Wine and Cheese 101

Did you know that you can make cheese out of human milk?

<Homer>Mmmmmm...human milk.</Homer>

Seattlest didn't know this litle tidbit of a fact until we had a night at a wine and cheese pairing class held by Pike Place Market's own Beecher Cheese. Our thinking was that if we took this class, we could learn a few manners and get invited to the more swanky food affairs that occur in this city.

The class was run by Beecher's founder, Kurt Dammeier, and one would think that this would be a perfect opportunity for him to pimp his store. Well, he did, but Seattlest didn't mind as we were enthralled by the slide show of the cheesemaking process featuring his cheese store, and the cheese tasting that featured his cheeses. What can we say? We're a sucker for people who are obsessive about great tasting food.

But it wasn't just his cheese that we tasted...for example we had a bit or two of Fiscallini 18 month cheese, a Rogue Oregon Blue and 13 other pieces of cheese.

And we drank...all in the name of tasting of course. But with three glasses of wine (a Sauvignon Blanc, a Viognier, and a Sangiovese)this tasting was less Frasier Crane and more happy hour with Karen Walker.
Good times, good times.

The one lesson we took out of there (aside from the human cheese bit of course)? Wine can improve the taste of cheese, and cheese can also improve the taste of wine. Okay, so that's two lessons we learned. When you also consider that wine can lessen the taste of cheese, and cheese can also lessen the taste of wine, that ends up being four lessons we learned. It must have been the wine...it messes with your math skills.

If your interested in taking the Beecher's wine and Cheese class, visit their website or call 206-956-1964. Cost runs at $45, and advanced registration is required.