In honor of Independence Day being this week, we've paired an American wine with an American cheese in a patriotic pairing!

The Cheese

Classico

Producer: Tumalo Farms
Region: Bend, Oregon
Milk: Pasteurized Goat Milk
Type: Cooked, pressed
Affinage: approx. 6 months

Tumalo Farms is the baby of cheesemaker Flavio DeCastilhos. Flavio is a relative newcomer to the cheese world, having spent 20 years in Silicon Valley. He tells the story of a family vacation to Brazil's wine country, which served as inspiration for Tumalo Farms. While in Brazil he became enthralled with the local cheese scene---a scene that was based on the region's Italian ancestry. After years of studying cheesemaking in Europe, the Midwest and the Northwest, Tumalo Farms was founded in 2004. All of Tumalo's cheeses are Dutch and Italian in inspiration, while showcasing the unique landscape of central Oregon.

Classico is their flagship cheese. It's a farmstead, pasteurized goat milk cheese with notes of roasted hazelnuts and citrus. There's a pleasant sweetness that lingers on the palate.

The Wine

2011 Rosé

Producer: Charles and Charles
Bottle: 2011 Rose
Region: Columbia Valley, WA
Grape: 100% Syrah

All the acid driven freshness of our beloved rosé of Pinot Noir from Elk cove, but showing more dense, ripe fruit. This rosé truly mirrors the cherry, blueberry and plum currently at the stands of the Farmer's Markets. Hmmm....Elk Cove in the delicate early spring season, Lavernette rosé of Gamay and Charles and Charles in the height of summer's fruity bounty....perhaps a beautiful lean crisp and pale rosé from the Languedoc for September and October? More to come on this.....

Let's say hello to one half of our "Height of Summer Rose" program: "C and C" (no affiliation to the Music Factory). Charles Smith and Charles Bieler are two wine renegades of sorts. Smith put quality inexpensive Washington wines on the map with such recognizable bottling as "Kung Fu Girl" Riesling and "Chateau Smith". Always hip, Smith's labels buck tradition and favor a more contemporary approach to how we look at wine: stop talking about it and drink it. Bieler lives in Harlem. After learning the craft of rosé in France, Bieler took his mastery to the states. He now produces a Mezcal you may be familiar with (Sombra) in partnership with another wine hipster, Richard Betts. The two have teamed up to produce this rose.

Happy Pairing!