To get your holiday part ideas rolling, we asked Colette Hatch and three chefs – Justin Wangler of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates in Fulton, Taki Laliotitis of Hartford Family Winery and Josh Silvers of Syrah restaurant in Santa Rosa – to share suggestions for a five-course menu of wine and cheese.
The Sparkler Course
From Colette Hatch
Wine: Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir: “A very affordable local champagne with beautiful, lively, tiny bubbles. It has bright strawberry and black cherry aromas with subtle, vanilla highlights.”
Cheese: Brillat-Savarin, a semi-soft, aged raw cow’s milk cheese with a white edible rind made in Ile-de France; Jean de Brie, a traditional brie-style, raw cow’s milk cheese from Seine-et-Marne; and Minuet, a goat’s milk cheese enriched with crème fraîche, made by Andante Dairy in Petaluma.
Accompaniment: During the holidays, Hatch likes to serve gougères, a cheese puff hors d’oeuvre, popular in Burgundy, made with Gruyere-de Comté, Gruyere or Appenzeller cheese.
The Chardonnay Course
From Justin Wangler
Wine: Kendall-Jackson Camelot Highlands 2004 Chardonnay. “The wine has tropical flavors of pineapple, mango and papaya with a creamy rich palate.”
Cheeses: Bellwether Farms Carmody, a butter and slightly sharp semi-soft cheese made from raw Jersey cow’s milk; Garrotxa, slightly grassy and creamy flavored, semi-hard goat’s milk cheese from Catalonia, Spain; and Pleasant Ridge Reserve, cow’s mink cheese from Wisconsin that is firm and smooth with a nutty finish.
The Pinot Noir Course
rom Take Laliotitis
Wine: Hartford Court Land’s Edge Vineyards Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2005. “This is a medium-body Pinot with lots of red fruit – ripe cherries and raspberry. There’s a little bit of smoke and oak on the nose, but it’s multilayered and complex.”
Cheese: Vella Dry Jack, a dry aged grating cheese with nutty flavor, made from cow’s milk in Sonoma; Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam, smooth and buttery with a mushroomy finish, made with Straus Dairy Holstein milk; and Double Cream Robiola, i rich, pungent, soft cheese from Italy’s Piedmont region.
Accompaniment: A fig cake, panforte or any dried fruit.
The Syrah Course
From Josh Silvers
Wine: Christopher Creek Syrah 2004, Russian River Estate: “this wine has dark fruit – plum and dark cherry – with a spicy finish.”
Cheese: Bravo Farms Special Reserve White Cheddar, an aged cow’s milk cheese with balance of sweet and salty flavors, made in Visalia; St. George, a Portuguese-style cheddar, nutty and sharp, aged cow’s milk cheese from the Matos Family of Santa Rosa; cave-aged Merisa from Wisconsin, a sheep’s milk cheese with sweet cream and a bit of salinity on the finish.
Accompaniment: Marshall Farm Star Thistle Honey, roasted almonds and quince paste, with some fresh cracked pepper.
The Late-harvest Desser Wine Course
From Colette Hatch
Wine: Ferrari-Carano 2002 Eldorado Gold Dry Creek Valley: “Eldorado Gold has an intense apricot and nectar characteristic and is well balanced, not cloying or overly sweet.”
Cheese: Cashel Blue, a smooth and creamy, sharp and fragrant cow’s milk blue cheese from Ireland; Blu Del Moncenisio, an Affineur cheese aged by Luigi Guffanti in the mountains of Piedmont; and Point Reyes Blue, a cow’s milk blue cheese from a herd of Holstein cows pastured on a ridge overlooking Tomales Bay.
Accompaniment: Honey and nuts, dried fruit.
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