Have you met Xian yet? In addition to his duties as Assistant Manager of our Broadway location over the past few months he has taken our small beer program and turned it around 180 degrees. Interesting craft beers both domestic and international have been popping up on our shelves lately and it's all due to our beer-passionate Xian. After you try this particular pairing you may want to take a special trip up to Lakeview and thank him in person for bringing in such awesome bubbles.
This week we're featuring McChouffe, a beautiful, special Belgian dark ale . It started when two Belgian brother-in-laws started homebrewing in the 70's and eventually turned their hobby into a business by opening up a brewery in the 80's. Their beers quickly attained a cult following, which resulted in their joining up with Duvel for importing and marketing purposes.
This beer has rich notes of caramelized sugar, a little bit of bubble gum, and some dried figs which are common in Belgian darks due to the roasted malt and proprietary yeasts. The McChouffe is uniquely refreshing which makes it a perfect full-flavored beer for the summer. Super smooth going down with a swift hit of hops to sweep away any cloying remnants.
Our cheese this week is exclusive to us in Illinois thanks to the fabulous team at Neals Yard Dairy.
Hafod has only been in production since 2007. This Welsh Cheddar from is made by cheesemakers Sam and Rachel Holden. While the cheese is a new venture, the farm that they work on belonged to Sams' father and is the oldest registered organic farm in Wales. Using a modified recipe for the cheese Linconshire Poacher and with a herd of Ayrshire cows in the fields, this cheese has a bit of a Swiss quality that compliments it's Cheddar aspects.
Hafod is a raw cows milk cheese with a smooth close knit texture and a golden color. The predominant flavors are buttery, rich and nutty with a slight tang at the finish. Together the beer and cheese are magnificent with the the brown sugar notes in the beer balancing the salt, tang and fattiness found in Hafod.
Send all hugs and complimentary emails to Xian and Cesar for such a great pairing.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
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
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
Friday, July 30, 2010
Bees and Cheese
This week we're doing a great cultural pairing of Old World wine and New World innovative cheese.
Domaine de Beaurenard is a family run estate that has been producing wonderful Chateauneuf du Pape and Cotes-du Rhone Villages wines for 7 generations. The estate was originally called "Bois Renard" (wood fox) but the name slowly transformed in Beaurenard over the years, although the Coulon family still uses "bois Renard" for their special cuvees.
The fruit of this estate is 100% hand-picked and sorted to separate the best grapes from immature or damaged clusters. Using only indigenous yeasts the Coulon family have made wine the sameway for generations. Based in the philosophy of minimal intervention and combined with a few modern technology upgrades they continue to create natural wines that truly express the terroir of the region.
The 2009 domaine de Beaurenard Rose is comprise of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. The grapes are de-stemmed, gently crushed and are placed in a vat-just like it would be if making red wine. The skins are bled of color by staying in contact with the juice for 24-36 hrs. This process is known as the saignee method and the contact imparts the rose color and lends the terroir and fragrances of the grapes tot he wine. In essence it has the body of awhite wine with red wine aromas and flavor characteristics.
This wine should be served chilled and has aromas of strawberries and raspberries. On the palate it exhibits vibrant fruits found in the nose with a chalky minerality and a dry finish. It pairs nicely with charcuterie, saltier cheeses, seafood and roasted pork dishes.
The cheese this week comes to us from Beehive Cheese Company in Utah and is called SeaHive.
This Cheddar-like cheese is hand-rubbed with Beehive wildflower honey and Redmond sea salt from Redmond, Utah. The sea salt contains unique glints of color due to the more than 50 natural trace minerals. Back in 2005 Tim and Pat with the help of the Western Dairy Center of Utah State University opened up their shop. Beehive Cheese is among only a few artisan cheesemakers working in Utah, and make some of the most innovative cheeses we've tasted.
This cheese has a creamy and sweet component with a slight tang, and a deliciously salty (but not too salty) finish. The mild acidity of the wine plays nicely with the creaminess and dry finish of the cheese and compliments the sea salt .
-Cesar, Jamie, Jill
Domaine de Beaurenard is a family run estate that has been producing wonderful Chateauneuf du Pape and Cotes-du Rhone Villages wines for 7 generations. The estate was originally called "Bois Renard" (wood fox) but the name slowly transformed in Beaurenard over the years, although the Coulon family still uses "bois Renard" for their special cuvees.
The fruit of this estate is 100% hand-picked and sorted to separate the best grapes from immature or damaged clusters. Using only indigenous yeasts the Coulon family have made wine the sameway for generations. Based in the philosophy of minimal intervention and combined with a few modern technology upgrades they continue to create natural wines that truly express the terroir of the region.
The 2009 domaine de Beaurenard Rose is comprise of Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. The grapes are de-stemmed, gently crushed and are placed in a vat-just like it would be if making red wine. The skins are bled of color by staying in contact with the juice for 24-36 hrs. This process is known as the saignee method and the contact imparts the rose color and lends the terroir and fragrances of the grapes tot he wine. In essence it has the body of awhite wine with red wine aromas and flavor characteristics.
This wine should be served chilled and has aromas of strawberries and raspberries. On the palate it exhibits vibrant fruits found in the nose with a chalky minerality and a dry finish. It pairs nicely with charcuterie, saltier cheeses, seafood and roasted pork dishes.
The cheese this week comes to us from Beehive Cheese Company in Utah and is called SeaHive.
This Cheddar-like cheese is hand-rubbed with Beehive wildflower honey and Redmond sea salt from Redmond, Utah. The sea salt contains unique glints of color due to the more than 50 natural trace minerals. Back in 2005 Tim and Pat with the help of the Western Dairy Center of Utah State University opened up their shop. Beehive Cheese is among only a few artisan cheesemakers working in Utah, and make some of the most innovative cheeses we've tasted.
This cheese has a creamy and sweet component with a slight tang, and a deliciously salty (but not too salty) finish. The mild acidity of the wine plays nicely with the creaminess and dry finish of the cheese and compliments the sea salt .
-Cesar, Jamie, Jill
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