I was on Social Media recently when someone said “Maria, we’d guess that you have some cool chip and dip pairings with wine.” Surprisingly I didn’t so when I saw this cheese at the Durham Farmer’s Market, my gears started turning. What if we used this soft-ripened cheese, that is essentially a dip, with some multigrain chips and turned them into bruschetta? And since bruschetta is Italian, we could see what kind of Italian wine we could find to pair with it. Not quite chips and dip in the traditional sense but we are far from traditional people. We present to you, our version of chips and dip featuring a Super Tuscan Wine, Cottonbell Cheese (by Boxcarr Handmade Cheese) and Italian Tomatoes.
My friend Karen and I were excited to attend the first Wine Class at Enoteca Vino Nostro (www.enotecavinonostro.com) during the week. They spared no expense with the spread they offered; italian meats, cheeses, olive oil, of course, and a spicy sausage, bean and fennel dish. I have described the wines on their own as well as paired some of them with the delicious foods, to see how the wine might change. Since the cheeses weren’t labeled I’ve done my best to describe them in the pairings.
This week we hit the road to taste some Italian wines. We had been to the Wine Club back in July so we figured we’d head over there again. (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/55191187751/trip-to-the-wine-club-7-5-we-decided-to-go-to) The tasting room section of the store is pretty small but the staff is always very helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable!