Tour de Fromage: The race is on!
Nine cheeses will face off … but there can only be one winner! Follow the race and help us choose the champion: Stop by our deli between July 7 – July 31, sample the cheeses and text BIKE to 55955* to vote for your favorite. When you cast your vote you’ll receive a $5-off coupon for cheese and be entered for a chance to win a new bike!
Meet this year’s competitors:
Stage 1: (July 7-13)
Lagrein
• A tomme-style cheese from the northern Alto-Adige region of Italy.
• Made with pasteurized cow’s milk, aged for six weeks.
• Local Lagrein wine with added herbs, garlic, and pepper is used to soak the cheese for five days.
• The name Lagrein comes from the German term “wine cheese.”
• Pairs well with a Lagrein wine, from the same region.
Gruyère
• A classic Swiss style with a rich, tangy, nutty flavor.
• Made by Emmi, the largest importer of the finest specialty cheeses from Switzerland.
• Made with pure, farm-fresh, part-skim cow’s milk that is delivered twice a day.
• Aged a minimum of 12 months.
• Swiss cheeses can date back 800 years and many traditions are kept untouched.
• Crystals appear throughout the cheese, caused by aging. These are a sign of high quality cheese and are very desirable.
• Gruyère is a key ingredient for fondues, cheesy potatoes etc.
Manchego Young
• A raw, pasteurized, cheese from the region of La Mancha, Spain.
• Made from 100% sheep’s milk: A thick, aromatic milk from sheep grazing on shrubs and grasses of the Dehesa, a tree-studded meadow in Spain.
• Features a green, gray, or black cross hatch pattern on a natural, inedible rind.
• This is the most popular cheese in Spain and their #1 exported cheese.
• Firm and dry, yet rich and creamy.
• The flavor of the cheese is full but mild, with a nutty, tangy, sweet and slightly salty finish.
• It is usually aged 3 to 14 months.
Stage 2 (July 14-20)
Grafton 2 year
• A raw cow’s milk cheddar made by Grafton Village Cheese Co.
• Their cattle graze the Green Mountain State of Vermont.
• Their cheesemaking traditions date back from the nineteenth century, when dairy farmers gathered together in a cooperative to make their surplus milk into cheese.
• Tyrosine crystals reflect the 2-year aging process in this classic mature cheddar.
• Selected for its pronounced raw milk flavor and smooth finish.
Sartori MontAmore
• A pasteurized cow’s milk cheese, made in Wisconsin using traditional animal rennet.
• Sweet, creamy and fruity; finishes with a playful, tangy bite.
• Named for the gorgeous Dolomite mountains that tower with breathtaking beauty over Valdastico, Italy.
• Medal winner at the 2015 World Cheese Awards.
• Pairs well with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, light Italian red wines or various beers such as Porter, Bock or Pale Ales.
Marieke Plain Gouda
• A pasteurized cow’s milk farmstead cheese.
• Gouda style: smooth, nutty and slightly sweet.
• Aged on traditional Dutch pine planks.
• Uses the best quality of milk, piped fresh into the vats from the first milking.
• Milk becomes cheese within 5 hours of milking.
• Results in extra creamy milk that is velvety smooth, giving a melt-in-your-mouth texture and flavor.
• Marieke and Rolf Penterman immigrated to Thorp, Wisconsin, from the Netherlands in 2002 and bought a dairy farm. After obtaining a cheesemaking license, Marieke returned to Holland to learn in a traditional boerenkaas (Farmhouse Cheese Plant).
• In 2006, she made her first batch of Gouda and has been winning awards ever since!
Stage 3 (July 21-27)
Rembrandt
• 100% pasteurized cow’s milk cheese.
• Gouda-style cheese, made in Holland.
• Matured for 12 months minimum.
• Full-bodied, with a deep flavor reminiscent of butterscotch, nuts and caramel.
• The cheese is considered a “masterpiece” and named after the Netherland’s painter Rembrandt van Rijn.
• A perfect accompaniment to medium and full-bodied red wines.
• Bronze winner at the 2009 World Cheese Awards.
Chimay Bier
• A semi-soft cheese made from scalded cow’s milk.
• The rind is washed with the brewery’s famous Chimay beer .
• Features a nutty, well-finished flavor with just a hint of hops and malt.
• Just north of the French border lies Chimay, a town in the Belgian forest of Mont du Secours. In 1850, Trappist monks built a Cistercian Abbey there as a place to study, pray and work. In 1862, the monks added a dairy and a brewery to the Abbey to help generate funds for their livelihood, and started making cheese from the milk produced at the dairy.
• Today’s Chimay Bier is a variation of this original recipe.
Ermitage Brie
• Soft ripened cheese made from nutrient-rich cow’s milk.
• Made with pasteurized milk, without animal rennet – ideal for vegetarians.
• A double-crème Brie, widely recognized and revered for its creamy texture and subtly complex flavor.
• Milk makes the difference! The famous Vosges milk is processed into cheese according to traditional recipes and brings a distinctive flavor to this cheese.
• This “mountain Brie” is a natural for any cheese plate, on sandwiches or simply enjoyed with fresh fruit and bread.
• Pairs well with Champagne or sweet Sherry.
Come sample these cheeses in stores now and vote for your favorites!
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