Rosé and Edam cheese in the Park
During our time in Massachusetts the weather was very unpredictable. I lived there my whole childhood so you’d think I would be expecting that. So many days we watched the weather wondering if it would be sunny or rainy and what we could do to enjoy the day. This Sunday in particular, the forecast kept showing sunshine and low 80’s. We all knew it would be a great day to have a picnic in the park. We had our wine and picnic lunch all packed and ready! We’d bring a Pinot Noir rosé that we purchased at Wine 101 Hamden, and it even had a screw top. Our cheese this week was Edam, because surprisingly we’d never tried it before. Just needed to pack up the car and keep our fingers crossed that the weather predictions were correct!
We arrived at the park and found a cute picnic table tucked away. Not too much shade or sun and thankfully this table looked pretty sturdy. You never know what you’re going to get at a public park. We were careful not to flaunt the fact that we were day drinking and got our picnic all set up. It was a little more relaxed than our wine and cheese tastings at home but just right for a Sunday in the Park!
As we started swirling the Matua rosé, my mom thought it smelled similar to the Steele chardonnay that we tasted in Cape Cod. (https://wineandcheesefriday.com/steele-chardonnay-and-champagne-cheddar-cheese/) I thought the aromas were a nice blend of strawberry and flowers. Neil agreed with the strawberries but kept it simple by saying “It smelled good." My mom doesn’t drink much wine but she has decided that she prefers a sangria. In order to be creative, she put a strawberry in her wine but she said that didn’t make it taste like a sangria. I found this wine to be crisp with a strawberry finish. Neil thought it was flavorful and he declared it to be a good rosé! Since we were enjoying our picnic lunch, I paired the wine with a slice of salami; but then the strawberry finish went away.
Neil and I have never tried edam cheese before, but what a fun cheese, all sealed up in wax, and ready to bring on our picnic in the park. My mom liked the texture and, still thinking about our pairing in Cape Cod, she said that the edam was better than the champagne cheese. The edam reminded her of cheddar but a little more tangy. I noticed salty aromas and thought the texture was nice and soft. The cheese had a hint of salt, lots of flavor and it coated my tongue. Neil liked the cheese but I think he was enjoying the beautiful weather and forgot to tell me his tasting notes.
We were all enjoying such a nice relaxing day in the park. Our picnic was almost over and our wine almost gone when we remembered we still needed to record the interaction between the rosé and edam cheese. I found the wine to become smooth and extra soft from the influence of the cheese. Unfortunately, the edam cheese also made the alcohol more obvious. Neil noticed the cheese got saltier, but not a huge difference in either the wine or the cheese. He figured they shouldn’t be paired together but he would happily enjoy them separately. My mom did pair the wine and cheese but didn’t make note of any differences or changes. It’s ok, today is a much more chill version of WineAndCheeseFriday.
Once we left the park, we decided there was probably an ice cream shop nearby. Neil and I split a cone filled with peanut butter and jelly ice cream. Yum! Then we went back to my mom’s and took a nap. That’s my kind of Sunday!
