cover story
Perfect Pairings food & wine
By Robert Sacheli
March 10th 2010
Images of Cowgirl Creamery by Jeff Malet
As the manager of Cowgirl Creamery’s artisan cheese and wine store at 919 F Street, Erica Skolnik literally has a world of cheeses to offer her customers. The Penn Quarter shop has its roots in the West Coast, with Cowgirl Creamery started in 1997 in Point Reyes Station, California, north of San Francisco. From the beginning, the company’s mission was clear: besides crafting its own cheeses, it would focus on small producers, support sustainable agriculture, and carry mostly domestic products. “We look for cheeses that are really unique,” says Skolnik, noting that the Washington store stocks many regional cheeses that aren’t carried in Cowgirl Creamery’s two California retail outlets.
Wines also play an important part in the Cowgirl Creamery mix. “We knew from the start that the store would sell wines,” which made their appearance a few months after the shop opened in June 2006. Here, too, small producers get an emphasis, with vintages selected for their compatibility with cheeses. “We don’t have super-rich, tannic wines,” Skolnik explains. Instead, the shop offers “nicely balanced, ready-to-drink wines,” the kind of choices to take home after work or pick up on the way to a party — along with some interesting cheeses, of course.
As you’d imagine, Erica Skolnik has plenty of sound advice on making the most of those interesting selections, and she offered a pro’s tips on pairing some of her favorite cheeses with wines and food.
“This is a great time of year for seasonal cheeses,” she says of the late-March, early-April period, with small farmsteads timing their production to the spring lactation cycles of their animals. With an appropriately green rind, St. Pat is a seasonal cheese released annually on March 17. Made by the Cowgirl Creamery in Petaluma, CA (one of the company’s two facilities), this certified-organic, soft cow’s milk cheese is “a great sign of spring to come.” Mellow and soft, St. Pat is wrapped in nettle leaves to bring out the grassiness inherent in the milk. It goes well with a sauvignon blanc, and Skolnik suggests the 2008 vintage from Napa’s Emmolo winery. “It’s also an excellent cheese for rosés,” she says, and notes that the 2008 Domaine de la Courtade L’Alycastre from Provence is an apt choice. “You’d want something sweet, but not too sweet,” to go with St. Pat, with fig jam or nectarine preserves filling the bill. Hummus, olives, and prosciutto can also be teamed with the cheese.
Meridian is another seasonal cheese, which makes its appearance in mid-April. From the Rainbeau Ridge farm in Bedford Hill, NY, this ash-covered goat cheese is creamy, lightly flavored, and spreadable. Try it with a drizzle of local honey. Meridian can be served with drier whites or a sparkling Vouvray (Skolnik likes the version from France’s Domaine Champalou) and it makes a picnic wine and cheese combination “that’s a lot of fun.”
Cheesemaker Brad Parker of Pipe Dream Farms delivers his Ashed Log to downtown Washington from Greencastle, PA. This three-week-old goat cheese has a flaky, light texture with hints of citrus fruit. “It’s really delicious,” says Skolnik. Pair it with a fruity, lighter red wine, or a Pine Ridge chenin blanc-viognier from Napa Valley.
Cowgirl Creamery’s signature cheese is MT TAM, a triple-cream cheese made with organic cow’s milk from the Straus Family Dairy in Petaluma and named for the Bay Area’s Mount Tamalpais. “It has a buttery, mellow, earthy flavor, reminiscent of white mushrooms,” says Skolnik. Its high fat, creaminess, and texture can balance different styles of wines, from a cabernet sauvignon to syrah to a buttery, crisp chardonnay. “It’s an ideal cheese for wine, especially sparkling wines,” she adds. Skolnik likes to serve the cheese with a Spanish fig jam or spicy plum or sweet peach chutney from the Virginia Chutney Company in Washington, VA.
Piedmont is a sheep’s milk cheese from Everona Dairy in Rapidan, VA, and with its nutty, slightly earthy flavor, “it’s a really great wine cheese.” Add Linden Vineyard’s 2007 Claret from Virginia, a crusty baguette, and some thinly sliced salami, “and you’ve got a match made in heaven.”
“I really like Cave-Aged Marisa,” says Skolnik. With a semi-firm texture and high butterfat content, this sheep’s milk cheese offers some sharpness and nutty flavors. Made by Wisconsin’s Carr Valley Cheese Company, the cheese goes nicely with the “full, rich, slightly chocolaty” ForeFront cabernet sauvignon from Pine Ridge winery. Try it with a spiced summer fruit, such as apricots.
A sheep’s milk cheese from Sardinia, Fiore Sardo resembles “a young Pecorino,” and this semi-hard variety offers a “nutty taste and a hint of orange peel.” A Spanish Tempranillo is a good choice to accompany it, according to Skolnik, since the red wine “is a little peppery and will being out the zest in the citrus notes of the cheese.” Serve it with membrillo (a Spanish quince paste), Serrano ham, or prosciutto de Parma “for a nice Italian–Spanish plate.”
Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, WI is a cow’s milk product described by Skolnik as a firm, Gruyere-style cheese, similar to a French Beaufort. Sharp and a bit nutty, it’s a savory cheese that stands well on its own or can complement a charcuterie platter. Sinner’s Punch, a syrah/cabernet sauvignon blend from Washington state’s Giant Wine Company is Skolnik’s pick for this cheese.
Cheese is one area where getting the blues is welcomed. “A lot of people like to experiment with blue cheeses and wines,” says Skolnik, and they can work with rieslings, Sauternes, or a zinfandel.” One of her favorite blues is the robust Crater Lake Blue from Oregon’s Rogue Creamery.
For Skolnik, matching the distinctive characteristics of cheese and wine to enhance each other is a delectable adventure. There are what she terms “great safe pairings,” but it’s clear that the more intriguing combinations of flavors are those that can lead to the bigger rewards. Luckily, the process of discovering those unexpected interplays is a delicious one.
The Proof’s in the Drinking: A Sommelier’s Suggestions
Sebastian Zutant
Sebastian Zutant made his mark as a sommelier at D.C.’s Komi and Rasika restaurants, and now as wine director of Proof at 775 G Street in Penn Quarter, he commands a cellar of more than 1,200 selections. He shared some suggestions on wine and food for the almost-spring season.
“We’re in flux between seasons and wines now,” he said, “and we’ve left the cassoulet and foie gras behind.” His customers want to eat and drink a bit lighter, and so the 2007 Rhones, particularly from the north, are among Zutant’s choices.
He characterizes them as “ripe on the palate” but “leaner.” Italy’s 2004 vintage is “absolutely fabulous,” and Zutant favors its Tuscans over bottles from the Piedmont.
“Burgundy is perfect for now,” he says, and its “lingering mushroom flavor in the background” makes it a good choice to accompany mushroom risotto. Earthier mushrooms such as porcinis, black trumpets, and chanterelles are “all fantastic” when paired with Burgundy. And if you’re lucky enough to score some truffles, Zutant reminds that a barolo makes a classic pairing.
Rare duck breast is a favorite of Zutant’s (its rich medley of flavors make it “the food version of Italian wine”) and notes that a higher-acid nebbiolo or sangiovese goes great with the meat.
For starting out a meal, Zutant says “the world is waking up to raw fish and tartares,” which call for a dry, crisp white. He points to Austria’s grüner veltliner as “a beautiful aperitif wine” with high acid and lemon-lime and green apple notes. “It’s a rich breakout from the norm.”
“I’m a big fan of Asian-based flavors, like papaya salad, which can be matched with something clean and fresh.” He suggests Alsatian whites and Rieslings, both dry and semi-sweet; a Chenin Blanc from the Loire might be “a little bit earthier” selection for a starter wine.
Don’t overlook a sparkling product such as an Italian prosecco or a Spanish cava as a prelude to a meal. Zutant is particularly fond of the sparkling wines from Charlottesville’s Thibaut-Janisson vineyards, pronouncing their blanc de blanc “truly delicious.” (The Obamas drank a Thibaut-Janisson sparkling chardonnay at their first state dinner.)
Zutant has some very specific views on wine and cheese pairings: “People get bogged down with big red wines” thinking that a hefty dry choice is best for cheeses. “There’s a lot of delicacy in cheeses,” he emphasizes, noting that the goal is “to complement, not beat down the flavor of the cheese.”
For example, he suggests a rich Champagne as an accompaniment to a composed cheese course. He’s also teamed cheeses with some seemingly unlikely beverages: Gouda with Madeira, blues with a Piedmontese brachetto, and creamier cheeses with spiced Belgian white beers.
Zutant offers some liberating final advice: “Stop thinking that red wine goes with steak and white with fish,” noting that there is a range of choices that can be made with food. “People should drink what they love. “And,” he adds, “don’t be afraid to ask for a sommelier’s help — most of the time we’re not jerks.” — Robert Sacheli
