This was our final “Swiss” cheese. Benno said it was another cheese that he really liked in Switzerland but we didn’t have a chance to taste it until after they left. Since it wasn’t a cheese we had heard of before, we took a wild guess that this French Chardonnay might pair with it. This wine is from the French Wine Tasting that we attended at BevMo so we have tasted it before but maybe it’s changed since then. (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/114788359563/french-wine-tasting-at-bevmo-in-order-to) Let’s see how we did with the pairing.
It’s been over a year since we visited any Sonoma vineyards so we took a trip out when Benno and Nora were here. We had a chance to visit a few places that day but today’s entry will be about Wilson Winery. (http://wilsonwinery.com) We heard about Wilson Winery from the lady at the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce and saw that they had food available too so we planned to have lunch there that day. This was our first time visiting the Dry Creek Valley region of Sonoma so we were excited to taste another area’s terroir!
After reading the Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc and Emmentaler entry, http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/121356608301/bodkin-blanc-de-sauvignon-blanc-and-emmentaler, maybe you wondered if Benno, our dairy farmer friend, would share some other cheese knowledge? Well you are in luck because this is the second entry featuring our Swiss friends with more Swiss cheese! Neil and I were both excited when they brought us both a young and aged Gruyere cheese so we could taste the difference. What a great idea for WineAndCheeseFriday. They knew the cheese better than us, although we have had a couple Gruyeres* in our time, so we asked what type of wine would pair well with both cheeses. It seemed a Merlot, not being too heavy or too light with a smooth taste should do the trick.
When we visited Healdsburg at the beginning of the month for the Sapphire Hill Food and Wine Pairing Lunch, http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/120785672765/sapphire-hill-food-and-wine-pairing-lunch-we-had,
we did a wine tasting at the Hawley Wine Tasting Room (www.hawleywine.com) to start the day. Neil and I have visited Healdsburg a few times and knew there were many wine tasting rooms but it’s so hard to choose when given that many options. We headed over to the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce for some advice. The woman there was so helpful! She not only had suggestions for tastings in Healdsburg, but also gave us an idea for dinner, charcuterie, and vineyards North of the area. What a great idea to head there upon arrival to Healdsburg! One of her favorite places was Hawley Winery because they have nice whites and reds and we were all looking for something a little different.
We had some friends in town from Switzerland so when I saw the Swiss flag on this cheese, it seemed like a good choice. We didn’t expect to learn so much by eating a “swiss cheese” with Swiss people. The wine is a sparking wine that we picked up on our recent trip to Lake County (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/119076681308/lake-county-wine-tasting-in-order-to-celebrate) and the tasting notes for the cheese appeared to be a good pairing for the wine flavors.
We had some friends in town from Switzerland so we headed up to Sonoma over the weekend. We made reservations for a wine tasting lunch at Sapphire Hill (www.sapphirehill.com) and couldn’t wait to experience it! Sapphire Hill is located in a wine tasting plaza in Healdsburg, CA with around 5 other tasting rooms, so there is plenty of wine to be enjoyed there! This was our second time visiting this part of Healdsburg (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/55233637275/healdsburg-fun-sunday-7-7-its-your-lucky-day) but there is always so much to see and do there.