Cheese Tasting Notes

Époisses de Bourgogne is a cheese made in the village Époisses, which is in the département of Côte-d'Or in France. It is located around halfway between Dijon and Auxerre. In 1991 it became a protected cheese, meaning that it can only be made in Époisses in order to carry its name, similar to Champagne or a Cornish pastie. This also means that it has to be made a certain way. * The milk's coagulation must be performed by lactic acid and continue for 16 hours. * The curd must be cut roughly as opposed to being broken. * After drainage, only dry salt may be used.
Commonly referred to as Époisses, it is a pungent unpasteurised cows-milk cheese. Smear-ripened (washed in marc de Bourgogne, the local pomace brandy), with a distinctive soft red-orange colour. It is usually served on a spoon due to its extremely soft texture.
Basajo Blue. Made with raw sheep's milk from Italy's Veneto region, Basajo (ba-SAH-yo) is a new creation. But it emerges from a long tradition of aging wheels in grape must. Pasteurised cheese.
At the end of World War I, when the battle was raging in the Veneto, locals faced dire food shortages. Not only did they struggle to feed themselves, but they were expected to provide for the soldiers, too. Some ingenious farmer in the province of Treviso, hoping to hide a few cheeses, thought to bury the wheels in barrels of fermenting grape must. The wheels not only escaped discovery; they got even better.
For Basajo, the 2-kilo (roughly 4 1/2-pound) wheels spend about three weeks bathing in Passito di Pantelleria, a sweet wine from Sicily, which infuses the interior with a honeyed aroma. A few wine-plumped golden raisins cling to the outside of the wheel. Basajo offers a seductive, velvety texture and mellow fruitiness, without the saltiness and peppery bite that turn many people away from blues.
Cossett Bassett