More Cheese Please...

I was inspired to write about cheese after reading a post by Shana Ray, (a poster on Twitter & Facebook) who asked the question: “Which is your favorite: Beer, Wine or Cheese?” I had to laugh at the responses, especially by one poster who asked “isn’t this the holy trinity?” Certainly, one could argue that Beer & Scotch (one of my other favorites) are one in the same; and could be included in this gastronomic trinity, but I digress.

Since my early childhood, cheese has been one of my favorite foods. My Grandmother used to cut us slices of sharp cheddar cheese and serve them with crackers and peanut butter for a mid day snack. I would always try to make sure that I had enough crackers to go along with each cheese slice (yes, I was a bit weird about my food even at the age of 5 & 6) and would inevitably get into a disagreement with one of my sisters as they tried to break up this synergy by snagging one of my crackers.

I have very fond memories of going into town with my Grandfather and stopping at the local delicatessen for some Monterey Jack. This wasn’t the rubbery white utility cheese that you find at your local grocer, but real aged Monterey Jack cheese that was much firmer but yet not as hard and dry as the aged jack that you can find at the Vella Cheese Factory in the town of Sonoma.

In high school after water polo or swim practice, my supplements weren’t vitamins or energy drinks; it was cheese, fries and Dr. Pepper. On my way home from school, I’d stop off first at the local deli and pick up a half pound of jack cheese, then stop next at the Dairy Bell for a large bag of French fries along with a large Dr. Pepper. All of this would be long gone by the time I reached home on my bike. Strangely a few hours later I would then devour dinner.

One of the highlights of visiting France and Italy is the abundance of artisan cheeses. Barbara and I have enjoyed many informal lunches in Europe that were composed of a local cheese, fresh baked bread accompanied by a local wine; nothing can beat this, especially if you are zooming through the countryside on a train, sitting out in a Piazza or just lounging on the veranda of your overnight accommodations watching life below. As a result of my first trip to France, I picked up two really great books on the topic: Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins – Workman Publishing & French Cheeses by Eyewitness Handbooks.

Living in Sonoma County, it’s easy to take for granted the number of small, local purveyors of fine artisanal cheese. The one pictured here comes from the Joe Matos Cheese Factory in Santa Rosa, located just south of Todd Road on Llano Road. There you can buy direct, this wonderful cow’s milk Cheese called St. Jorge named after the Portuguese island in the Azores where the Matos family comes from. This cheese is dense but not what I would consider dry, with flavors that are dusty, sharp and nutty, a cross between a good jack and a sharp cheddar. What I like about this cheese is its versatility; not only can you enjoy it by itself with a glass of wine, this cheese melts really well and is great for pizza’s or grilled cheese sandwiches. I especially enjoy it on a Croque Monsieur.

If you weren’t already, I hope this has Inspired you to become a cheese head like me!

Bon Appetite!

A Jewel of a Pinot

My first impression of Pinot Noir was probably like a lot of folks... not all that impressed. I mean, come on - where's the intensity? Where are the full ripe berry flavors that jump out at you like that of big ripe juicy Zins or Cabs? Where's the chewiness? I just thought that Pinot Noir was - OK - nothing special.

That was 20 years ago...

My ah ha moment came in the mid 90's. I was trying to introduce Pinot Noir to the students of my wine education classes. At first, I approached Pinot Noir as a variety that I was also trying to convince myself to like. I'd tell my students to be patient and give this grape a little respect. After all, some of the best wine is made in Burgundy, France! I was always met with the same reaction; the wines underwhelmed people.

Then it happened! I was at a little winery up in the Santa Cruz mountains who only made Pinot Noir. Wow - I was totally amazed and blown away. My next discovery came from a winery that I had been buying wine from for years. I had never given their Pinot Noir the time of day. Once I put on my Pinot glasses, I was hooked.


When I became a vintner, the last wine that I said I'd make was Pinot Noir. This was partially because of intimidation and partially because of economics. While I was writing my business plan, I hadn't discovered an affordable Pinot Noir vineyard and I was really afraid of making a mediocre wine. As luck would have it during our first year in Sonoma County, I was introduced to a Pinot Noir grower out in Carneros who had a new vineyard and no buyers. I played with the fruit in 2001 and was so impressed, I used this vineyard for our first commercial vintage in 2002 and kept using it until our 2008 vintage. In fact, our 2007 vintage received 2 gold medals; I feel I can truly say that I'm on the right path...


I bring up the past to explain how I fell in love with Pinot Noir and how I discovered Dutton Estate Winery / Sebastopol Vineyards. You see, just after harvest in 2002, I was on a quest to find some Pinot Noirs that were similar to the one that I was making. At the time, I felt like I was finally starting to understand Pinot Noir and become fine tuned to the different styles and what influenced them.

It was during our annual March Barrel Weekend outing in 2003 that we stopped in at Dutton Estate. We started talking to the winemaker and I mentioned that I had just gotten my first commercial vintage under my belt and that I was really interested in trying his Pinot Noirs.


As a result of our enthusiasm, he took us back into the winery and suggested that we try several, including his favorite, the Jewel Block. WOW - all four of us were amazed by the complexity; the wine was so young, yet it was showing off black cherry, dried cranberry and earth, along with tobacco and leather - it was a Pinot Noir lovers Pinot Noir. It had it all! And yet, this wine was also quite closed and was still awkwardly going through ML.

As the four of us walked into the winery, I asked if everyone felt like I did and was ready to drop the credit card on the register and order a case of futures. Nods came from everyone - so I proceeded to buy two cases of futures, one for each couple. No big deal, right? I mean, whatever it cost now, it was sure to go up in price when it was released in 12 months. So, I made my way out to the car to meet the others. My friend George asked how much he owed me so I gave him the figure; half of the purchase - and there was this pause - like, what? I said, yea, you bought a case and I bought a case... You should have seen the look in his eyes, and that of everyone else... they all started laughing at me because they had thought that I was going to SPLIT a case...

Fast forward twelve months. The new price of the wine had gone up even higher than what it was advertised at in March '03. I think it was released for almost $60 per bottle and we had paid something like $28 at Barrel Weekend in March - as it was, it was still expensive at the time. Talk about an investment... WOW - this wine turned out as good, if not better than I thought it would when we tried it from barrel. George was VERY thrilled to have his own case!

Seven years later this wine is still wowing me! Today, this wine is still showing some wonderful young fruit characteristics of black cherry, cranberry, leather and earth, along some tobacco notes. The tannins are also well balanced and integrated; there also appears to be enough tannin to allow this wine to age very gracefully over the next 10 years. I'd say that we really did find a JEWEL of a Pinot.