This Week's Tasting: April 24, 2017

Every week at Dairymaids we select six cheeses to include in our free cheese tasting. Whenever we are open, we are tasting cheese. We stock over 150 cheeses, so if these 6 don’t please you, we will find you the cheeses that do.

Miette is a bloomy rind cheese from Baetje farms in Missouri, made from a blend of sheep and goat's milk. It tastes of sweet, rich cream and the texture is dense like cheesecake. It softens beneath its thin rind.

Anne Jones of Latte Da Dairy makes aged goat cheese from her small herd in North Texas.  Latte Da Pepper Jack is based on an American original Jack with recipe with red peppers.

Made in the traditional English style, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar is the product of a partnership between Cabot Creamery and Jasper Hill Cellars. The muslin-wrapped cheddars are made by Cabot, then aged in Jasper Hill's underground caves. The special attention during aging and high quality milk are evident in the complex flavors.

An Alpine-style cow's milk cheese from Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an artisan American cheese that can hold its own against any European rival. It has been recognized as "Best in Show" by the American Cheese Society three times - it is just that good.

Estive is a special version of Ossau-Iraty made only when the sheep are grazing at high altitudes in the Bearnaise mountains from June to August. Its production is very small, comprising only 2% of overall Ossau-Iraty production. The mountain forage includes summer grasses like the Gentian (used to make Angostura bitters) and Sweet Vernal grasses (a vanilla-scented wild grass), flowers and stems and roots of licorice, thyme and blue thistle. This unusual feed combined with rich, late-cylce sheep's milk makes for a uniquely delicious cheese. 

Surfin' Blue is an original cheese from Quattro Portoni, the buffalo milk cheesemakers in Northern Italy.  They take the best, ripe wheels of Blu di Bufala and age them in Surfing Hop beer from the artisan producer Birrificio Toccalmatto. The beer is rich in hops and has a hefty 8.5% alcohol content.  After 60 days in the beer, the cheese has a distinctive aroma which complements the creaminess of the blue with notes of sweetness.

Our wine of the week is Love Drunk from Mouton Noir from Willamette Valley in Oregon. It is a rosé made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes and has notes of strawberry, watermelon rind, and a hint of kiwi.

Our pairing of the week is our Texana extra virgin olive oil, made from 100% Texas olives.