THE CHEESE

Toma della Rocca

Pasteurized Cow, Sheep & Goat

From Caseificio Alta Langa in the Piedmont, Italy

In the town of Bosia between Corta and Cortemilia lies the Caseifico dell'Alta Langa. These folks create hand-crafted fresh cheeses that come from the tradition of the area. The milks they use to make their cheeses through traditional recipes come from certified farms and are carefully monitored upon entry to ensure they contain no antibiotics. This cheese is ripened for 8-10 days before they are packaged and shipped out. This cheese is made by the same producers of the Robiola Rochetta, and is also a blend of 3 milks, but that's about where the similarities end. Weighing in at 2#, this cheese has the richness of delice de bourgogne and a much higher moisture content. It has a beautiful herb-y attack with some green veggie notes (I got artichokes or sunchokes), followed by a fresh lemony acidity (think Leonora) from the goat's milk. The sheep component is a subtle, round note at the end and contributes to a long, satisfying finish.

THE WINE

Producer: Roberto Anselmi Prosecco

Grape: Prosecco

Region: Friuli, Italy

Prosecco is the name of the grape used for Italy's most known white sparkling wine generally found in the Veneto region. In this case, Roberto Anselmi chooses to grow and produce his Prosecco in the high elevation vineyards of Friuli. The cooler climate and Roberto's commitment to producing quality over quantity creates a leaner Prosecco with silver mineral notes, a present but less over-reaching floral nose, and an up-lifting, palate-cleansing, lemon citrus finish.

Prosecco is awfully abundant these days and similar to everything else popular in the world is losing its identity due to economic strain. Modern Prosecco producers want plants planted right on top of each other with limitless huge watery clusters of grapes to get as much "juice" per acre as possible.

Prosecco doesn't offer the complexity of Champagne, but it does have an identity. Roberto Anselmi respects that and produces 2000 cases in low grape yield vineyards and bottles on estate. That's a huge expenditure of time and money on his end to produce a bottle of wine that sells for such a low price point. It's a great example of what Pastoral is all about.

THE PAIRING

From Guest Monger Nick Lush

This is one of those pairings where you just have to read the cheese and wine involved to know it's probably gonna be good.  The Anselmi has some quiet honeydew melon goings-on in the nose and you can almost smell some of the sugars involved as well. The cheese smells a bit like a fresh, buttery croissant with some hints of citric notes and fresh clipped grass. Overwhelmingly, though, this cheese sets itself up to be a creamy, buttery, lactic gift to your mouth. Tasting them together doesn't disappoint, but they don't interact as much in flavor as I would have expected. The cheese surprisingly serves to highlight some of the more subtle mineral qualities in the wine. The rich, creamy textural quality of the cheese and the bubbles in the wine provide some really nice depth of structure to each other and it's almost like having some freshly made frosting, but the bubbles do their job efficiently and so this sensation is fleeting and leaves you craving another taste. This is a really elegant and classic pairing that should do much to provide a solid base for many a Chicagoan's New Year's party, so let's sell some!