Sonoma County Dispatch

I recently returned from a wine-soaked week in Sonoma with my mom. It was my first visit to wine country, and I'm already starting to plot when I can conceivably get back there again this year. While there was a lot to love about Sonoma, here are a few of my favorite things from my journey through wine country.

1. Everything is local. Unlike other vacations when you return from a week of eating and drinking feeling like you need to detox, I came back from Sonoma feeling, well, pretty great. The access to local produce, meat and dairy products is plentiful and knowing that everything on your dinner plate came from within a 30 mile radius makes every dish cleaner, fresher and healthier.

Picnic lunch overlooking Lake Sonoma
with Longboard Zinfandel 

2. The people. It's clear that most everyone working in wine country is passionate about what they do and deeply committed to their craft. It's evident when you visit a tasting room, chat with a wine maker or talk to local shop owner.

3. The sunshine. One day our forecast was "abundant sunshine." As someone in the depths of a sun-deprived winter in Chicago, this forecast made me tear up a little.

4. Picnics are the preferred lunch option. Why go to a restaurant when you can sit at a lush winery amid rolling hills or on top of a mountain? One of my favorite meals of the trip is pictured at right. As we were in California, it was only necessary that we tasted some Humboldt Fog (one of the Drunken Goat's favorites...)

5. The vacation souvenirs. We naturally ended up buying a lot of wine on our journey. What's fun is that every time you open a bottle once you return, you get to relive a little piece of your vacation with every sip.

Cheers from the Drunken Goat!

Cheese Dispatch: Humboldt Fog

For avid readers of the Drunken Goat and for those that know me well, there's no question that cheese is one of my favorite things to eat. (Look no further than past blog posts such as Delice de Bourgogne Seduction and Why the Drunken Goat? for a brief taste of my cheese obsession.)

When asked what my last meal on earth would be, my answer is almost immediately a sprawling cheese plate with assorted cow, sheep, goat and buffalo milk cheeses and a crusty, chewy loaf of freshly-baked bread. And considering that it is my last meal on earth, there will most certainly be wine present, as well.

A mature piece of Humboldt Fog well into the aging process. Gorgeous
image from Tastings Gourmet Market.

One cheese that would undoubtedly make "the last meal on earth" cheese plate would be Humboldt Fog. Humboldt Fog is a mold-ripened goat cheese from Cypress Grove Chevre, a creamery located in Humboldt County, California.

It is a tangy and creamy chevre with a signature ash vine in the middle. The cheese's ashen features are known to mirror the fogginess of the northern California terrain of Humboldt County.

Depending on where the cheese is in the aging process (young, ripe or mature), Humboldt Fog takes on a unique flavor profile with increasing levels of complexity as the cheese ages. It pairs well with earthy flavors such as mushrooms, as well as sweeter accompaniments such as honey, pears and apples. It is a versatile cheese that can be served as an appetizer or as a decadent dessert course. As for wine and beer pairings, I like a bright Sancerre or an IPA.

One of the other things I love about Humboldt Fog is that Cypress Grove Chevre is a wonderful entrepreneurial story that took shape long before artisanal goat cheese became mainstream. The video offers an interesting and beautiful look at the creamery's early beginnings:

The Drunken Goat will feature this blogger's favorite cheeses as part of a recurring Cheese Dispatch series.  Have any cheeses or pairings you'd like to see featured on the Drunken Goat? Leave me a comment and let me know.