I know folks – I should have told you about this event long ago. Somehow I thought Riesling Rendezvous, this great gathering of Riesling producers, writers and sommeliers organised by Château Ste Michelle and Weingut Dr. Loosen didn’t fit into the cheesy subject of this blog. Today though, while hosting a workshop on the pairing of smoked salmon and Riesling, I suddenly realized how wrong I was.
Because just a few steps away from me was Liam Wustenburg from Rogue Creamery with their rich, creamy and really spicy Special Reserve – and then, being so busy with my salmon (and the glorious 1978 Erdener Treppchen Kabinett – thank you Ernie Loosen!) I even forgot to take a picture, so I had to get some from their website. Shame on me, but hands up for this blue raw milk cheese from Oregon, which they wrap in vine leaves steeped in local pear brandy and mature for 18 months. Liam even had a three year old version made with Riesling leaves – funky, the fat completely broken down around the edge, but utterly delicious with botrytis-affected sweet Riesling… The bad news: this is totally exclusive and you’ll probably never get to taste it. The good news: Rogue River Blue is one of the very few US American artisan cheeses that actually make it over to Europe. Top affineur Laurent Dubois in Paris raves about it, Neal’s Yard Dairy in London sells it, and your cheesemonger could do, if he wanted to or you nagged him long enough.
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