Newsletter
New Cheeses!
We've brought in a boatload of new cheeses for your holiday larder, and can't wait to tell you about them!
They're from all over the world: Asturias (NW Spain), Austrian and Bavarian Alps, Catalunia, Piedmont, Switzerland, and Upstate New York! These are all fabulous,cheeses, and all in limited amounts, so don't delay!
Juni - a cow's milk Toma Brusca from Piedmont infused with Juniper berries,is a slightly tangy and cake-y cheese with complex flavors. The aromas of crushed, dried juniper berries infused in this unique cheese gives it an incredible and complex flavor. Juniper berry is the same botanical used to give gin its distinctive flavor.
Anton’s Allgauer Limburger I discovered this Bavarian cheese at last year's Fancy Food show, and have been lobbying for it to be brought to California since February! Allgauer Limburger is an organic cheese made by master cheesemaker Anton Holzinger who uses fresh, free range cow's milk from local farms. It is ripened for 3 - 4 weeks during which time the rind is washed daily. This treatment gives the cheese its characteristic peach coloring and full aroma. Despite being washed as it ages, this Limburger often develops a thin bloomy crust which gives it a mellow flavor and a beautifully creamy texture with flavors of hay and mushrooms. We can't be sure where Limburger picked up its bad reputation, as its not even as pungent as many other washed rinds out there, but this is a cheese to change your mind. Even kids love this cheese!
New Cheeses!
we've brought in a boatload of new cheeses for your holiday larder, and we can't wait for you to hear about them!
They're from all over the world: Asturias (NW Spain), Austrian and Bavarian Alps, Catalunia, Piedmont, Switzerland, and Upstate New York! These are all fabulous, and all in limited amounts, so don't delay!
Juni - a cow's milk Toma Brusca from Piedmont infused with Juniper berries,is a slightly tangy and cake-y cheese with complex flavors. The aromas of crushed, dried juniper berries infused in this unique cheese gives it an incredible and complex flavor. Juniper berry is the same botanical used to give gin its distinctive flavor.
Anton’s Allgauer Limburger I discovered this Bavarian cheese at last year's Fancy Food show, and have been lobbying for it to be brought to California since February! Allgauer Limburger is an organic cheese made by master cheesemaker Anton Holzinger who uses fresh, free range cow's milk from local farms. It is ripened for 3 - 4 weeks during which time the rind is washed daily. This treatment gives the cheese its characteristic peach coloring and full aroma. Despite being washed as it ages, this Limburger often develops a thin bloomy crust which gives it a mellow flavor and a beautifully creamy texture with flavors of hay and mushrooms. We can't be sure where Limburger picked up its bad reputation, as its not even as pungent as many other washed rinds out there, but this is a cheese to change your mind. Even kids love this cheese!
February 11 Newsletter
This Sunday is Valentine's Day, and despite what he or she may have told you, they really do want you to make a fuss!! (Trust me on this one.)
♥♥♥To make it easier for you, we've brought in a good supply of Heart Shaped Cheeses for Valentine's Day! First off, there's Cœur de Gariottes, a creamy goat's cheese served up with a small jar of Rose Petal jam, then there's Cœur de Bray, a creamy cow's milk cheese from Neufchatel, and finally Cœur Cendrée, an ashed goat milk cheese. They're all priced at $12 each, and would go quite well with a bottle of great Champagne or sparkling wine.♥♥♥
♥♥♥Bubbly Speaking of Sparkling Wine, we love our new go-to Champagne - Monthuys et Fils, brought in by our friends at Planet Wines.
Monthuys is an organic grower-producer Champagne that is primarily Pinot Meuniere-based. The Brut is $33/btl ($29.70 case price) and the Rosé is $43.50 ($39.15 case price). We have lots of different sparkling wines to choose from in the shop, including new arrival Gruet Rosé and Brut $18 each/$16.20 case price.♥♥♥
December 2 Newsletter
EEP! Only 23 Shopping Days until Christmas!!! We're here to help! Please see us for your gifty wines, wines for parties, or wines for anytime, gift certificates, wine club memberships, and/or cheese. From the mountains of Italy, these precious gems from the Earth abound with a rich aroma and flavor that none other can bring to a dish. The Italian white truffle, tuber magnatum pico, popularly known as the White Alba Truffle, is prized for its superb gastronomic qualities. We're selling them by pre-sale/reservation only, for delivery to the shops next Thursday (12/9) in Alameda and next Friday (12/10) in Montclair. We place our order with our supplier on Monday 12/6, so if you have interest for a truffled dinner the weekend of 12/10, please let us know ASAP! (email, phone, or visit). White truffles are almost never cooked, since the bulk of their flavor lies in their strong scent. Just slice them thinly, using them to finish off a preparation. The heat of the dish will bring out the intense aroma of the winter white truffle for a fabulous effect. Shave raw white truffles on pasta, risotto, salads, eggs, sauces, or with poultry or other white meats such as rabbit or veal. White truffles also pair well with hard Italian cheeses, prosciutto and salami, and foie gras. What wines to pair with white Truffles? Sparkling wine (especially Blanc de Blancs Champagne), Nebbiolo (Barolo and Barbaresco), White Burgundy, Red Burgundy or an old school Rioja.
Here's a list of just a few of our sublime High End, hard to find wines:
We've got great wines at every price level from $7.50 on up, so come and see us!
White Truffles!! Our pre-Thanksgiving offering of White Alba Truffles was a real success. Carol and I bought one, and were amazed at the quality of this year's white Alba truffle crop.
So, we're offering them one more time before the holidays!
These legendary tasty morsels are fabulous grated over risotto, on eggs, over mashed potatoes, asparagus, lobster, or simply along with butter and flat noodles.
They're available by the piece at $175 per ounce - with each random piece running between one and two ounces. (For comparison, the ones in the photo above right are in the 1/2 ounce to one ounce range.)
Tastings - This Friday (5:30- 7:30) in Montclair, and Saturday (2:30-4:30) in Alameda, we resume our wine tastings, featuring this month's allocation from the Classic Wine Club (plus maybe a ringer or two)
Saracco Moscato d'Asti - lightly sparkly, off dry. perfect for aperitif or dessert!
Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco - mid-weight white from Northeastern Italy. Italy's answer to a Mâcon?
Selvapianna Chianti Rufina - organic Sangiovese from Tuscany! Staff favorite!
Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne - a great red wine from Piedmont
As always, tastings cost $3 per person per flight, waived for Farmstead Wine Club members or with purchase.
Vacherin What's the perfect holiday cheese? Well IMHO, it's Vacherin Mont d'Or, an oozy, creamy, complex and stinky cheese from the French or Swiss Alps. Served at room temperature or warmed up in a slow oven, Vacherin is a great party cheese, and goes well with crisp white, light red and sparkling wines. Vacherin Mont d'Or is a seasonal cheese, only available in the winter months, made from the milk of mountain cows who have been brought down from their pastures for the season . It's related to other mountain cheeses such as Emmentaler and Gruyère, but made in much smaller rounds and also treated differently, so that the cheese is almost liquid when fully ripe.
Vacherin Mont d'Or comes in a round pine box, with the cheese enclosed by a birch strip called a sangle, and a velvety reddish/brownish rind. To eat the cheese, allow it to breathe at room temperature for several hours before carving off the rind and scooping out the soft cheese inside.
The milk is curdled by introducing rennet and heating the mixture, and the curds are packed into tall cylindrical molds, with holes in them so that the whey can drain out. After the cheese has firmed slightly, it is cut into rounds which are encircled with the traditional sangles and moved into a cheese cave to ripen. During the ripening phases, the Vacherin Mont d'Or is turned daily, and brushed with a brine solution. After one month, the cheese is ready for sale, and is boxed.
Vacherin is a unique cheese with a rich, creamy flavor. The sangle and subsequent pine box lend Vacherin Mont d'Or a slightly astringent, distinctive forest-like flavor. $30 each
Festival of Lights Happy Chanukkah to our Jewish friends. Channukah, or the Festival of Lights, began last night, and continues on for seven more days. We have lots of Kosher wines on hand that'll go perfectly with your latkes.
Montclair Stroll We're looking forward to seeing our Oaklandish neighbors at the annual Montclair Holiday Stroll, tonight (Thursday). We're staying open a bit later than normal, and will be sampling out some fun cheeses and wines.
Wine Shippers - Are you a member of a wine club or buy wine from winery that ships to you? Don't throw away your wine shippers, bring them to us! We'll recycle and reuse them. We can especially use 2 and 3 bottle shipping boxes, but we'll take what you have. Just bring them by either shop!
Shipping Traveling over the holidays and want to make sure that there'll be good wine when you get there? Want to send a bottle or three of a killer wine? Did you know that we ship wine? Well, we do, to wherever it's legal (currently to 37 states). Contact us for more info.
Broadley Pinot Noir The new vintage has been released, the price hasn't gone up (still $22.50/btl, $243 by the case). 2009 Oregon Pinots are getting great reviews. Flavors are juicy, with big black fruit. Blackberry and a bit of black cherry are refreshing, with a racy natural acidity. Ready to drink, approachable, but balanced, this wine will age for 2-5 years. This is a unique concentrated and satisfying value wine, exceptional for the price. Buy some before Paul buys it all! (Arrives in the shops on Friday)
Jan 28 Newsletter
New Cheeses Another shipment of Bohemian Creamery's Bo-Poisse arrives Friday, and Cowgirl's Devil's Gulch is in the cases now. Both will hopefully last through the weekend.
Bo Poisse, an organic, locally made Jersey cow milk cheese, is based an Epoisse recipe, and blends salty and sweet together - combining the pungency of a washed rind with the richness of a triple cream.
Devil's Gulch, also an organic, locally made Jersey cow milk cheese, has a paste is similar to that of Cowgirl's Mt. Tam and Pierce Point, but the rind is lightly dusted in sweet and spicy dried red pepper flakes.
We're also bringing in three more new cheeses discovered at the recent Fancy Food Show : Fiorito, Tome des Bauges and Quattro Stagione.
Quattro Stagione is a rich Jersey cow's milk cheese made by local cheesemaker Soyoung Scanlan of Andante Dairy for Italian importer Fresca Italia. 
These smallish, bloomy rind rounds are covered with flowers or fruit, depending on the season. 
Then there's Fiorito in Foglie di Ciliege, a goat's milk cheese wrapped in cherry leaves from Basilicata, Italy. Cheesemaker Giovanni Samela uses pasteurized goat's milk only from his own and his brother's herd. The disks weigh about a pound and have a bloomy rind dusted with gray mold underneath their crispy leaf coat. They ripen for about 20 to 25 days before being shipped.
This is a lovely cheese with a silky and lush paste that looks like a million bucks!
Finally, there's Tome de Bauges, an AOC raw milk cow cheese from the Savoie. Slightly denser than its cousin Tomme Crayeuse, this fermier cheese has a slightly bitter finish and tons of flavor.
We've brought in tiny quantities of each of these cheeses, as we want to see what you think of them before we commit to them. Please let us know your reactions to these new finds.