Pairings Wine & Cheese

Lancashire is one of the few traditional cheeses still made in Britain, with a history stretching back hundreds of years. When meat was a rarity and times hard, it became the staple food of the mill workers who were crammed into back-to-back houses with little or no cooking facilities.  In 1939, there were over 200 farms turning out 1260 tons of Lancashire every year. However, the cheese became a causality of the war effort, with all the milk being used for mass cheese production. In 1948, with the limited post war revival, only 22 farms returned to Lancashire cheesemaking. By 1970 there were only seven, and today there are only three making real, unpasteurized Lancashire, all in the Preston area.

Mrs. Ruth Kirkham began making Lancashire cheese at Beesley Farm over 30 years ago.   She was taught by her mother, making her the third generation cheese-maker in her family.  In the early days, Ruth and her husband John had a herd of 40 Holstein Friesian cows. With the milk and their limited equipment they made just four 40 pound wheels a day. These were waxed and sold monthly to a wholesaler.  In the mid-eighties, Randolph Hodgson, from Neal’s Yard Dairy took over the distribution of the cheese and introduced it to the US and other international markets, and the Kirkham’s business flourished.   Around this time, Ruth also changed the coating of her cheese from wax to cloth bound and then butters them. This helps the cheese mature and adds to the flavor and texture.

Despite its success, Kirkham’s Lancashire is still a family business.  Apart from two full-time employees, John still milks the cows every day, while Ruth and son Graham make the cheese, seven days a week.

Aged four to five months, this cheese has a bright, lemony flavor that is reminiscent of rich yogurt. The texture manages to be both creamy and crumbly (Lancashire’s trademark). It has a pungent note, an almost tanginess that adds wonderful depth of flavor.  (We recommend that you don’t eat the rind.)  If you have any left after you enjoy the pairing, try melting some on a piece of toast or with a slice of apple pie… it’s delicious!

We’ve had a busy holiday season and are now back with our new blog post schedule – - every Monday morning.  Today we’ll explore the Zichichi Family Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.

Zichichi Family Vineyards is definitely a Dry Creek winery, physically (and with its emphasis on Zinfandel and Petite Sirah), yet they have a connection for some prime Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The ranch and winery are located in a beautiful spot and a nice bike ride out from Healdsburg. It has 14 acres of Zinfandel and four acres of Petite Sirah, all head-pruned and growing in rocky, gravelly soil. Bring your camera when you come to visit – it’s so Dry Creek Valley.

In 2000, Steve Zichichi (pronounced zeh Keek ee), a New Orleans physician (he was the foot and ankle doctor for the Saints and LSU Tigers), and his wife, Kristin, purchased the 22 acre Bartolozzi Ranch. It was first planted in 1928 (because some folks didn’t care about Prohibition. Frankly, how can making and drinking wine be illegal?). The winery was completed in 2006 with a large rustic tasting room and deck. Steve also has a connection with the Jaeger family in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. The Jaegers previously owned Rutherford Hill and Freemark Abbey Wineries and now have a 582 acre parcel, the fifth largest in Napa. They supply fruit to 25 different producers.

2007 was a wonderful year for most wine grapes. A Wine Spectator cover story declared the 2007 Cabernet vintage to be “the finest in history”, but they love to hype things like this. Regardless, there are some stellar wines and this is one of them.

This is a classic Napa Cabernet – big and bold, with complex layers of black cherry, currants, mint, and spicy dark plums. There’s an elegant side to this wine that goes well with the power and richness. It is full-bodied, with a long, juicy finish. As good as it is now, it will age and gain complexity for another five to eight years. Cabernet is often difficult to match with cheeses because of its inherent tannin structure, but this wine seemed to do well with many of the cows’ milk cheeses that we tried, and soared with the Lancashire cheese.

We’ll have more details about the Lancashire cheese we paired with this lovely wine in our post next Monday.

More wonderful reviews from our Pairings Wine and Cheese Club members and gift recipients.

“I have just opened your latest Pairings Wine and Cheese shipment. It amazes me how you constantly put such wonderful combinations together. The extras you include are always great. I look forward to each new shipment with great anticipation. It is so much fun to open the box and see what you have done next. You can’t imagine how much will-power I have to exert not to finish the shipment in one sitting.”

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“We just loved the wine selection, cheese, and wonderful gift we received a few weeks ago.”

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“Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the gift pack that was sent to me by my sisters. We finished half of the cheese and the wine and decided it was too good not to share, so we invited our neighbors over the next day. We polished off the remainder of the wine and cheese which blew my neighbors away. The wine was a perfect match to the cheese, we paired it with some Gala apple slices and a home made Italian olive loaf foccacia, wonderful stuff. Needless to say we truly enjoyed the whole experience, thank you.”

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“I just wanted to say so far so good. Great match! The best so far in my book. Thanks for the Wine & Cheese Club. I look forward to the next shipment.”

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“My parents and I sat down with the wines and cheeses tonight and were absolutely blown away! Everything was delicious, and I’m getting a reputation for being a very thoughtful daughter!”

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“We cannot thank you enough for providing the Pairings Wine & Cheese Club to your customers. We always look forward to receiving our shipments and our dinner menu is set by the UPS driver on the day of delivery. The 2 wines, the 2 cheeses and a French baguette are all we need for a most memorable evening! Please continue with these remarkable pairings.”

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“We are huge fans of the Wine & Cheese Club! The pairings are delightful and it’s always a nice surprise to receive our package, which we heartily enjoy. Well done!”

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“It’s great to deal with a company where the owners take an active part. Although short, I appreciated our conversation today. Thanks for the great product. We are (or have been) in many clubs that do not deliver the value yours does.”

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“Oh Wow!!! This was the best ! Last night my husband and I savored the Russia Hill Syrah from Sonoma and the Roncal cheese from Spain. Both deserve the top Blue Ribbon award! They are individually excellent but outstanding paired together. Hats off to you on this shipment!”

“I think this is the best cheese we’ve had. Awesome! You will be hearing from me for an order!”

“We have been doing Pairings with you for two years now and tonight,we finished our best one to date.”

Those are just two of the many comments we received from our very happy club members.  What is the Pairing they are so happy with?  Read on…

Zichichi Family Vineyards 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley  paired with Kirkham’s Lancashire, England

Today we have one foot in Napa Valley and the other in Dry Creek Valley. Zichichi Family Vineyards is definitely a Dry Creek winery, physically (and with its emphasis on Zinfandel and Petite Sirah), yet they have a connection for some prime Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The ranch and winery are located in a beautiful spot and a nice bike ride out from Healdsburg. It has 14 acres of Zinfandel and four acres of Petite Sirah, all head-pruned and growing in rocky, gravelly soil. Bring your camera when you come to visit – it’s so Dry Creek Valley.

In 2000, Steve Zichichi (pronounced zeh Keek ee), a New Orleans physician (he was the foot and ankle doctor for the Saints and LSU Tigers), and his wife, Kristin, purchased the 22 acre Bartolozzi Ranch. It was first planted in 1928 (because some folks didn’t care about Prohibition. Frankly, how can making and drinking wine be illegal?). The winery was completed in 2006 with a large rustic tasting room and deck. Steve also has a connection with the Jaeger family in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley. The Jaegers previously owned Rutherford Hill and Freemark Abbey Wineries and now have a 582 acre parcel, the fifth largest in Napa. They supply fruit to 25 different producers.

2007 was a wonderful year for most wine grapes. A Wine Spectator cover story declared the 2007 Cabernet vintage to be “the finest in history”, but they love to hype things like this. Regardless, there are some stellar wines and this is one of them.

This is a classic Napa Cabernet –big and bold, with complex layers of black cherry, currants, mint, and spicy dark plums. There’s an elegant side to this wine that goes well with the power and richness. It is full-bodied, with a long, juicy finish. As good as it is now, it will age and gain complexity for another five to eight years. Cabernet is often difficult to match with cheeses because of its inherent tannin structure, but this wine seemed to do well with many of the cows milk cheeses that we tried, and soared with the Lancashire cheese.

Lancashire is one of the few traditional cheeses still made in Britain, with a history stretching back hundreds of years. When meat was a rarity and times hard, it became the staple food of the mill workers who were crammed into back-to-back houses with little or no cooking facilities.  In 1939, there were over 200 farms turning out 1260 tons of Lancashire every year. However, the cheese became a causality of the war effort, with all the milk being used for mass cheese production. In 1948, with the limited post war revival, only 22 farms returned to Lancashire cheese making. By 1970 there were only seven, and today there are only three making real, unpasteurized Lancashire, all in the Preston area.

Mrs. Ruth Kirkham began making Lancashire cheese at Beesley Farm over 30 years ago.   She was taught by her mother, making her the third generation cheese-maker in her family.  In the early days, Ruth and her husband John had a herd of 40 Holstein Friesian cows. With the milk and their limited equipment they made just four 40 pound wheels a day. These were waxed and sold monthly to a wholesaler.

In the mid-eighties, Randolph Hodgson, from Neal’s Yard Dairy took over the distribution of the cheese and introduced it to the US and other international markets, and the Kirkham’s business flourished.   Around this time, Ruth also changed the coating of her cheese from wax to cloth bound and then butters them. This helps the cheese mature and adds to the flavor and texture.

Despite its success, Kirkham’s Lancashire is still a family business.  Apart from two full-time employees, John still milks the cows every day, while Ruth and son Graham make the cheese, seven days a week.

Aged four to five months, this cheese has a bright, lemony flavor that is reminiscent of rich yogurt. The texture manages to be both creamy and crumbly (Lancashire’s trademark). It has a pungent note, an almost tanginess that adds wonderful depth of flavor. (We recommend that you don’t eat the rind.)  If you have any left after you enjoy the pairing, try melting some on a piece of toast or with a slice of apple pie… it’s delicious!

This club offering is now available as an Al a Carte Pairing at Pairings Wine and Cheese

Check out this great gift guide for all the foodies on your list.

Foodie Gift Guide

Ladera Vineyards 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley paired with Wagon Wheel, Cowgirl Creamery, Petaluma, CA

The Wine

Howell Mountain lies east and above Napa Valley. It was the first Napa sub-appellation, designated in 1983, and it differs from the others as its elevation is above 1400 feet. Two factors heavily influence the wines – the soil and the weather.  The soil, consisting of decomposed volcanic ash and high-iron red clay, is nutrient poor and stresses the vines to produce small clusters of berries. The weather, because of the altitude, is cooler by day and warmer by night than the valley floor. The area is above the fog and gets more rain, but the rocky, porous soils drain easily. Bud break and harvest are later, producing fruit that has a great balance of sugar and acid that translates into wines with firm structure, incredible varietal intensity, and excellent aging properties.

The mountain’s wine history goes back to the 1877 when Jean Brun and Jean Chaix planted hundreds of acres of vineyards and successfully sold the wines. They originally made the wines at what is now the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, before building their own gravity flow winery. In 1889 they won a bronze medal for their wines at the Paris World Competition. Prohibition ended the business, but today the original stone-walled winery has been restored and is home to Ladera Vineyards.

The proprietors are Pat and Anne Stotesbery, successful cattle ranchers from Montana and Stanford graduates. When a movie company rented their Montana log home for the summer, they took the opportunity to revisit Napa Valley and found Ladera. Now daughter Laura is the assistant winemaker and son Dan does Sales and Marketing. The winemaker is Karen Culler, talented from decades with Mondavi and Vichon, and one of the more modest, non-publicity seeking people in Napa Valley.

This is the only Sauvignon Blanc produced on Howell Mountain. The vineyard is the lowest, coolest, and most vigorous of the Ladera properties. Grapes were whole-cluster pressed and cold-settled before being fermented. It was aged with 10% in new oak barrels, 5% in older neutral barrels, and 85% in stainless steel. It is “nervy”, with a tension of the barrel-aged portion playing against its crisp acidity. It has pear, honeydew, grass, and mineral flavors. It will go well with a seafood ceviche as well as with the Wagon Wheel cheese.

Join us for our next post–we’ll tell you all about the Wagon Wheel cheese we paired with this wonderful wine.

The remodel is complete!  Check out the new look and let us know how you like it.  www.PairingsWineandCheese.com

From our September 2011 Club Newsletter

The American Cheese Society’s annual Cheese Conference and Competition, one of the most interesting events in the cheese world, takes place every August. This year it was held in Montreal, causing some serious logistical problems for American producersentering the competition. All the U.S. cheese was consolidated into a single trailer in Pittsburgh, PA, and driven over the border, accompanied by piles of paperwork. It appears all went well and, in fact, this year there was a record-breaking 1700 entries, all hoping for one of the esteemed awards. Not that surprising was the fact that Canadian cheeses garnered more awards than isial, probably because it was a lot easier for them to enter.  In fact, Canadian cheesemakers took two of the four top awards – Lindsay for Bandaged Cheddar and Louis D’Or for a washed rind cows milk cheese. Unfortunately they won’t make it to the American market due to import restrictions on raw milk cheeses. The announcement of Connecticut‘s Cato Corner Farm award caused a hush around the room… Dairyere was the name of their winning cheese!

Some of our favorites (and yours, too, we hope) came home with ribbons:  Best of Show went to Oregon’s Rogue Creamery for Rogue River Blue. Marin French Cheese Co, Fiscalini Cheddar, Point Reyes Blue, Cowgirl Creamery and Central Coast Creamery all garnered awards.

We are proud to be affiliated with such a prestigious list of award-winning cheesemakers and look forward to sharing some more wonderful cheeses…and wines…with you in the years to come.

Cheers!

Last week we participated in one of the most fun dining experiences in recent memory.  One of the Sebastopol city council members, who is also a part of the iWalk Sebastopol group, organized a progressive dinner with three eateries here in Sebastopol and a local non-profit organization.

There were 35 people who met at the Sebastopol Senior Center for the first course: cheese, crackers, and crudites.  After getting organized with paperwork and photos, we walked from there to Peter Lowell’s, a quintessential West County eatery. Its focus on local and organic foods is highlighted every Wednesday evening when they host their Zero Kilometer menu with foods sourced from farmers and producers just a few miles from the restaurant–easier to do in Sonoma County, then, say, downtown Los Angeles.

Anyway, at Peter Lowell’s we enjoyed our second course of a salad made greens and tomatoes from the restaurant’s own farm, topped with a locally produced olive oil, all accompanied by bread baked two blocks from the restaurant.

From there we walked the 1+ mile to Starlight Wine Bar for our main course.  Opened since 2005, this ”cool place to hang out” is located in a converted rail car and is one of the little gems of Sebastopol.  The chef has quite a pedigree–Delmonico’s and Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill, to name a few places–so the food at the Starlight has a New Orleans flair to it. The walkers chose from a chicken pot pie, gumbo, or wild mushroom risotto.    We had the gumbo and the risotto.  Both dishes were so full of flavor that each of us was tempted to raise our plates to our faces to lick them clean.

Dessert was just a short hop, skip, and a jump away at Patisserie Angelica.  The sisters, Deborah and Condra, opened up their “Chocolate Room” to the walkers where we indulged in specially prepared desserts including chocolate cake, tiramisu, cookies, coffee and tea.  Not one of us was shy about enjoying these delectable delights.  After all, we had been walking throughout the evening and definitely earned the pleasure of dessert.

At each restaurant, the walkers were offered a glass of wine to accompany their course.  I enjoyed the Balletto Pinot Gris with the first two courses and the Balletto Zinfandel with the risotto. I wanted to stay in the Sebastopol theme–Balletto’s is a winery with deep roots in Sebastopol and other parts of Sonoma County.  Both wines were super delicious and paired perfectly with the evenings choices.

Rumor has it that another Dinner Walk is being organized.  We will definitely sign up for this again.  And if you live in Sonoma County or will be visiting, consider joining us.  You won’t be disappointed.

On more than one occasion I have visited a favorite brick and mortar store only to find  “Excuse our dust. Remodel we must” signs posted throughout.  And inevitably when I try to locate the item for which I am shopping, it is no longer in its usual spot because “remodel we must.”

I don’t begrudge anyone the need to remodel to keep current with the trends.  I’m definitely not one of those who doesn’t like change, in fact I am always happy with the outcome.  It is the process that can sometimes be a challenge.

That being said, Pairings Wine & Cheese has been in the process of remodeling our store for the past several months.  And not a speck of dust is there to be found.  Even though our remodel is still underway, when one enters our store, the products are located where they always have been.  Check it out at www.PairingsWineandCheese.com and see for yourself.

But keep your eyes open for the soon-to-be launched remodeled Pairings Wine & Cheese website.  We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Sign up to be on our mailing list  and you’ll be the lucky recipient of an email announcing the grand opening along with a special offer.