June Wine & Cheese Pairing  

Cada Dia Raw Double Cream Feta and Agate Ridge 2012 Pinot Gris

Blind date blossoms into summer romance!

Josh says:

 Like many of Oregon’s artisan cheese producers, Cada Dia Cheese is a small family-owned operation that uses the best practices to create high quality farmstead cheese; but, there is something special about Cada Dia, it’s the cheese!

Proud owners Pat and Cher Sullivan make unique and incomparable cheeses outside of Prineville where their herd grazes, the cows are milked, and the cheeses are made and aged all right on their farm. The quality control starts in the pastures, where their twenty cows enjoy sixty acres of natural Central Oregon grassland. The herd is milked once a day and only during the season from April to November, following the cows’ natural yearly cycle. Making cheese seasonally ensures milk from only grass-fed cows that is high in Omega-3 fatty acids and beta-carotene. The warm raw milk is taken immediately to the kettles without being cooled so the cheese-making process can begin and the nutrients and flavor are retained. The finished cheeses are aged to intensify and develop wonderful flavor and are delivered by courier to restaurants, farmers’ markets, and cheese shops across the state.

The Kiva proudly sells Cada Dia Cheese raw aged cheddar with chives and raw double-cream feta, both of which are true treasures of Oregon’s growing artisanal cheese industry. The richness and quality of these cheeses is evident at first glance when the gold-cream color stands out enticingly. The Cada Dia herd consists of only Jersey cows, whose milk is higher in fat and protein content than that of other breeds and is recognizable by its glorious hue.

And then you taste it! For instance, take a bite of the raw double-cream feta and you experience a cheese that is firm to the tooth but crumbles in your mouth letting loose a deluge of flavors as it dissolves. This unique textural experience makes you feel you are tasting each individual precious curd as it sings away in your mouth. The flavor is bold and concentrated, yet clean--close your eyes and picture yourself in the fresh pastures, running your fingers through the blades of grass. Finally the lingering richness of the added cream reminds you that life can really be this good!

 Josh adds that "the wine beautifully balances the sharp salty bite of the feta.

Ziggy says:

Josh gave me a taste of the amazing Cada Dia feta, and, while I was blown away by the flavor of the cheese, it posed quite a challenge for a pairing.

Cada Dia Feta isn't something to toss into a Greek salad (though I'm sure there are great salad applications!).  It's crazy rich--buttery; crumbly, yet more soft than dry; bursting with complicated flavors that deserve the spotlight.  My first impression was of its saltiness, and of tang with some sweetness to it.  It opens up like a movie for the palate, traveling smoothly from flavor to flavor.  As the "flavor scenery" rolled past I jotted down savory, acidic, buttery, herbal, animal--ending with a burst of umami that made me want another taste right away.

I started searching my memory for some assertive yet gentle Italian wine--I was thinking robust red, and I still think the right kind of elegant, not-too-fruity red (including some good Oregon Pinot Noirs) might also pair equally well with this special cheese.

But serendipity happened!

Ashley, our representative from Agate Ridge Vineyards, came in just minutes after my first taste of feta to show me some samples of their current line and some new vintages.  Agate Ridge, located in Eagle Point, Oregon (north of Medford) offers a variety of lovely wines, from a big lush Primitivo to a rich but reserved Roussane.  Southern Oregon wines are typically riper and more robust than their chillier Willamette Valley cousins, and Agate Ridge wines are no exception; but their core minerality (bequeathed to the grapes by the agate-rich soil of the vineyard) and adept vinification keep them from being California wanna-be's.

One of the wines in Ashley's bag was the recently-released 2012 Pinot Gris, and it struck me as soon as I tasted it that it might make beautiful music with Cada Dia Feta, so I set up a blind date between the cheese and the wine.

The Agate Ridge 2012 Pinot Gris has a lovely nose with a coppery note and scents of herbal smoke, wet stone, and resin.  Its bright, almost brash acid is balanced by a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with nice viscosity.  We tasted lemon zest, a hint of bitter herbs, tropical fruits, all underscored with an authoritative edge of minerality.

The flavors are very ripe and surprisingly European in character, more forward than some of the delicate Pinot Gris' from the Willamette Valley.  That its alcohol content of 14.1% was a surprise speaks to its smoothness and grace, and I also thought I detected a hint of saline--not necessarily salt, but a mineral note reminiscent of salt--which made it an especially apt companion for the feta.

Together--the acidic quality of the cheese and wine complement each other: wine cleanses the palate and keeps the cheese from cloying so that each bite is a fresh experience.  The minerality of the wine complements the saltiness of the cheese. This effect worked both ways, the melting earthy flavors of the cheese making the vibrant ripe fruit of the wine a new experience with each sip.   This was a great pairing--the flavors of the wine and cheese worked to bring out the best in each other.


 

Thinking Globally, Farming Locally

Cattail Creek Lamb Returns to Our Meat Section

The Kiva's meat selection focuses on local, naturally-raised products.  Our knowledgeable buyers Emma and Will deal directly with the farmers and ranchers who raise the animals rather than a central distributor, so their relationship with the food we sell is up-close and personal.

Local lamb producer Cattail Creek was one of the first suppliers the Kiva added when we first started carrying meat.  The mild flavor and tender texture made it an immediate hit with both families and restaurants in the area.  

After a hiatus of one and a half years, Cattail Creek Lamb is back on our shelves this month, and maybe better than ever. 

John Neumeister, Cattail Creek’s founder, has been a familiar face at the Kiva for a long time.  He was glad to answer all my questions when I called him last week, and had a lot of interesting things to say about food and how it’s produced.  John’s agricultural resumé is impressive: he grew up on a mixed sheep and cattle farm in Ohio; he has been raising lamb for thirty years since moving to Oregon; and has been involved in organic farming since the 1970’s.  He has degrees in animal and crop sciences from Oregon State University.  He co-authored the Certified Organic Standards for livestock which were adopted by Oregon Tilth and the National Organic Standards.  

Now in partnership with Farmland LP, a U.S. private equity fund whose mission is to acquire farmland and convert it to organic production, John is primarily in charge of marketing, while partners Craig Wichner and Jason Bradford oversee most of the operations, and the farms are managed by shepherd Mac Stewart--an all-star team whose qualifications are as formidable as Mr. Neumeister’s. 

I was impressed to find that Cattail Creek is more than a business enterprise--it’s a vision of community-supported, sustainable agriculture.  “We’re not looking for loopholes just to sell a more expensive product,” John told me.

It’s very literally a grassroots effort.  In John’s opinion, Cattail Creek has the strongest raising claim of any of the larger lamb-producing farms in the valley (most of which pasture their lambs on seed-producing or after-harvest fields that have been treated with chemicals), with 800 of its 900 acres--comprised of three properties between Corvallis and Philomath--certified organic, and the remainder transitional.

Sheep are designed by nature to be grazers, and better pasture produces better meat, so the conversion of commercial farmland to high-quality organic pasture is an important step.  Cattail Creek’s system encourages a wide variety of plant species in their pastures, such as cold-tolerant and drought-resistant grasses, legumes (which fix nitrogen in the soil), plantains, and chicory.  The land is never treated with chemicals, and rock powders are used as fertilizers.  The sheep make their contribution too, in the form of manure which cycles nutrients back into the soil.

Starting from the ground up, Cattail Creek is dedicated to humane care and handling of its animals.  They use no synthetic crop treatment and no GMO crops; lambs are 100% grass fed and free of antibiotics or hormones.

Although it’s a new enterprise, their breeding program assures that not only the lambs but their mothers as well eat a chemical- and GMO-free, 100% vegetarian diet, and are also free of hormones and antibiotics (animals which become sick and require treatment with antibiotics are removed from the program).  It’s their intention to find breeds of sheep which thrive best under local conditions and raise them through generations rather than buying lambs from brokers.

The advantage to consumers is obvious--the 100% grass-fed meat tastes better than the “muttony” lamb from a feedlot operation, but the benefits go beyond flavor.  Cattail Creek is diversifying their operations toward a goal of integrated holistic farming.  In addition to developing markets to utilize the byproducts of lamb production, they’ve incorporated a new poultry-raising project and added vegetable crops.  Some land is also leased to a hog farmer.  John hopes that Farmland LP may be a vision of the future of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), where instead of having a farm subscription, the participants would be involved in a cooperative effort to acquire the land on which their food is grown. 

The Kiva is currently carrying Cattail Creek’s ground lamb, stew and kabob meat, lamb chops, and shoulder steak.  Sausage is expected to be available in November.

Cattail Creek’s meat is processed and packed by Century Oak Packing Co., a local company owned by Lonely Lane Farms. http://centuryoakpacking.com/html/contact_us.html

We’re lucky to live in an area with an abundance of sustainable agriculture, offering readily-available organic produce, meat, eggs, and dairy products.  It’s a luxury to be able to buy fresh, healthy food just one or two stops from the farm.  Welcome back, Cattail Creek!

For more information on Cattail Creek and Farmland LP, visit http://www.farmlandlp.com/