After a brief summer vacation, our weekly pairings are back! This week we explore a Basque cheese produced in the central Pyrenees mountains, along France’s southern border with Spain. For over 4 decades, Pascual Beillevaire, of Fromagerie Beillevaire, has has been sharpening his skill of producing the highest quality cheeses from the highest quality milk. However, what sets Pascual apart from many of his peers, is his skill of cultivating connections between France’s best producers, and the most discerning consumers worldwide. The cheese we’ll enjoy this week is not produced by Pascual himself, but rather sourced and aged by Pascual in his own caves, to his level of perfection. Named after one of the region’s most historic mountain passes, Somport Chévre Fermier is a raw goat milk tomme-style cheese which represents all the best qualities of traditional Basque cheesemaking. Pascual sources his wheels of Somport from the 4 local dairies that he believes use the tastiest milk. Sweet and nutty, with a fine acidity and medium-firm paste, Somport melts creamy on the palette. Typical of most tomme-style cheeses, its rind is rustic in color, and smells of damp earth.
For a wine pairing, we’ve chosen Broc Cellar’s, Got Grapes, a red blend from northern California which comes to us through the careful marriage of select recent vintages from their cellars. The wine is lighter bodied, and tastes of cherry pie, yet floral notes within the grapes elevate flavors in the cheese, and mutual levels of acidity balance nicely together. Just the perfect amount of fruit bounces from the wine to leave you smiling