Virginia Meets France

Using the Taleggio-styled Grayson with the Rhone berry nuanced Plume Bleue is a pairing that will take your taste buds on a fantastic journey through both the Old and New Worlds.

Washed-rind, seasonally-made and ACS award-winning Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy is one of our staff and customer favorite cheeses.

Meadow Creek Diary is a family farm in the mountains of southwest Virginia. At an elevation of 2800ft. the combination of pure water, clean air and deep soils produce an ideal environment for growing diverse, mineral-rich pastures.

Since 1980 the Feete family has focused on farming and working closely with their herd of Jersey cows, giving them the best care, and developing a herd that is best adapted to their farm. By practicing sustainable farming and treating their cows naturally, they produce milk of the highest quality which in turn translates to healthy, full-flavored, ecologically friendly cheese.

We'd like to welcome Jill Pienta as our new wine buyer replacing Jamie Kluz who is moving on to work at the Penninsula hotel here in Chicago.

Jills' suggestion for this week is the 2007 Laurence Feraud Selection's Plume Bleue.

Plume Bleue is a negociant wine (grapes are sourced from outside the estate) created by Laurence Feraud of Daomaine du Pegau, a very reputable estate in Chateauneuf du Pape. Laurence Feraud is one of France's young progressive winemakers. wine making is a family affair with her father helping with the wine-making process and her mother manning the administrative end. Laurence uses the family estate to created traditional Rhone style wines in addition to experimenting with negociant labels to work around AOC rules.

Wanting to create a Vin de Pays d'Oc, Laurence sought out top quality fruit from the surrounding Rhone area to create this 50/50 blend ofGrenache and Syrah. This charming wine offers vibrant red fruit character with hints of pepper and toasted herb. Medium-bodied with subtle tannins, this wine is perfect with grilled meats, charcuterie and of course washed-rind cheeses.

-Cesar & Jill