Fromagerie Sophie – Wine & Cheese Pairing

Our good friend, Lisa recently launched her new label, P.S. Cellars and she decided to step up her tasting room experience by adding a cheese pairing. Of course, the pairings had to be just right so she asked us to join her for the rough job of choosing the pairings. Unfortunately, Matt couldn’t make it, so Lisa and I (Annie) headed down to Fromagerie Sophie in SLO to get our cheese on. It’s like It was rough, but somebody had to do it!

When we arrived, Sophie had prepared a beautiful platter of cheeses for each of the five wines that Lisa brought. We literally sat out on the patio and sipped the wine and tasted bits of cheese until we found the best complimenting pair. It was amazing…sort of dream-like even. The cheese just kept coming! It was amazing.

Not only did I overindulge in cheese (yes, it’s actually possible) I learned some things, too. Not all cheese goes with all wine. Some cheeses make the wine go flat, some make it too floral or too earthy. It’s similar to wine itself, the beauty is in the taste of the beholder. Lisa had ideas about what she wanted the wines to express when paired with the cheese. Some of the cheeses brought out the characteristics she wanted, and some didn’t. It was a very interesting process. I think we ended up with some really great combinations that showcase the wines, as well as the cheeses.

If you want an amazing cheese experience, stop in to Fromagerie Sophie and taste some of the goods. There are some absolutely amazing cheeses from all over the world. After this experience, I have to say that I never realized I have a palate for cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE cheese and always have, but I tend to lean more towards the soft, creamy, funky cheeses as opposed to the hard, salty cheeses. I’m definitely going to take this knowledge to the next level and challenge myself to expand not only my wine palate, but my cheese palate as well. After all, life is short…eat more cheese!!!