October 01, 2005
CheeseBar at the Cheeseboard, Sept. 2005
My friend James and I dropped in on the Cheese Board's second-ever CheeseBar event, an irregularly scheduled cheese and wine gathering that feels more like a little party than a bar. It is sort of a Berkeley hippie's version of the Flash Mob -- the Cheese Board collective sends an email message out to its mailing list a few days in advance, and sometimes posts a notice in the store. Then they stay open after hours and offer flights of wines and tastings of cheeses. By the end the staff is a little tipsy and giddy, and the patrons are practicing civil disobedience by wining and dining out on the street median.
In other words, it's great fun, both because of the amateur feel and in spite of it. James had never been before, but I was at the first CheeseBar with Anne and Connie. There was more seating this time, both indoors, where seats had been added near the scone baskets, and outside, where two long tables replaced some of the individual cafe tabletops. It was also darker -- the prior cheesebar was this past June or thereabouts, so the sun was still out.
We ordered the full five-cheese sampler to share. I added a glass of pinot noir rose, James had three wine tastes (the rose, a Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio). Of course, being two strapping lads in our latetwentiesearlythirties, and both finished with a hard day's work writing newspaper articles (cough), we had to add half a pizza from Cheese Board Pizza one door down the block.
The standout revelation for me was the Fleur Verte, a very nimble and fluffy goat's milk cheese covered with fresh herbs. In the accompanying photo it is the white cheese closest to the fork. There's a larger picture (not mine) here. It was just very light and pleasant, went very well with the fruit, and broke my preconception that goat cheese can't be very subtle.
I wish the Cheese Board would put together some written information about wine-cheese pairings for these events. I had no idea that the Fleur Verte goes well with rose and at least one type of Pinot Grigio (the distinctive variety from Alsace -- I do not recall if this is what was on hand). Boucheron, meanwhile, apparently goes quite well with deep rich tannic reds like the Chateau Mourges du Gres (Nimes, France) Galets Rouge 2003 I tried in the wake of the fruity rose.
On the other hand, maybe I needed to just slow down and try the various wines with the various cheeses. The cheesebar is, after all, a superb environment for such experimentation. With a friend, you can enjoy a flight of three wines and plenty nibbles of five different cheeses for $13, with accordian music thrown in for free (note to self: next time, find the accordinaist's tip jar).
Of course, it can be a bit rattling to search for seating while carrying three glasses of wine and a cheese plate, all the while navigating a busy store, sidewalk and even two lanes of auto traffic! We lucked out and found a table next to the pizza collective. But last time, seating was totally full and we risked all sorts of citations by sitting on the median (no no) and drinking our wine (no no).
Quick notes on the other cheeses:
Pont L'Eveque - (Cow) Nomandie, France - I found this much like a Camembert, and nice and gloopy because the Cheese Board knows how to store its cheese. Apparently is the fourth most popular cheese in France. Steven Jenkins seems to agree, writing, "Pont-l'Eveque has the texture and all the nuances of Camembert but with a much more pronounced beefiness of flavor and an intensity of level somewhere between Camembert and Livarot.
Tomme du Levezou - (Sheep, Raw Milk) Levezou, France - This one is the hard traingular wedge in the picture. Reminds me of an aged Comte or an Ossau Iraty, which it resembles. (More)
Bleu d'Auvergne - (Cow, Raw Milk) Auvergne, France - A salty and assertive bleu. No particularly complex (and pasteurized to boot), but very nice to nibble with the deep reds.
I have to say, the cheesebar things are fun and memorable. Where else can you sit between mellowed Marxists and slumming students, sipping wine and tasting cheese on the sidewalk, listening to the accordian play, and watching the bartenders giggle? In France, actually. Probably. But if you have to work the next day, or your friends don't want to spends hundreds of dollars just to come taste cheese with you, get yourself on the collective's emai list, comrade.
Posted by ryan at October 1, 2005 02:11 PM | TrackBack