagsleap.com/). I probably could have drank the whole thing by myself it was so smooth. I also ate Stacy's Pita Chips (http://www.stacyssnacks.com/) as an appetizer. Probably could have eaten the entire bag of those in one sitting as well.

Anyway, here are some links to 2010 classes...email me if you're interested in attending anything with me. You KNOW I will be at all the cheese classes!

Provisions Schedule: http://provisionsmarket.com/?p=253
Wine and Cheese place: http://thewineandcheeseplace.blogspot.com/2009/12/thursday-night-classes-2010.html

Whole Foods Galleria: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/st-louis/storecalendar.php

The Wine Merchant: http://www.winemerchantltd.com/html/clayton.html