How about cheese for desert?

Many years ago on a trip to France I had my first real taste of cheese, I was instantly hooked. When I got home, I tried to find some, I was crushed. What I discovered is that it is very hard to find good cheese in this country (not so true if you live in Berkley near the “Cheese Board”, San Francisco near “Cheese Plus”, or near a Whole Foods, or Bread and Circus). By the way, if you happen to be passing through San Francisco on your way to any picnic, stop in at Cheese Plus and pickup your goodies, they have great selection of cheeses, meats and other goodies. Located at the corner of Polk & Pacific just a block off of Van Ness, it is an easy stop if you are passing through. Say hi to Ray, and tell him Lisa and I sent you.

Once I managed to find a good cheese shop, the next thing I discovered it that there are about a million types of cheese. Here are three of my favorites;

St. André is a soft-ripened, triple-cream cheese. Made with equal parts of thick, sour cream and whipped sweet cream. St. André is also fairly rare (you won’t find it at Safeway). It is 75% butterfat and is my favorite Brie/Camembert.

Point Reyes Blue, made from raw milk from a special herd of Holstein cows that graze on the hills overlooking Tomales Bay in northern California. Rrom a classic blue cheese recipe that has evolved over the years, to produce a creamier style, full-flavored blue cheese.

Saint Agur, from the blue-cheese making Auvergne region of central France, offers the perfect balance of a rich blue taste and a smooth, creamy texture. Doing research about this cheese I discovered that it is produced by the French dairy giant Bongrain. I had thought that this was one of those small produced in someones basement kind of cheese, but it is mass produced and is fairly easy to find.

Duckhorn Vineyards, 2003 Migration, Anderson Valley Pinot Noir (Junk)

Duckhorn is a great winery, the Cabernets and Merlots are fabulous and as good as any you will find. However I think they have a bit to learn about making Pinot Noir. The winery tasting note says, “This wine is smooth and well-balanced with bright acidity and soft fruit tannins”. I would say the acidity is overpowering, whatever fruit flavor is in there is behind a wall of acid. It is possible that this wine could soften up in a few years, but I seriously doubt it. Another proof that expensive wine is not always good wine.

Walter Hansel, 2003 Estate Pinot Noir

If you pull the cork and start drinking right away you will truly think I am an idiot. If you let it breathe a while (about an hour) you will think I am a genius. A decanter is what you really need. The color is beautiful, dark, deep and dense. Alexa gives the ‘nose’ a thumbs up, I say it has a rich deep cherry nose. The flavor is a big blast of black cherry, plums, and figs. A long smooth finish, with lots of flavor transitions. This is a great Pinot at an average Pinot price.

Walter Hansel, 2003 Estate Chardonnay

This is the best wine I have tasted all year, and it was total surprise. I bought a single bottle to take home and try. We ended up drinking it for dinner at a local restaurant, and were stunned at how good it was. The next afternoon, I went back to the store I got it from, and bought all they had. The taste is slightly citrus (orange & lemon) at the start that transitions into mineral finish. It has a dense oily feel on your tongue. It is perfectly balanced and leaves you wanting more. This wine is young and should age nicely over the next couple of years. Great now, better next year.