The Gruyère Experience in Switzerland, Part 2

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Our story left off when you had just heard that Maria was going to milk a cow that afternoon, won’t you join us as The Gruyère Experience in Switzerland continues! Read More…

The Gruyère Experience in Switzerland, Part 1

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We came to Switzerland to visit Benno and Nora, friends we had met long long ago in Costa Rica. Back in 2015, she worked at a winery, and his family owned a dairy farm in the AOP region for Gruyère cheese. Then fast forward 7 years to today, and now they live on that dairy farm. Benno runs the show, caring for the cows, plowing the cornfields and potatoes. They’re full blown farmers. Read More…

White blend, Sparkling Rosé and Two Monte Azul cheeses with Carol

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We found a fellow WineAndCheese lover here in Quebradas, Costa Rica! Her name is Carol and she lives right down the road from us. Since she’s an expat, we can speak English, which makes it a little easier! We had already gotten together for wine and cheese before so I wanted to do it again as part of WineAndCheeseFriday. Also having some in-person time provided a nice break from all our Christmas video chatting. Read More…

Negroamaro and Caprice

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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? Read More…

Best of Wines and Cheeses in Costa Rica

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During our time in Costa Rica (much longer than we expected) we’ve been finding some really nice wines and cheeses. This trip we’ve had more purchasing options since we’ve been traveling around the country more. This has allowed us to find brands and shops that we never visited before. We’re also aware that it isn’t crucial to refrigerate cheese immediately so we’ve been fine taking the chance of driving home with it for a couple hours without thinking twice. Read More…

Pata Negra Reserva Tempranillo and Rosenburg blue cheese

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. Read More…

Emiliana Adobe Rosé and Goat’s Milk Brie

Neil and I were really craving some rosé so we headed to the grocery store to see what we could find. There were a few different rosés in the wine aisle but we spotted this Chilean rosé by Emiliana Winery, something new for us, and picked up a bottle. We’ve been enjoying the local cheese brand Quesos QM lately so we figured we could find something by them to pair with our rosé. It feels like it’s been forever since we just sat down and paired wine and cheese. Join us today as we taste Emiliana Adobe Rosé (Reserva) and Goat’s Milk Brie! Read More…

Join Maria as she pairs Montes Merlot with a Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese log on Facebook Live for Worcester State University.

Below is the video that aired live on Friday, May 15, 2020 on the Facebook Page of Worcester State University Alumni Read More…

Fruit Wines and Manchego Cheese, Made and Enjoyed in Costa Rica

We love the farmer’s market here in Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica. They call it the Feria and it’s the size of a soccer stadium, so there’s no surprise that we visit every week. One week while we were picking up our salad supplies and giant collection of vegetables, we walked past a table with mini bottles of wine. Since they were small, we could get a couple and not commit to a standard sized bottle of wine. Ok I’m in!  Read More…

Caring for my Camembert

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When I was choosing which classes to sign up for at The Art of Cheese, the one with bloomy rinds kept jumping out at me. This was a topic discussed at the Cheese Bootcamp but it was in the beginning of the course and I only attended the end. But, at the end of the bootcamp, Kate asked me if I’d like to take a wheel of camembert to age at home. Always being up for a challenge, I said yes. Read More…