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| Cheese tray for sampling |
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| Gi Claassen |
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| Jim Hart offers us some barrel tasting |
Curds and Wine at
Milagro Farms Vineyards and Winery
Cheesemaking
Demonstration and Wine Tasting
“The #1 rule of cheesemaking: don’t stop, keep going –
even if you think something is going wrong. It WILL make A cheese!” Gi Classen tells the group at Milagro Winery
to peals of laughter. Nervous laughter, to be more exact. Gi’s eyes sparkle as she
talks about the science of cheesemaking. Science was never so delicious as
today’s cheesemaking demonstration and wine pairing.
On a lovely spring day, Milagro Winery hosted an
afternoon in the vineyards with upstart business Curds and Wine. Milagro
winemaker Jim Hart led a tour of the 10-acre property, showing us the different
rows of many varietals that they grow before leading into a cool subterranean
cave, decorated with red and white checkerboard tablecloths and soft amber lighting
from the wall sconces.
Gisela Claassen- call her Gi, our cheese
matron/chef/hostess left a career in cancer research. To be more specific the
career left her after two research companies folded leaving her high and dry
and wondering what to do next in life. She
continued her passion with science, but in a completely different avenue—cheese
and wine. In November 2010 she opened Curds and Wine in San Diego and hasn’t
looked back.
Cheese goes with wine like laughter goes with friends. But
why does it go so well together? It’s all about tannins. Tannins are natural
organic compounds found in grape skins, seeds and stems. Winemakers use tannin
to give wines their distinctive flavors. Tannins are released either by
squeezing the grapes or crushing them, depending on the desired flavor. Wines
that improve with age will have plenty of tannins. The ageing process will
soften the taste and reduce any bitter aftertaste. Long story short, scientists
have found that high fat, high protein foods balance the taste of tannin. And
that is why cheese pairs so perfectly with wine.
Deciding what cheese goes with which wine is an ongoing,
ever-changing, highly subjective debate that can never be settled definitively.
That, of course, leads to hours of cheesemaking (and wine drinking) fun and
experimentation, which is what today’s event was all about.
Gi gave a brief science lesson on what happens to make
cheese.
Step 1- Starter culture:
Use either cultures or acids to make the chemical reaction needed to make
cheese.
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| Step 1 |
Step 2- Cutting: Add to
warm milk. This causes the protein to get charged, change shapes and fall away
from the water (whey), leaving the fats behind to become cheese (curds).
Step 3- Add rennet, a
milk-clotting enzyme, used to coagulate the milk, forming a custard-like mass.
Step 4- Stirring, heating
and draining. We cooked the curds to a desired temperature and firmness. The
whey is continually drained off, leaving a tightly formed curd.
Step 5- Seasoning: add a special cheese salt (kosher salt, not
iodine salt) for flavor, to control the moisture level and to make the bacteria
very happy.
Step 6- Molding and
pressing your cheeses. Here you get your characteristic shape of cheese and
completes the curd formation. This can typically take between three and 12
hours. Some cheeses are hung to drip dry, some are pressed, to force out whey.
Step 7- Aging or curing .
This process depends on the cheese you are making. Cheese is moved to a
refrigerator (or locker) that is temperature controlled to 50-55 degrees (wine
fridge makes a great cheese locker) and 80 percent humidity. It is imperative
to keep a clean environment so that the bacteria stabilizes and doesn’t grow.
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| Gi shows us the process |
“This is so easy to make its ridiculous,” Gi giggles, to more
nervous laughter from the crowd. “Today
we are making goat’s milk chevre and ricotta.”
We filled our plates with cheese samples while the
Milagro staff filled our wine glasses with Rosé of Sangiovese, for which
winemaker Jim Hart won double gold.
During the demonstrations we stop to pair a new wine with
a new cheese.
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2012 Sauvignon Blanc with plain and dill Chevre.
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2012 Rosé of Sangiovese with homemade Feta.
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2010 Barbera, working man’s wine, full-bodied, dark
and structured. Milagro won three gold medals on this wine. Paired with Ricotta
Salata (with paprika) and Mimolette.
There were many rumblings of “Dang that Barbera’s good. I need a few
bottles to go home with me” and “how long will it be until my ricotta is ready.”
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2009 Cabernet Sauvignon paired with Noord
Hollander, from the rich, green pastures of North Holland. Another perfect
pairing. Rich with black cherry and leather flavors, Jim’s Cabernet Sauvignon
is not to be missed. This wine deserves double gold, if it hasn’t already won
it.
After this fun afternoon, many participants with similar
interests formed new friendships, learned what curds and whey mean, and enjoyed
a variety of Milagro award-winning wines. My husband said, “We’re SOOO going to
do this.” We have already made our first visit to Curds and Wine.
Robin Dohrn-Simpson Freelance Writer www.robindohrnsimpson.com
