This Week's Tasting: September 18, 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.

Harbison is a unique, bloomy-rinded cheese from Jasper Hill in Vermont. It is wrapped in bark cut from the woods around the farm which holds the cheese's form and imparts a woodsy flavor to the cheese. Cut off the top of Harbison and serve the smooth, unctuous paste on a spoon.

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

Wagon Wheel is an aged, semi-firm cheese made from organic cow' milk by the Cowgirl Creamery in California. With a supple paste and slightly funky washed rind, Wagon Wheel is similar to an Asiago or Fontina. It melts beautifully. A touch of cheddar-y sharpness complements the richer notes of brown butter and cream.

From Baetje Farm in Missouri, Bloomsdale is inspired by the traditional French cheese Valencay. Like Valnecay, Bloomsdale is a ripened goat's milk cheese dusted with ash and shaped like a pyramid with a flattened top. The Baetje's named it for their town, Bloomsdale.

Produced on Pag Island on the coast of Croatia, Dalmatinac is made from a blend of sheep and cow's milk. Pag Island is a sparse, rocky island. The animals who live there produce uniquely flavored milk from their diet of wind-whipped island herbs and grasses. This cheese is sweet and creamy with herbal notes.

Bayley Hazen Blue is a natural-rinded blue from Jasper Hill in Vermont. The Kehler brothers of Jasper Hill Farm hand-make this remarkable blue with the milk from their own herd of Ayrshire cows. The paste is firm and fudgy. Its flavor changes with the seasons, but often boasts nutty, grassy and fennel-like notes.

Our wine of the week is a Riesling from Villa Wolf in the Pfalz region of Germany. It is off-dry with a medium body, a balanced acidity, and notes of peach and apricot. We taste wine from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays.

Our pairing of the week is Mythical Mayhaw Jelly from Garden Dreams in Houston.