We’ve dubbed February as Italian Wine Month here on WineAndCheeseFriday.com. Why? Why not. I’ve been getting a little bored with my pandemic wine selection here in Costa Rica so I’ve been creating themes to revisit and learn a little more about each topic. Today’s pairing was suggested by WineFolly on a huge list that I found a while back, https://winefolly.com/wine-pairing/12-classic-wine-and-cheese-pairings-you-have-to-try/. I was excited to find both a Montepulciano and a Parmegiano Reggiano to do this entry, so without further ado, here we go!
This was our second time visiting the specialty grocery store, L'épicerie, in Ojochal. We had such good luck with wine and cheese we purchased from there a few months back that we had to plan another trip! (https://wineandcheesefriday.com/best-of-wines-and-cheeses-in-costa-rica/) As we entered we had wine and cheese on the mind. What would we find this time around? Would there be more wines from other countries that our local distributors don’t carry? And what kind of cheese would we find?
After trying a few bottles of Pata Negra Tempranillo, we decided to have one for an official wine and cheese pairing. We’ve tried multiple vintages and styles so we wanted to share it with all of you! The cheese we chose was from Denmark, and we pretty much jump at the chance to have blue cheese, when we can find it. We actually figured out during the pairing that the last time we’d had blue cheese was with our family during the holidays. No wonder we were craving it so much. We present to you the pairing of Pata Negra Reserva Tempranillo and Rosenburg blue cheese.
It’s North Carolina Wine Month so let’s celebrate with Cabernet Franc from South Creek Winery in Nebo, NC and Carolina Bleu Marble cheese from Ashe County Cheese, also made in North Carolina. We purchased both this wine and cheese when we made our way out towards Asheville, NC in the summer, https://wineandcheesefriday.com/south-creek-winery-visit-nebo-nc/. This would be our first winery visit in North Carolina so we were anxious to sip the wines.
For this week’s Wine And Cheese Friday entry we’ll be featuring our first pairing during this trip to Costa Rica. We love visiting Costa Rica, but have found it challenging to find a wine and cheese selection that coincides with our palates. Wine can be found in local grocery and liquor stores here in Pérez Zeledón, but the selection is usually limited. Sweet wines are more popular here, whereas we prefer something drier and more complex, and most wines we find are from Chile and Argentina. Since we’ve visited three times previously, we’ve found our staple brands to enjoy on a regular basis, but are always hoping for something new and interesting. Imagine our surprise when we came across a Sicilian brand that had been previously featured on #WiningHourChat! We made a mental note and went back a week later to pick up the bottle of Stemmari Nero D’Avola.
We told you there would be more wines by Undurraga! This time we’ll taste their rosé. And this cheese, I know you can all imagine how excited we were to find an aged cheese made with goat’s milk here in Costa Rica. We came across it at the grocery store that we visit most often, Luferz. We go there every week and it wasn’t until about a month of visits that we noticed this brand of cheeses, Monte Azul in the refrigerated section. They have have over a dozen different cheeses and they refer to themselves as artisan. We all know what that means ?
Maria and Neil started wineandcheesefriday.com to learn more about wine in 2014. We’ve visited wineries, and creameries across the world to learn as much as we can about these two wonderful delacacies. We❤️🍷&🧀
