Day Sixty - Five: Seasonality

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday I was feeling warm, comforting dishes and medium bodied reds...And today, I'm in the mood for a Provencal Rosé and a nice light salad. Wowie, what a difference a day makes, right? Isn't it interesting how your food and wine mood changes depending on the weather?

I thought for today's post, I'd give you a few examples of cheeses that could go with a classic Provencal Rosé. Rosés are always best when the sun is shining, perfection for spring and summer. Isn't it interesting how at least in my mind, roses have a season? Do you think any other wines have a season? Again maybe it is just me, but I simply do not like drinking them when it is cold, windy, and wet outside -- they scream flowers, sunshine, lazy summer afternoons, swimming pools and lying in hammocks to me.  One of the many great things about rosés if you ask me is that they are extremely versatile wines, depending on the grape they are made from, they could be the perfect complement for everything from burgers cooked over the grill, cheeses, pasta salads, nuts, kebabs, springy green salads, you name it, if you're sitting in the sun and eating, you can probably find that perfect rosé for your meal and your mood.

For our purposes here, lets go with a Cotes de Provence Rose "MiP," Domaine Sainte Lucie, 2008. Available at Astor Center for $13.99 a bottle. One of the paler roses I have drank recently made from the grenache, syrah, and cinsault grapes, it provides you with a fresh, airy, light, and floral mouth-feel, impossible to go wrong with drinking a glass of this!


I'm sure you are wondering, what cheeses could go with this wine. Well, ladies and gents, the great thing about this wine is that it is very versatile and can be paired with a large variety of cheeses. I chose my three favorite options for today's post, but there are dozens of others that could also be successful:


1. Hoch Ybrig - A hard cow's milk, mountain / alpine style cheese made in Canton Schwyz, Switzerland. Also a specialty in seasonality, this cheese is only produced in the summer months. It develops its extra special character from being washed in white wine brine and what you get is a nutty, buttery, some granular texture. Perfect on a piece of a toasted baguette or on its own with your rose, both have such striking yet subtle flavor profiles that they will quietly sing when paired together.
2. Rogue River Blue Cheese - A rare cow's milk blue cheese produced in Oregon. This baby is covered in Syrah soaked grape leaves macerated in pear brandy -- creating a fruity, earthy, stinky, mineraly, and most of all unusual mouth flavor. The intense and unique taste of this cheese creates such a harmonious relationship with the rose -- a delicate drink with a boombastic cheese.
3. Chevrot - The one non-seasonal cheese on our agenda, this is a classic Loire Valley excellent aged goat's cheese -- tangy yet not too too fresh and grassy, aged  to perfection. The lightness of the wine will accentuate the aged excellently chalky qualitites of this cheese.

I could continue on for cheeses and cheeses, but I hope you enjoyed the three suggestions and I guarantee over the summer more ideas will come to life. Nite all1