Pinot Grigio and 2 Local Cheeses (Part 1)

This weeks Wine and Cheese Friday is one for all the “locavores”. We are very excited about the local wine and cheese this week; both produced about an hour from us.

Our Pinot Grigio is from Eagle Ridge Winery and Vineyard in Livermore, CA, (http://www.eagleridgevineyard.com/) and the cheeses are from Gypsy Cheeses, out of Sonoma, CA. (http://gypsycheese.com/). The winery may sound familiar to you because we visited it back in April when we were “On Location in Livermore” (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/48889975506/on-location-in-livermore-ca-sunday-4-21-we). The cheeses were purchased at the New Taste Market last weekend. (http://newtastemarketplace.org/)

We did our tasting a little different this week since we had multiple cheeses. First we tasted the Pinot Grigio, next the Caravan cheese alone and with the wine. Our new step was a palate cleanse, using a rice cake, followed by the Gypsy Rose cheese alone and with the wine.

As mentioned, we purchased this wine back in April so we were excited to have found a nice cheese to pair it with. When I tasted the Pinot Grigio, I was reminded of white grape juice, that was a little tangy. It was fruity, with a possible melon flavor and definite honey! Neil said it gave a solid hit to the palate, that was noticeable. He described it as very tasty with a lasting finish!

Both of the cheeses from Gypsy Cheese Co. are made from goat’s milk. The first cheese we tried was Caravan, the white one on the right, in the photo. When we purchased it, the storage container was filled with brine. I thought it was salty and a little dry. Neil compared it to a salty feta cheese. We both liked it!

When we tasted the Pinot Grigio and Caravan together I noticed the wine becoming less fruity and more dry, but I could still taste honey. Neil noticed something similar traits but was not sure about the pair.