Cheese Matters: Oscar Flavor & Birthday

 

Two cheese-centric adventures were in store for The Cheese Impresario. 

First: awards season in Hollywood.  I served artisanal cheeses at HAVEN, an Oscar-season celebrity-retreat marble mansion where we celebrated The Wrestler with folks from World Wrestling Entertainment.  I ran into my friend Alyssa Rapp, founder of Bottlenotes, a wine club using technology much like Netflix.  She was enjoying Joe Widmer’s Aged Brick Spread with her 2006 Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon.  Cheese spread isn’t something you’d think of when you think artisanal cheese, but the spread was the hit of the event.  People kept coming back for more. Alyssa even has a book out in stores, Bottlenotes Guide to Wine: Around the World in 80 Sips.  

 

The second cheese adventure: my friend Adam Leemon, AKA “Adam The Wine Guy,” turned me on to the wines of Demetria Estate.  Once I tried Demetria’s 2006 Cuvee Papou, I had to visit the winery.  I packed my bags, put amazing cheeses in my cooler and hit the road. 

My tasting adventure included Demetria Estate owner John Zahoudanis, winemaker Michael Roth and assistant winemaker Brandon Sparks-Gillis.  I experienced their Rhone varietals, all grown on John’s romantic estate.  We loved Carr Valley Cheese Company’s Cave Aged Mellage with the Papou; and Demetria’s 2005 Syrah was amazing with Carr Valley’s Airco, the three-milk blend cold-smoked over hickory.  You’ll need an appointment to experience Demetria Estate’s wines at its high-in-the-hills Mediterranean winery.  (Demetria is the highest-elevation vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley American Viticultural Area.)  You will feel like you’ve been in another country, and the wines Mike makes will send your taste buds to the moon!

www.bottlenotes.com

www.widmerscheese.com

www.demetriaestate.com

By Barri Lynn

TheCheeseImpresario.com

Cheese@bhtmag.com