August 2016

Saint Marcellin
(Pasteurized – cow’s milk)
Rhone-Alpes, France
This small round, wrinkly cheese is dusted with a coating of white yeast.  The texture of the young cheese varies from firm to very runny and it has a mild, slightly salty flavor.  When ripe, it is irresistibly rustic and nutty as it oozes from the crock.  Warm it up in the oven to make it ripe and ready tonight, then serve it over some crisp full flavored greens like Arugula or Mizuna with hearty croutons, to soak it all up, and a bright white wine.

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Fourme aux Moelleux
(Raw – cows’ milk)
Auvergne, France
Cheese-maker Rodolfe le Meunier, has added a twist to one of the oldest cheeses in France, Fourme d’Ambert.  Using the same recipe and technique he would use to make the Fourme d’Ambert, Rodolfe injects Vouvray, a French white wine, into the cheese to amplify the flavors. In addition to the creamy, mushroom and chocolate notes naturally occurring in this cheese, the wine adds a burst of sweetness, making the Fourme aux Moelleux a deliciously different blue!   Serve this decadent blue for dessert with Oatcakes or biscuits and a fortified wine.
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Brebis au Miel
(Pasteurized – ewe’s milk)
Aldudes, France
This delightful fresh sheep’s milk cheese has a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture along with its sweet and tangy flavor from both the milk and the touch of honey added to this delightful cheese.  Try with some fresh fruit, bread and a tangy Savignon Blanc like Sancerre.
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Buerre de Aldudes
(Pasteurized – cows’ milk)
Aldudes, France
This unique butter is in the shape of the Laburu or Basque Cross, the long time symbol of the Basque Country.  Made simply from cream and salt, in France butter is often served like cheese with bread or crackers to enjoy the rich flavors of the small batch craft made products, which are very different from the butter we are accustomed to here in the US.  Once you try the Buerre de Aldudes, you’ll understand why French butter is such a sought after delicacy.
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For those meat lovers, who have the charcuterie of the month, you’ll receive:
Your choice of in stock D’Artagnan Sausages

Posted on December 21st, 2016 by Jon Marsh Comments Off on August 2016

July 2016

Lord of the Hundreds
(Raw – sheep’s milk)
Bath, England
 
“Lord of the Hundreds takes its name from Saxon times.  The Lord, or 9th century tax collector for the king, controlled 100 parcels of land, and there remains to this day a monument to this practice at the farm where the cheese is made.  Lord of the Hundreds is a superb English ewe’s milk cheese that has much in common with an Italian Pecorino.  The texture is grainy, and the cheese is aged to give it a real depth of flavor, while the delicate, rich milk leaves a creamy, sweet taste in the mouth” The Fine Cheese Co.
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Rachel
(Raw – goats’ milk)
White Lake Cheese – Somerset, England
“Rachel is a semi-soft cheese with a washed rind.  It offers a sweet medium flavor.  Rachel is named after a friend of Peter Humphries, the cheese-maker, who he describes as sweet, curvy and slightly nutty, just like the cheese” White Lake.
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Wyfe of Bath
(Pasteurized – cows’ milk)
Park Farm – Kelston, England
“Wyfe of Bath is made with organic cows’ milk, from a recipe inspired by Gouda.  As a hand-made, single-herd cheese, its taste changes slightly according to the season, but it is always sweet and rich, and redolent of buttercup meadows!”  The Fine Cheese Co.
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Jambon de Bayonne
Salaisons l’Amour, France
We think if it ever gets to the point where they can’t get products like Camembert and Jambon from europe the English will change there mind about leaving the EU.  Not available until recently in the US, we love the french take on cured ham and we hope you do too!
According to legend, an extraordinary chain of events is behind Bayonne ham.  One day during a hunt, Gaston Fébus, The Count of Foix, wounded a boar that fled and was discovered by hunters a few months later in the salt water source of Salies- de-Béarn. The beast was perfectly preserved! And that’s how the curing workshop of the Adour Bassin came about…
Jambon de Bayonne is the result of a thousand year old know-how, perpetuated according to the purest of traditions. You could find it on the tables of Marguerite de Navarre, Rabelais or even Henri IV of
France, to name but a few.

Posted on December 21st, 2016 by Jon Marsh Comments Off on July 2016

June 2016

Hannah
(Raw – cow and sheep’s milk)
Ancient Heritage Dairy – Portland, OR
 
“A favorite of raw milk cheese lovers, this blend of cow and sheep’s milk is earthy, savory and luscious with a bright, citrusy finish. Protein crystals form over months of aging giving this cheese added texture” Ancient Heritage Dairy.
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Freya’s Wheel
(Pasteurized – goats’ milk)
Briar Rose Creamery – Dundee, OR
“Briar Rose Creamery uses milk from nearby Tideland Dairy in Tillamook to make an array of fresh and aged goat cheeses. Though distinctly American, Freya’s Wheel is a bloomy-rinded cheese that was developed as a cross between two European classics: Garrotxa, an aged Spanish goat cheese, and Ticklemore, a softer English goat cheese.  
Named for the Norse Goddess of Love and Prosperity, Freya’s Wheel has a semi-soft paste dotted with small eyes, and a lovely balance of sweet, salty and savory flavors, from tropical fruit to butterscotch to white mushrooms”  Cowgirl Creamery.
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Flora Nelle
(Pasteurized – cows’ milk)
Rogue Creamery – Central Point, OR
 
“Flora Nelle’s paste is specked with beautiful blue blooms and blue green veins and creates savory, tropical & sweet cream flavors.  The dusty rind enhances the spicy nutty and intensely blue flavors framing the Rogue Valley Terroir.  The wheels are made by hand and aged in specifically-constructed caves.  The cheese ripens from naturally occurring molds found in the Rogue River Valley, [which] reflects a deep connection to the land” Rogue Creamery
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Smoked Salmon
Villa Tatra Smokehouse in Lyons, CO recommended by Seafood Landing in Denver, CO
Villa Tatra’s cold-smoked salmon is smoked using a carefully selected blend of juniper along with a touch of apple wood. They have perfected the art by using high-quality fish and third-generation European recipes.  Their salmon is first marinated in a salt, brown sugar and special herb mixture, after which it is cold smoked for 8-10 hours at 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid dryness. www.villatatra.com

Posted on December 21st, 2016 by Jon Marsh Comments Off on June 2016

May 2016

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Fortsonia
(Raw – cows’ milk)
Nature’s Harmony Farm – Elberton, GA
 
Named after the small farming community, Fortsonia is an Alpine-style cheese inspired by Comte and Gruyere.  This raw cows’ milk cheese is aged at least five months and moves from caramel notes in its younger months to nuttier flavors in its later months.
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Thomasville Tomme
(Raw – cows’ milk)
Sweet Grass Dairy – Thomasville, GA
An aged, raw, cows’ milk cheese handcrafted in the style of a French Pyrenees Tomme.  Aged for atleast 60 days, the cow’s milk provides a smooth, rich and buttery flavor with a grassy, tangy finish.
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Rivertown
(Pasteurized – sheep milk)
Many Fold Farm – Chattahoochee Hills, GA
 
Named for the northernmost border of Chattahoochee Hills, this Camembert-style cheese is super smooth with aromas that are textbook sheep milk: think melted butter and hazelnuts.
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Southern Smash Salami
Spotted Trotter – Atlanta, GA
A Noisette French style salami that speaks to the flavors and ingredients that make the south what it is with flavors of toasted peanut, cayenne and garlic. Wonderful paired with Sherry and Madeira, as well as, a light bodied Merlot or Pinot.

Posted on May 30th, 2016 by Jon Marsh Comments Off on May 2016