Better Cheddar

The key to good cheddar cheese is age. Young cheddars are invariably bland. Aged cheddars, however, have a depth and intensity of flavor most people have never experienced in a cheddar. In my opinion, a cheddar needs to be aged at least two years before it becomes even moderately interesting.

The cooking and "cheddaring" of the curds are what give this cheese its distinctive flavor and texture. The cheddaring process involves cutting the curds into very small pieces and then stacking and pressing them together several times. This expels much of the liquid whey and gives the cheese its characteristic firmness. Cheddar is also a high-acid cheese, which can produce a gripping sensation on the tongue. About ten pounds of milk go into each pound of cheddar cheese.

Below are some of the cheddars I've tasted recently. They are organized from mildest to strongest.

Grafton Village Cheddar (Vermont). This award-winning American cheese is made from unpasteurized Vermont Jersey cow's milk. This milk is higher in butterfat content that some other kinds of milk and gives the cheese a rich, creamy flavor and texture.

Grafton's "Classic Reserve" cheddar, which is aged at least two years, is available at Buffalo area grocery stores. Although this cheese has garnered many awards, I found it to be too bland for my tastes. It might, however, be a good place to start for someone who is not already a serious cheesehead.

The folks at Grafton offer the following serving suggestion: "Slices of tart apples and pears provide a crisp foil to the creamy richness of the cheddar. Medium-bodied red and white wines bring out the earthy qualities of the cheese. Toasted walnuts, cured olives, grapes, whole grain crispbreads, crackers - and crusty breads are other classic accompaniments, and for good reason; these foods all have flavors assertive enough to stand up to the strength of aged cheddar."

New Zealand Cheddar. This cheese, which I believe is made by Mainland Cheese, is aged for at least two years but has the full flavor of a four year cheese. It has a softer texture and melts a bit more in your mouth than other cheddars. I think its flavor strikes an ideal balance between being too strong and too bland. It also has a lower price tag than almost any comparable cheese. Premier always has some of this cheese on hand.

Old Quebec Vintage Cheddar. This full-bodied cheddar is aged at least five years. Unlike some other cheddars of that age, it is not crumbly and still has that distinctive cheddar cheese texture. When I tasted a small sample of this cheese at Premier, I enjoyed it very much. However, when I took it home I found it difficult to eat very much of this cheese at one sitting because of its strong flavor. I still recommend trying this cheese because the experience of tasting an older cheddar can be very interesting and enjoyable. This cheese is also very reasonably priced. A cheese store in California offers the following serving suggestion: "Fabulous with a ripe pear, a piece of apple pie, a juicy burger or grilled between two slices of crusty bread. Also terrific on its own with a fruity red wine."

Cheddar trivia: White House historians claim that U.S. President Andrew Jackson held an open house party where a 1,400 pound block of Cheddar cheese was served as refreshment.

Carr Valley Mobay

Carr Valley Mobay Cheese is one of Wisconsin cheesemaker Sid Cook's many original creations. It combines a layer of sheep milk cheese and a layer of goat milk cheese with a layer of grape vine ash down the middle.

This cheese is fabulous! Its flavor is mild enough so that cheese novices can enjoy, but it has far more personality than most other mild cheeses. The wedge I brought to Jenn and Ken Shockley's party last weekend disappeared within mintues.

The inclusion of vegetable ash is now a popular thing among artisan cheesemakers, but I have been unable to obtain any reliable information about the nature of this product. The only thing people tell me is "Don't worry, it's edible." That's nice to know, but I would like to learn more about how it is produced. For example, the ash used in Carr Valley's Mobay is more flavorful than the ash found in some Cypress Grove Chèvre. The Mobay ash has a "blued" flavor, as if the penicillium molds that produce the blue veins in blue cheese were introduced to the ash.

To be honest, I'm not certain whether the whiter, more strongly flavored half of the Mobay is the sheep milk cheese or whether the milder, more yellow-tinged half is. Even the staff at Premier has been unable to reach a consensus on this matter. Conventional wisdom has it that goat cheese tends to be whiter than sheep cheese. However, the whiter half of the Mobay tastes a bit like the Italian sheep cheese Pecorino Romano.

I purchased my Mobay at Premier Gourmet. It can also be ordered from the Carr Valley website. I guarantee you will like this cheese.

Brunello di Montalcino

I've been drinking some very nice wines at the expense of my employer recently. One is a 2001 Brunello di Montalcino by Caparzo. This wine is made from the Brunello grape (a clone of the more familiar Sangiovese grape) in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montalcino in Tuscany.

Like the name "California Cab," "Brunello di Montalcino" denotes not only a grape variety and a place of origin but also a particular style of wine. However, unlike its American counterpart, Italian wines that enjoy the "Brunello di Montalcino" designation must also meet rigorous standards that control the planting, cultivation and fertilization of the grapes, and the aging and bottling of the wines.

Caparzo's Brunello di Montalcino was aged 36 months in Slovenian and French oak barrels and one year in the bottle before being released to the public. The producer describes the bouquet of the wine as "penetrating, very full and varied, reminiscent of wild berries." I thought it was a wonderful full-bodied wine. It combined richness and complexity of flavor with accessibility to one's palate. I'm glad Jorge Gracia recommended it.

This great wine can be purchased for $50 at wine.com, but we (or rather, my employer) paid $75 for it at Tempo.

Buffalo's Best Cheese Shops

Here are the best places to buy cheese in Buffalo, NY:

1. Premier Gourmet. Premier has a wonderful selection of cheeses from around the world. It is hands down the best cheese shop in the area. You can give yourself an extensive education in cheese simply by sampling a new variety of cheese each time you visit. They also have a helpful and friendly staff, with a very knowledgeable head cheesemonger, Amanda. Their prices are quite reasonable, and they are willing to place custom orders.

2. Wegman's. Most Wegman's stores (Buffalo's higher-end grocery chain) carry an amazing amount and variety of cheese. In fact, the Wegman's by the Boulevard Mall carries more gourmet and artisanal cheeses than Premier. There are two reasons, however, why this greater volume does not make Wegman's the top place to buy cheese. One is that Wegman's prices tend to be higher than Premier's. Also, at Wegman's you will not likely receive personal service from someone with a deep knowledge of cheese. The experience of buying cheese should, in my opinion, be accompanied by free samples and informative conversation about cheese. Premier is the best place for that. But if you're just interested in browsing through lots of cheeses, Wegman's can be a good place to visit.

3. Lexington Co-op. The Lexington Co-operative Market, Buffalo's best natural foods place, carries a nice selection of fine cheeses. They carry a variety of blue, soft-ripened and local artisan cheeses. While their selection is not as extensive as either Premier or Wegman's, you can still find some nice cheeses there.

If anyone knows of another good place to buy cheese in Buffalo, please let me know. I always love discovering a new cheese shop.

Is Winespeak Bunk?

Winespeak--the lingo used by wine critics and connoisseurs--is often dismissed by the average wine drinker as worthless pretension. However, paying attention to the descriptions on the back of wine bottles can help train your nose and palate to discriminate subtle differences of aroma and flavor.

According to Bryan Miller, in recent years "winespeak has reached a dazzling state of hyper-fermentation, releasing a gaseous haze of verbiage that can be seen from Sonoma to Saint-Julien." Miller heaps scorn upon the attempt by certain wine writers to describe wines using terms like 'crème brûlée,' 'dew,' 'egg custard,' 'almond cheese pastry,' and 'flan.' Jon Cohen raises doubts about the value of terms like 'elegant,' 'generous,' 'graceful,' 'lush and creamy,' 'rubenesque,' and 'harmonious' for facilitating useful communication about wine.

Although some winespeak certainly is certainly over the top, too many people automatically assume they won't be able to detect the flavors that are mentioned in such descriptions and so never even try to detect them. However, if you want to take your appreciation of wine to the next level, I recommend that you try to detect the aromas and flavors mentioned on the back of a bottle or on the winemaker's website.

Here's an example of what you can do. Last week my wife and I opened a Syrah from McManis Family Vineyards in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. The wine was surprisingly good, given its $10 price tag. Because the back of the bottle did not contain a description of the wine, I went to the winery's website and found the following:

"The succulent fruit flavors lead to a toasted oak mid palate and then on to a finish of cocoa and spicy oak. The aromas are of dense, big jammy fruit; raspberries and plums. The bouquet delivers a nice complexity of sweet vanilla."

My wife and I were able to clearly discern aromas of dense, big jammy fruit, raspberries and vanilla, though we weren't so sure about the plums. That's three out of four. You'd be surprised what you can detect when you put your mind (and your nose) to it.

Wine descriptions on bottles and websites can direct your nose to aromas that you might not be able to distinguish if you weren't consciously looking for them. Here's an analogy: Have you ever noticed that the head and hands of Michelangelo's David are out of proportion with the rest of his body? Even though you've seen pictures of this statue before, you may not have noticed the size of his head and hands, but (and here's the key) as soon as I tell you where to direct your attention, you can immediately recognize this feature. Wine descriptions can do that for your nose and palate. Try taking them seriously and see how many of the described components you can detect.

Dry Jack

Monterey Jack does not have to be the boring, nearly tasteless cheese most of us encounter only in Tex-Mex dishes. Dry Jack can be wonderful and indeed is considered by many to be one of America's greatest cheeses.

The best known maker of Dry Jack is Vella Cheese Company in Sonoma, CA. I had the pleasure of stopping by there a few weeks ago during my stay in Napa Valley.

Dry Jack is made from the pasteurized milk of grass-fed cows. Unlike regular Monterey Jack, Dry Jack undergoes an extensive aging process, during which time its moisture content is greatly reduced. The resulting cheese is hard, pale yellow in color, intensely flavored and similar in texture to Parmesan.

The Vellas coat the rind of their Dry Jack with a mixture of cocoa, pepper and soybean oil. The coating serves two purposes: (i) it keeps the cheese from cracking as it loses moisture and shrinks in size during the aging process and (ii) it imparts a unique spiciness to the cheese.

Mr. Vella told me the Dry Jack that I bought at his creamery was almost four years old. It boggles my mind to think I am eating a cheese that has been around longer than my daughter.

Vella Dry Jack is not currently available in Buffalo, but I have just requested that Premier Gourmet order some. They are good about honoring customer requests. So, I'll let you know when it comes in.

The one thing I can't figure out about Monterey Jack cheese is what conditions must be satisfied for a cheese to count as Monterey Jack. When I asked Mr. Vella about this, he simply told the common story of how a man named David Jacks allegedly invented the cheese in Monterey County during the California Gold Rush of the 1800s. However, in order for Mr. Jacks to be credited with "inventing" a new cheese, there must be something novel about his product. The mere fact that he made cheese from cow's milk in Monterey County hardly counts as a new invention. I have consulted reference books on American cheese and have scoured the internet but cannot find anything that distinguishes Monterey Jack as a distinct type of cheese from any other.

Here are some things that might distinguish a cheese as unique: (i) the type of starter culture (i.e., bacteria) added to milk to break down the lactose, (ii) the type of rennet (a coagulating enzyme) used to separate liquids (whey) from solids (curds), (iii) the process of cutting and pressing the curds, (iv) the method of treating the rind, and (v) the aging process. However, as best I can tell, Monterey Jack is not significantly different from cheddar in any of these categories, and Mr. Jacks certainly did not invent cheddar. The fact that he made some cheddar in California hardly seems to qualify his product as a new invention.

The mixture of cocoa, pepper and oil the Vellas use to coat their rinds seems to be a feature of their unique version of Monterey Jack rather than something that is common to all Jacks. So, if anyone knows what makes Monterey Jack Monterey Jack, please let me know.

Learning More About Wine

According to Eric Asimov, wine writer for the New York Times, the best place to learn about wine may be your own home. Eric suggests that the best way to learn about wine is to do some "systematic wine drinking" at home.

Eric's advice is to tell your local wine retailer that you are interested in learning about wine and ask them to recommend twelve different wines that are worth getting to know. Preferably, the recommendations will include different styles and grapes from around the world. Be sure to set a price limit you are comfortable with. Eric used a $250 budget. Since a case is 12 bottles, that's about $20 or so per bottle. You may prefer to spend $15 a bottle.

Eric's advice is that you open a bottle every other night or so and take notes on what you like about the wine, what you don't, what you ate with it. Then, when you have finished your case, take your notes back to your wine retailer and ask them to recommend a second case based upon what you liked in the first one.

You can read more of Eric's thoughts about systematic wine drinking at home here and here.

Purple Haze

Purple Haze is a goat's milk cheese from Cypress Grove Chèvre that is simply fabulous. It is a fresh (i.e., non-ripened) cheese flavored with lavender buds and wild harvested fennel pollen. It is like nothing I have ever tasted.

This cheese has a light, lemony, refreshing floral flavor. It is quite soft and can be spread on just about anything. I have never enjoyed a goat cheese as much as I enjoyed this one, nor have I eaten 5 oz. of chèvre as quickly. Try it and you will see why.

Purple Haze comes in a 5 oz. three-inch round that is available in cheese shops all around the country. In western NY, it can be found at Premier Gourmet, the Lexington Co-Op, and Wegman's.

Fresh goat cheese should be kept as cold as possible without freezing (33°–35°F). But be sure to warm it up to room temperature before serving. Scuze me while I enjoy more of this chèvre.

Wine Quotations

Here are some interesting quotations about wine from some famous historical personages:

"My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne." --John Maynard Keynes

"Behold the rain, which descends from the Heavens upon our vineyards, and which enters into the vine-roots to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy." --Benjamin Franklin

"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine." --Galileo Galilei

"Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, the same." --Blaise Pascal (Pensées)

"Wine is only sweet to happy men." --John Keats

"Wine nourishes, refreshes and cheers. Wine is the foremost of all medicines... Wherever wine is lacking, medicines become necessary." --The Talmud

"The weary find new strength in generous wine." --Homer

"In vino veritas" (In wine there is truth) --Plato

"Wine is light, held together by water." --Galileo Galilei

"The wine cup is the little silver well where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell." --William Shakespeare

"Bronze is the mirror of the form; wine, of the heart." --Aeschylus

"You Americans have the loveliest wines in the world, you know, but you don't realize it. You call them DOMESTIC and that's enough to start trouble anywhere." --H. G. Wells

Port: The Latest Napa Valley Trend?

Several wineries in Napa Valley have begun offering port wines at their tasting bars for the first time this year. This is sometimes (but not always) the first stage on the road to larger-scale productions of these wines.

The newly released port at Franciscan Oakville Estate (bottled in 2002) is made from a blend of grapes popular in California and traditional Portugese grapes: 30% Zinfandel, 30% Napa Gamay, 20% Tinto Cao, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Touriga Nacional. It had a caramel nose and flavors of anise and dark plum. It was smooth and enjoyable.

The new port at Beaulieu Vineyards is made from Charbono, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Sirah and Touriga Nacional grapes. I did not enjoy this port at all. Beaulieu should reconsider its attempt to jump on the port bandwagon.

Although Peter Prager, winemaker at Prager Winery & Port Works in Napa, told me he was skeptical about port being the "new Merlot" in terms of trendiness in Napa Valley, the Pragers have definitely seen new interest and exposure for their favorite variety of fortified wine. There is also some objective data to support the emergence of a trend--imports from Portugal to the U.S. (primarily in the form of port) have tripled in the last decade.

I hope interest in port increases because I enjoy offering it as an after-dinner drink. Very few of my dinner guests, however, ever agree to sample a glass. It seems to strike most people as too strong, too sweet and just plain weird. I would like to see that change.

Back from Napa--Blogging Hiatus Over

I spent two wonderful wine- and cheese-filled days in Napa Valley last week before heading over to the Pacific Division Meeting of the APA. I have now returned to Western New York and will begin posting to Corks and Curds on a regular basis again. I will try to avoid having such a long blogging hiatus in the future.

Philosophy and Wine

At the 2007 Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, which I will be attending next week, there will be a mini-conference on Philosophy and Wine. Various philosophers will be speaking on the aesthetic, perceptual and even metaphysical properties of wine. Some non-philosophers will also be on the program, including enologist Ann C. Noble, author of the well-known Wine Aroma Wheel, and winemaker Randall Grahm from Bonny Doon Vineyards--makers of Critique of Pure Riesling. (You have to know your philosophy to appreciate the humor of that label.)

The mini-conference appears to be organized by philosopher Fritz Allhoff, editor of Wine & Philosophy: A Meritage of Vintage Ideas. In 2005 I drew up a book proposal entitled "Wine and Philosophy" and submitted it to Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy Series. I was told: (a) that Fritz Allhoff had beaten me to the punch and (b) that wine was too "high brow" for Open Court's series. That's why Fritz had to take his project to Blackwell.

Even though the program for the mini-conference sounds interesting, I will not be attending. Instead, I will be busy touring the wineries in Napa Valley and drinking lots of great wine before making my way to the APA meeting. I'll tell you all about my travels and tastings when I return.

The World's Greatest Cheese

My wife and I recently sampled what is ostensibly the world's greatest cheese--at least according to the panel of judges at London's 2006 World Cheese Awards. Ossau Iraty beat out more than 1,500 cheeses from around the world, earning 90 out of a possible 100 points, to become the 2006 World Cheese Champion.

Ossau Iraty is a raw sheep's milk cheese made in the Basque region of France. It is a blonde, medium-firm cheese with a rind that has been washed in brine. It is intensely flavored but has a very mild aroma.

Judges at the World Cheese Awards described Ossau Iraty as "a privilege to eat– sweet, nutty, complex and long-lasting flavour." This cheese literally melts in your mouth.

If you want to try this world-class cheese, Premier Gourmet still has some in stock. But I suggest you hurry. Because this cheese is a bit more expensive than other cheeses at Premier, I doubt it is an item Premier is going to keep on hand on a regular basis.

The Basques serve Ossau Iraty with black cherry jam. In order to appreciate the full flavor of this cheese, do not serve it chilled. Let it warm up to room temperature first.

Justino's Madeira

Last year my wife was making a dish that called for some Madeira wine. So, she went to our local wine retailer, Prime Wines, and bought a bottle. I expected her to buy a cheap bottle from the Paul Masson isle. Instead, she returned with a bottle of Justino's Madeira. Naturally, I insisted upon trying it.

I never knew that Madeira could be such an interesting wine to drink. The few people in America who have even heard of Madeira know only of its use in cooking. Fewer still have ever sampled a glass of it. For those of you who like fortified wines--e.g., ports or sherries--I highly recommend that you take the time to get to know Madeira.

Madeira wines are made in the Madeira islands of Portugal from grape varieties most Americans have never heard of--the most common one being Negra Mole. As with all fortified wines, the fermentation process is stopped by the addition of a high alcohol grape spirit. After fortification, the wines achieve between 17% and 18% of alcohol by volume.

Prior to being aged in oak casks for at least 2 years, Madeira wines undergo the process of "estufagem"--a traditional method of heating the wine that is unique to Madeira. The vats are heated for up to 3 months in large stainless steel vats to temperatures of between 104 and 122 F°. Because of Madeira's exposure to oxygen and temperature during this process, an opened bottle can last longer than any other wine.

The Madeira my wife bought was aged only three years, the youngest version sold by Justino's. It was labeled 'Fine Rich,' which means it belongs to the sweetest category of Madeiras. The folks at Justino's describe the Fine Rich Madeira this way: "A translucent wine, with a strong amber colour. A fruity nose with some toasty notes. Soft and balanced on the palate, with a good length of flavour. Sweetness well balanced by the acidity of the wine."

Madeira is best served chilled.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

OK, this entry has nothing to do with either wine or cheese, but I'm going to post it anyway. I'm making my second batch of homemade vanilla extract with a 375ml bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon and four vanilla beans. The vanilla beans will steep in the bourbon for about six months.

I got the idea from John Folse, who in 1988 was declared by the Louisiana Legislature to be "Louisiana's Culinary Ambassador to the World."

The whiskey I used for the last batch I made was Jack Daniel's. The aroma was so rich and enchanting that I asked my wife to stop cooking with it so that I could enjoy the rest of the bottle for aperitifs. However, the flavor didn't match up to the aroma, and I have now given it back to her for baking.

I hope that by using a superior spirit the end result will be better. Few people realize that the Buffalo Trace Distillery makes almost all of the world's greatest bourbons, including Blanton's, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Elmer T. Lee, George T. Stagg, Pappy van Winkle, and W. L. Weller. I'm also using more vanilla beans than before. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Triple Cream Cheese: Spreadable Butterfat?

Unless you have the eating habits of Homer Simpson (who spreads butter not only on his bacon but also on his hamburger patties), you probably won't find the idea of spreadable butterfat to be very appealing.

However, as I have explained before, at least 75% of the solid material (i.e., the components other than water) in a triple cream cheese is butterfat. (Remember that approx. 50% of the average cheese is water.) For reasons I cannot yet appreciate, some people actually like triple cream cheese.

I recently bought a "wedge" of triple cream cheese from Australia, and my tastebuds had difficulty finding anything else to focus upon besides the butterfat in it. I say I bought a "wedge" because the cheese was so oozy that it had difficulty holding its shape. And it was so sticky that when I spread it on a cracker, I had difficulty detaching it from my butter knife.

I didn't taste a strong creamy flavor in the cheese--in spite of what the name "triple cream" might lead you to expect--and there wasn't anything particularly cheesey about its flavor either. I just tasted fat. I will sample other triple creams, perhaps some from France, but I can't recommend them to you at this point.

One small caveat: I'm not a big fan of soft-ripened, bloomy-rind cheeses in general (e.g., Brie and Camembert). So, perhaps I'm not the best person to pass judgement on the soft-ripened triple cream cheese I bought. (I'll explain in a later post what 'soft-ripened' and 'bloomy rind' mean.)

In case you do have the eating habits of Homer Simpson, you might enjoy the following recipe for Homer's Hamburgers.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. buttered hamburger patty
Bacon
Canadian Bacon
Fried Egg
Cheese Whiz
Brown Gravy
Pork Rinds

PREPARATION:

Grill burgers. Top with bacon, Canadian bacon, fried egg and Cheese Whiz. Then smother the whole burger with brown gravy and garnish with pork rinds. Best served with cold Duff beer.

Artisan Cheese in the Buffalo News

Today's Buffalo News contains an interesting article on artisan cheeses, where to buy them in Buffalo, and which kinds to try. The article can also be viewed here.

Marques de Moral: A Great Party Wine

What sort of wine should you bring as a guest to a dinner party? If you're like me, you don't want to spend too much money on a wine that may not appreciated by those who drink it. On the other hand, you don't want to bring a wine that is too cheap because then you might have to drink it. What to do?

Bring a bottle of Marques de Moral. This very nice Spanish wine is made from 100% Tempranillo grapes and aged 6 months in American oak barrels. According to the importer, Kysela Pere et Fils, Ltd., you will encounter "Aromas of strawberries and dried cranberries enhanced by obvious spiky American oak."

This wine sells for $10 or less but tastes like it costs a good bit more. Prime Wines recently had it on sale for $5.99, so I bought at least four bottles.

Not only do you get a great deal of quality for your money, this wine is also a refreshing change of pace from the standard line-up of Merlot and Shiraz (or Merlot/Shiraz blends) one typically encounters at parties. In fact, since other party guests may not recognize the name 'Tempranillo,' they might drink less, thereby saving more of it for you!

Monty Python's Cheese Shop

If you're a cheese fan but have never experienced the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch, allow me to enrich your life:



In case you're not already convinced that Wikipedia editors have too much free time on their hands, you should know that the Python Cheese Shop sketch even has its own Wikipedia entry.

Strange Saxon Shires Reaction

When my wife gave our toddler daughter a sample of Saxon Shires cheese last year, my daughter immediately broke out in a rash all across her stomach. I have never given my daughter samples of gourmet or artisanal cheeses, so I don't know how many kinds of cheese might spark a similar reaction in her. My daughter does not have any other food allergies that we know of. This was the only time we've seen her have an apparently allergic reaction to any food.

Saxon Shires is not really a single cheese. It consists of alternating layers of five different cheeses, taken from the five famous counties of Gloucester, Leicester, Lancashire, Derby and Cheddar. The flavors of the cheeses alternate from mild to sharp. In spite of the pleasing visual appearance of the cheese, its flavor is rather boring. Combining five not-so-terribly interesting cheddar-style cheeses does not seem to result in a more interesting overall product.

I don't know what the medical explanation of my daughter's reaction is, but I would caution parents of small children against giving them samples of imported or gourmet cheeses--unless they think they have a better understanding of what happened with my daughter than I do.

Chocolate Fudge Cheese

Here is a novelty cheese you definitely need to try: Chocolate Fudge Cheese. It tastes a whole lot like fudge and only a little bit like cheese. It has a rich, chocolately flavor and a wonderful, satiny texture.

The first bite I tried struck my taste buds as a bit strange. It wasn't ordinary fudge, and it certainly wasn't ordinary cheese. It was also unlike any other chocolate-flavored dessert I had tasted. My taste buds very quickly warmed up to the rich, new flavor, however. I now intentionally refrain from keeping this product in our house because my wife and I cannot stop eating it when it is around.

The chocolate cheese I buy is made by the Herkimer County Cheese Company in upstate NY. Many Wisconsin cheesemakers make chocolate cheese as well.

This rich, chocolate-flavored dessert item counts as cheese because the initial stages of its production are exactly the same as ordinary cheese. First, a starter culture (bacteria of some kind) is added to fresh milk. The bacteria feed on lactose in the milk and produce lactic acid as a byproduct. Then, rennet (a coagulating enzyme) is added, which speeds the separation of liquids (whey ) and solids (curds) in the milk. After you have curds, you can do all sorts of things to them to create a variety of cheese products. The curds can be cut, pressed, ripened or enriched with various additional flavors.

In the case of chocolate cheese, lots of fudgy ingredients are added to the curds. But since the whole process starts with cheese curds, the resulting product is technically a kind of cheese--even if not a typical one.

Spanish Blue

I tried my first Spanish Blue cheese today--a Cabrales--and it was fabulous . Wrapped in what appear to be maple or sycamore leaves, this semi-hard, pasteurized cheese is made from cow's milk, with goat and/or sheep milk often added as well. It has a wonderfully strong aroma and flavor. Without a doubt, this is the most complex and best Spanish cheese I have eaten.

Made by rural dairy farmers in the Asturias region of Spain, Cabrales is aged in natural limestone caves from two to six months. During this time, penicillium molds go to work and create complex blue-greenish veins throughout the center of the cheese. This cheese is far more interesting and more worth buying than its better known compatriot, Manchego.

UPDATE: Some cheesemongers describe the flavor of Cabrales as the "meanest" among blue cheeses. Although this is a very enjoyable cheese to eat, I have to confess that I understand what they mean. It is not easy to eat a lot of this cheese in one sitting.

Missouri Port

Yes, Missouri has a wine region. Just west of St. Louis along the Missouri River lies the unique midwestern wine district of Augusta, MO.

While I'm not a big fan of red or white Missouri table wines, I am an enormous fan of the ports produced by Mt. Pleasant Winery. I recently finished my last bottle of their 1993 Vintage Port, which was truly superb. After aging for almost a decade and a half, the thick red of the 1993 port had begun to give way to a deep and complex brownish hue. The subtlety and complexity of its flavor is not at all what you would expect from a midwestern wine product. The 1993 vintage was the last one sold in a very handy 375 ml size.

Port is made from combining one part high-alcohol brandy with five parts young wine. By 'young wine' I mean that the wine is not allowed to complete the fermentation process, which results in a great deal of residual sugar. Fermentation is arrested by the addition of the extra-high alcohol brandy, which kills the yeast responsible for fermentation. (In the making of dry wines, the yeast simply starve to death when they run out of sugar to feed upon.)

The winemakers at Mt. Pleasant openly acknowledge that the brandy they use in their vintage port is made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. They refuse, however, to disclose any information concerning the grape that serves as the basis for the young wine in it. Nonetheless, I am confident that the mystery uva is the Cynthiana grape, which tastes much like a Concord grape. While I can't imagine that Cynthiana could ever make a passable table wine, its purply sweet, Welch's Grape Jelly flavor makes an interesting base for a port.

I was disappointed with a bottle of Mt. Pleasant's 1998 vintage port that I opened recently. I found it to be decidedly inferior to a bottle from their 1997 vintage that I just finished off. I don't know how much difference the extra year of aging made for the 1997 bottle or how much should be chalked up to the quality of the grapes harvested in 1998. In any case, I recommend that the younger vintages be set aside and aged before enjoying.

If you live in the St. Louis area, the next vertical port tasting with winemaker Mark Baehmann will be Sun., Mar. 11th, from 1 to 3pm. I attended one of these events several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

White Stilton with Fruit

White Stilton is a crumbly, unpressed British cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. While it does not compare in flavor or texture to its better-known sibling, Blue Stilton (often called the "King of Cheeses"), it is nonetheless worthy of a cheesemonger's modest consideration.

The many varieties of White Stilton that are made with fruit are among my favorite cheeses to serve at parties. They are interesting, accessible and pairable with most any wine. Strawberries, blueberries, apricots or mangos are often added to the curds of White Stilton, resulting in a light, sweet and refreshing cheese.

Plain White Stilton without any added fruit is a rather uninteresting cheese. It's a bit like Feta, without the briney flavor. I once served slices of plain White Stilton with slices of fresh mango on Ritz crackers. While I liked the visual presentation of the resulting hors d'oeuvre, I was surprised at how plain the flavor was. Whatever tiny bit of flavor the plain Stilton had on its own completely disappeared behind flavor of the fruit and cracker.

I highly recommend buying White Stilton to which fruit is added during the cheesemaking process. Adding fruit at this stage allows the flavors of the fruit and cheese to meld in a way they simply cannot do on a cracker.

Niagara Icewine Festival Highlights

The 2007 Niagara Icewine Festival (Jan. 19-28) was lots of fun. I toured a few wineries, enjoyed tastings at many more, and visited the Icewine Ice Bar--with chairs and tables made entirely of ice--at Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Most icewines are made from the Vidal Blanc and Riesling grapes. Because the frozen grapes pressed to make icewine yield only about 1/10 of the juice of unfrozen grapes, icewines can get quite expensive. The average 375 ml bottle costs at least $40 and many go for around $100.

At the Jackson-Triggs winery, I enjoyed a uniquely interesting Gewürztraminer icewine. The Gewürztraminer grape was a refreshing change of pace from the more common Vidal and Riesling icewines. I don't usually care for Gewürztraminer wines, but I enjoyed this icewine, which was spicier and had more of a mango flavor than the predominately apricot-flavored Vidal icewines.

Inniskillin, one of Ontario's icewine powerhouses, is one of the only wineries to make a sparkling icewine. Made from the Vidal grape, it is refreshingly light, sweet and crisp.

I also tasted a variety of very nice Vidal and Riesling icewines at Coyote's Run, Chàteau des Charmes, Riverview Cellars, and Strewn Winery. I thought each of these wineries did a nice job balancing sophistication with a lack of pretension. Their icewines can be sampled at their tasting bars throughout the year.