The Cheese Store holds these
monthly tastings/classes for $35 on the last Sunday in each month. I went to the October one and the theme was French cheeses. There were about 12 other people there in the store, so it was a bit of a tight fit, but everyone was very friendly and brought various types of wine with them. There was at least one other guy there on his own, which was nice. The store owner provided various types of crackers and dried fruits to go along with the cheeses which was quite nice and gave us takeout containers to bring the leftovers home with us.
Going around clockwise, starting at the 12 position, we have:
Delice de Bourgogne: Lincet, Burgundy, cream-enriched cow's milk, bloomy rind. Sweet, Luxurious, Savory. In the 20th century, the French developed a technique of adding fresh cream to soft-ripened cheese to increase their richness. Delice has enough cream in it that raises its fast content to 73% to classify it as "triple creme" (normal butterfat percentage is 50, a double creme you'd find in the supermarket is 60%)
Cost: $14.99/lb
Did I like this: Yes. I mean, this was basically the closest to butter that I've had in a cheese. It's very pleasant with a slight sour finish. Apparently this is one of their most popular cheeses.
Selles sur Cher: P. Jacquin, Loire Valley, goat's milk, bloomy rind. Tart, Smooth, Regal. This cheese and a local wine from the same region like Sancerre would echo each other.
Did I like this: Eh. This didn't have particularly strong goat cheese flavor, it just tasted like goat cheese and blue cheese together.
Abbaye de Belloc: Pyrenees, sheep's milk, hard ripened. Hearty, Robust, Caramel. There are 3 capital regions of sheep milk cheese: La Mancha, Spain (Manchego), Tuscany, Italy (Pecorino Toscano), and the French Pyrenees. The milk of this region results in a caramellish finish in the cheese.
Did I like this: Yes. It has a nice texture as we started to get into the harder cheese. Nutty finish.
Comte: Trois Comtois, Jura, unpasteurized cow's milk, hard ripened. Comte is a pressed cheese that is made in huge 90lb. wheels. It is always aged for a minimum of 9 months. This cheese was aged 3 years and is pretty rare in the U.S., with probably only 20 wheels of it around in the U.S. at this moment.
Did I like this: Yes!!! This was definitely the best one of the night, with a multi-dimensional salty-earthy taste and these bits of crystallized texture in some of the bites. I want some more of this now.
St. Nectaire: L'Or des Domes, Auvergne, cow's milk, washed rind. Mushroomy, Briny, Intense. St. Nectaire has been made since at least the 17th century. It comes from a rather hilly region lush with grassland whose economy is very dependent on cheesemaking. "Washing" the rind is a technique of gently rubbing a brine solution on the cheese as it ages. It promotes the growth of the stinky bacteria on the rind. At The Cheese Store, it comes to the store with a soft rind and they do the washing there.
Did I like this: It was ok, a milky and creamy texture. Probably suffered a bit from being after the Comte.
Morbier: Jean Perrin, Franche Comte, unpasteurized cow's milk, washed rind. Fruity, Savory, Satisfying. During the early stages of Morbier's history, half of the cheese was made in the morning. That half was coast with ash to keep flies away. Then during the evening, the second half of the cheese was pressed on top. The decorative look has remained and so has the buttery, funky, bitter taste. Most of the common brands of this type of cheese tend to be more bland.
Did I like this: I thought it tasted like
durian fruit, with a little bit of smokiness, so, I don't know. A lot of people at the tasting didn't like this one. It was really good with the dates provided.
Blue D'Auvergne: L'Or de Domes, Auvergne, unpasteurized cow's milk, blue. Crumbly, Moist, Versatile. It has a meaty, buttery taste that is rather seductive.
Did I like this: I think this was ok. Bitter to start and a sort of a woody finish?
Roquefort: Papillon, Causses, sheep's milk, blue. Sharp, Crisp, Regal. Along with gorgonzola and stilton, roquefort is one of the triple crowns of blue cheese. It's aged int he legendary caves in the Causses region. There are only 7 producers of Roquefort but of these 7, only Papillon which cultivates mold on huge loaves of rye bread to inoculate the cheese with. There is nothing quite as creamy and potent as Roquefort.
Did I like this: Yes! My second favorite of the night after the Comte, it was really good with the dried fruits like the dried figs and amazing with a dessert wine like port that someone had brought and was generous to share a bit of with everyone else.
