Usually around Christmastime, Neil and I try out a sweet wine. Pretty much right on schedule, we were given this bottle by some friends of the family that happened to make their own wine. When we do these sweet wine pairings we typically choose a strong cheese so when I saw this at ALDI, https://www.aldi.us, it was an easy choice.
What better way to celebrate the holidays than with Wine, Cheese, the beach and family! Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Since Neil and I are the Wine And Cheese Couple, people look forward to drinking wine with us. While we were visiting our home in Florida, some neighbors came over to have WineAndCheeseFriday with us. We were excited to find some wines and cheeses that might be a little more out of the ordinary so we went to a local natural food market called Rollin Oats. (http://rollinoats.com) We found the Grenache Noir, made with 100% grenache grapes, which is definitely different than what you would find in any of the big grocery stores around here. They also carried a nice selection of cheeses but we can never resist a Gouda, especially a cheese made with a milk other than cow’s milk.
Neil and I went camping over Thanksgiving weekend so we embraced the camping spirit and brought wine in a box and freeze dried cheese. We’ve heard the bad rap that boxed wine gets but this would be lighter and no glass to worry about, so we figured it was worth a try. I’m sure you are intrigued about the freeze dried cheese. We were in Starbucks (http://www.starbucks.com) and the title “Moon Cheese” caught my eye. What better time to try it than when you are out in the woods!
During Columbus Day weekend, in order to practice wine tasting before heading to Raven Hollow Winery, we paired Chardonnay and Brie. (https://wineandcheesefriday.com/raven-hollow-winery-westfield-ma/) This was an introduction to wine tasting for Jackie and Karen and a refresher course for Betty. Although Karen had only gone to one other wine tasting, she knew that she liked the flavor of Kendall Jackson Chardonnay so we figured it would be a fun way for her to get acquainted with the techniques of wine tasting. Neil and I taught them about the 5S’s of wine tasting and how to take your time with the wine to really notice the dominant flavors and aromas. Karen also decided to read the back label to see what flavor hints they might offer.
As a Halloween treat, we will be pairing Stingy Jack Pumpkin wine and Fromage blanc. A few weeks back, while visiting the Big E Wine and Cheese Barn (http://www.thebige.com/ese/), I found this pumpkin wine. How could I resist, I am here to celebrate all things related to Fall. Do you recognize this cheese? We made it last week with my niece and nephew, http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/131751540308/making-goat-cheese-with-lexi-and-alex-as-you-may. This is another team wine and cheese tasting so please welcome my two brothers Tom and Vin, along with their better halves Liz and Koren and my mom, Betty, to taste with us.