Cheese & Sake

Welcome to Cheese & Sake! This blog was created to document the journey of Liza and Jesse as they explore the unique world of cheese and sake pairing. Liza is a former cheesemonger who is now a member of the sales team for Laura Chenel's Chevre & Marin French Cheese Company. Jesse is the Sake Specialist for a leading wine and spirits distributor. The inspiration for this blog stemmed from the need to purge their overflowing refrigerator of cheese and sake.

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We're Back!

After a serious hiatus from posting (sorry!) we have decided to get serious about this blog again. Although we never stopped pairing cheese & sake, we’ve realized in the last year that so many others are genuinely interested and it would be selfish to keep these pairings to ourselves.

Quick update from Liza: 2014 has been my cheesiest year by far! In January, I competed in the first West Coast Cheesemonger Invitational (CMI). Studying was fun, especially developing my “perfect bite” with Jesse. We paired Point Reyes’ Bay Blue with Bartlett pears poached in sake, served on a sea-salted shortbread. Our goal with the pairing was to counterbalance the saltiness of the Bay Blue with the sweetness of a pear. The sake infused poaching liquid provided the perfect vehicle to introduce new flavors and give the pairing more complexity. The shortbread gave the bite a nice texture and an additional hit of saltiness. We weren’t entirely shocked to find out it took first place in the perfect bite competition. Even though Jesse and I knew cheese and sake can create a truly perfect pairing, it was very reassuring to know important industry experts agreed with us. 

Shortly after CMI, my cheese journey continued to the next exciting phase when I was invited to the join Laura Chenel’s Chèvre/Marin French Cheese Company as a member of their sales team. Therefore, don’t be surprised to find a few extra pairings with these cheeses in the posts in come. No need to worry though- I still love and admire so many other cheeses so you don’t have to worry about this becoming a full blown marketing tool for my employer :-)

Of course, I was very excited to pair Laura Chenel’s plain chèvre because I knew the acidity and creaminess would easily pair with a crisp and fruity sake.

Here’s a quick overview of the company: Laura Chenel is widely recognized as the pioneer of American goat cheese production. She began producing chèvre in Sebastopol, CA in 1979 and the company is now located in Sonoma, CA. Laura Chenel’s Chèvre upholds a long tradition of European style artisan cheese making. The company only uses fresh milk from family-raised goats in California and Nevada, an example of its commitment to local farming and distinctive regional terroir. In 2006, Laura sold her company to The Rians Group, a French family of cheese makers (who now also own Marin French Cheese Company in neighboring Petaluma).

Laura Chenel’s Log is the original cheese (when sliced into rounds, breaded and baked), that adorned the iconic Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese Salad made famous at Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, CA. Made in the traditional French elongated shape, it has a fresh, delicate and tangy flavor and a beautiful creamy texture. Like all well made chèvres, it does not have a lingering “barnyard” flavor and often convinces people that they do in fact like goat cheese!

Jesse: For the sake pairing, I wanted to use something that highlighted the creamy and tangy notes of the goat cheese without overpowering it. We decided that the best was the Shimizu No Mai “Pure Dusk” Junmai Daiginjo. (We used a sake from this brewery in an earlier post, but the sake used previously is not available in the US). Pure Dusk is imported by the wonderful people at Terlato Wines International and it is a Junmai Daiginjo, meaning the rice used to make the sake is milled to a very high degree relative to most other sakes. This gives the sake quite a bit of lightness and finesse with soft notes of melon and orange peel. 

This pairing is a good example of why it’s important to match the relative “weights” in the sake and cheese. Goat cheese tends to be light and fresh, so a light sake does a nice job of bringing out the finer notes in the cheese. When enjoyed together, the lovely citrus notes in the cheese shine through, while the light fruit notes in the sake linger for a moment before fading gently. 

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#keg #sake #outsidelands2013 #sakeone (at Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival)

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Hook's 10 Year Cheddar & Dewazakura 10 Year Tokubetsu Junmai

The year was 2003. 50 Cent showed us all how to party like it was our birthday. An adorable clownfish named Nemo warmed our hearts and the people of California actually elected this guy? But there were also artisan activities going down that would change the face of cheese and sake blogs forever.  Oh, and for those of you keeping score at home, Jesse was living the dream in Tahoe and Liza was still in high school (wait what?).

In 2003, halfway across the world, a well-respected sake brewery called Dewazakura in Yamagata, Japan was putting the finishing touches on a new batch of sake. Dewazakura is well respected throughout the sake world for being the first sake brewery to introduce a premium label to the world.  These dudes straight up changed the game. They are known for making lighter, fragrant and fruity sakes, but for this batch, they decided to mature it for 10 years.

A little closer to home, in Wisconsin, award winning cheesemakers Tony and Julie Hook of Hook's Cheese Company were preparing to age their delicious cheddar for 10 years. These college sweethearts have been making cheese since 1976 and have mastered the art of perfectly controlling the temperature and humidity in their aging caves. By the way, if you're curious how a cheese could stay alive for 10 whole years, it's because they age the cheese in sealed plastic bags, which prevents moisture loss and keeps it safe from external molds.

10 years gone, Jesse is shopping for sake in a Tokyo department store basement. He sees a sake that he does not recognize but can see that it is from one of his favorite brewers. He takes it back to California and he and his girlfriend start a cheese and sake blog.  Boom.  History collides.

Liza: There's nothing like a bright orange cheddar. As a cheese retailer, I've quickly realized it's probably the most meaningful cheese to the average American consumer. There's just something about the color (which comes from the natural food coloring Annatto) that creates a sense of comfort. Therefore, as a cheese nerd, it's extra fun when you come across an orange cheddar that is far from ordinary, especially when that cheese hails from the state that produces the most amount of cheese in the US.

The best part of any aged cheese are the clusters of amino acids that create those fantastic pockets of crunch. As you can imagine, Hook's 10 Year Cheddar is punctuated with lots of these crystals, which creates a perfectly charming, yet dense texture. It has a sharp and rich flavor and a smooth finish. 

Jesse: Aged sake represents only a very small percentage of sake on the market. Most sakes are not meant to be aged, but rather enjoyed when they are young and fresh. However, there are some extremely cool aged sakes out there that are delicious. The years of aging allow the amino acids in the sake to change and most times the sake develops a ton of umami. Sake with lots of umami usually equals sake that will pair well with cheese. The 10 year aged Tokubetsu Junmai from Dewazakura is quite a treat. It is deep and earthy with a lovely sweet finish that wraps beautifully around the sharp tangy flavor of the 10 year cheddar. It is actually able to break down the dense cheese to give it an almost creamy texture. The rich, hearty flavors of the sake expand and envelop the senses even more when served at room temperature or nuru-kan (slightly warmed).  I am reasonably sure that the Hooks never met the brewers of Dewazakura, but their respective labors of love made our night…ten years after.

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Garroxta & Takashimizu Gold Medal Daiginjo

Liza: On the 4th of July, Jesse came to pick me up from work so we could pick out some goodies to help us celebrate. I thought it would be fun to send him into the cheese section, without any guidance what so ever, to pick out our next pairing cheese. He had trouble picking just one so I ultimately helped him choose out of his last few picks. It was an easy choice for me, since Garroxta was one of the cheeses that caught his eye. Pronounced 'ga-ROACH-ah,' this goat cheese hails from Catalonia, Spain and is as fun to eat as it is to say! It is a cheese of contrasts in its appearance, with an ivory white paste and a grey, fuzzy rind. The wheel looks pretty literally like a two pound stone. It delicately tastes tangy, nutty, and earthy. 

Jesse: For the sake, I wanted to first try the Donna Jean Godchaux...I mean Garroxta, with a sake that I brought back from Japan. While in Japan, I was hosted by the amazing folks at Akita Shurui Seizoh in Akita who make their sake under the brand name Takashimizu. As if their gracious hosting was not enough, they sent me back with a bottle of their freshly crowned Daiginjo sake that just won a Gold Medal at the 2013 National Sake Competition. This was the 14th consecutive Gold for their Goshono brewing facility, but instead of being all like 'whatever, nbd' about yet another trophy on the mantle, you can tell how proud they are of this record setting distinction.

So...on to the sake. The thing about competition sakes is that they tend to be very over the top and decadent; far more so than what you can normally buy in a store. This one is no exception. Aromas of melon and subtle spice are what initially strikes me. For you sake nerds, they use a strain of yeast called M-310 which produces very aromatic sakes. On the palate, it is at first soft and slightly sweet, but then proceeds to expand more and more, almost vibrating on your tongue, creating a bit of a rich, tangy finish. I thought that the expansive, rich notes would be an excellent compliment to the tangy finish in the Garroxta. This pairing was phenomenal and was made even better when Liza added in some Yuzu jam we got in Japan. Whoa.  

Lesson of the Day: For anyone interested in starting a different cheese related blog like cheeseandabsinthe.com or cheeseandgreensmoothies.com, take the pictures of the cheese BEFORE you eat ALL OF THE CHEESE and leave only the final nub for a picture.   

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Cowgirl Creamery's Mt Tam & Momokawa Organic Junmai Ginjo

Liza: Deciding where to start has certainly been a challenge. However, yesterday I was invited on a private tour of Barinaga Ranch that was hosted by Cowgirl Creamery. As part of our goodie bag, they gave us each a wheel of their signature cheese, Mt Tam, to bring home. It immediately hit me that Mt Tam was the perfect cheese to write our first post about, because it truly was the first cheese I fell in love with, way before I entered into this industry. It is a decadent, bloomy rind beauty that's made with organic cow's milk and tastes of butter, cream, and mushroom. 

Jesse: Once Liza decided on Mt. Tam, I pulled out a few sakes and lined them up.  After we both tasted through the sakes with the Mt. Tam, it was obvious to us both which was the best. The winner was Momokawa's Organic Junmai Ginjo, brewed by the fine folks at Sake One in Forest Grove, Oregon.

The sake is bright, fruity and vibrant with enough acidity to compliment the richness in the cheese. Sake One uses organically grown rice and brews this sake in such a way that has earned it USDA Certified Organic status; the only US brewery with that distinction. The fact that Mt. Tam uses Straus Family Dairy's organic cow's milk makes this pairing all the more heady. To top it off, Liza drizzled some local wildflower honey on top of the cheese to cap off our delicious pairing.

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Liza & Jesse touring Gekkeikan sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan.