PARMESAN REGGIANO WHEEL CUTTING CEREMONY THURSDAY, August 31st 6:00PM - COME OUT AND TASTE WHAT A 100 POUND WHEEL OF CHEESE TASTES LIKE RIGHT AFTER IT IS OPENED
"I was in love with a beautiful blonde once. She drove me to drink; that's the one thing I'm indebted to her for." W. C. Fields in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
If you can’t make it to one or our tastings the wine bar is still only open for private events but any night we are here we will take one reservation for the private dining experience in the wine cave. This week we have Thursday and Friday nights available in the Wine Cave!
We have a minimum of 6 people to reserve the table in the Cave but we will take up to 16 people for a curated dinner by Chef Toni. We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!! You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave.
I have been touting the quality of a freshly opened wheel of Parmesan Reggiano ever since we opened the wine bar when we cracked the first wheel open. The experience is unlike any other with this cheese as soon as you open the wheel the cheese starts to oxidize and harden so the freshly opened wheel is so buttery and creamy it is unlike any Parmesan you have ever tasted.
We will be offering freshly cut 24-month aged Parmesan Reggiano for $25 per pound this evening and you know that the wheel was just cut today! If you make it to the tasting, you also get to sample the goods before you buy! Of course, we will be offering six wines to compliment the cheese and we will be serving a special menu prepared with the freshly cut cheese as well.
There are only 26 spaces available for this event and the fee for this tasting is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.
You can place an order on-line or over the phone and have your cheese delivered locally with your wine order, but we will only be delivering to the tri county area on the days we are out delivering wine.
24 Month Aged Parmesan Reggiano Wheel Cutting Cheese Sale
Thursday, August 31st
6:00pm
1lb 24 Month Aged Parmesan Reggiano
Price: $25.00
Of course, we will be serving a few wines to accompany the cheese!
2019 BLEDSOE FAMILY WINERY JOI WHITE WINE
Price: $38.00 Sale Price: $19.00 Quantity in Stock: 47
Pineapple, guava, honeydew, and more tropical notes will brighten any day aromatically. This wine has tremendous energy, ripping acidity, and a cool creaminess that brings depth and balance.
2017 SHADOWBOX CELLARS SEMILLON NAPA
List Price: $51.00 Your Price: $44.88 Quantity in Stock: 43
The newest thing from this small boutique producer from Napa is this 2017 Semillon. The most important thing about making a fine wine is finding the right fruit to make the best juice and when our friends at Shadowbox were offered fruit from one of the oldest Semillon vineyards in Napa, they jumped at the chance to make a unique white from one of the top Bordeaux varietals. Although you see this varietal in many blends it is rare to see a single varietal made from Semillon and this 2017 is the first attempt at this varietal and it made our list of top wines in 2022!
WINE WATCH REVIEW: A beautiful bouquet of tree fruits quince, apricot, pear and red apple with white flowers, coconut and wet stone like minerality and hints of honey on the nose. A viscous wine on the tongue with layers of fruit, a distinct minerality and a long layered finish echoing the nuance from the nose through the long layered finish. Finish 50+ TASTING DATE 9/2/22. Most Excellent
2020 JULES TAYLOR PINOT NOIR MARLBOROUGH
Price: $24.00 Your Price: $21.12 Quantity in Stock: 101
This Pinot Noir is very generous on the nose, showing vibrant aromas of dark cherry, raspberry and plum combined with spicy oak notes. It has an impressive concentration of flavor and a nice acid backbone. The finish is dry with a nice touch of dark chocolate and subtle French oak coming through.
2007 CASTELLO ROMITORIO RISERVA BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO
Price: $150.00 Your Price: $132.00 Quantity in Stock: 54
(93+ Points) ~~The estate’s 2007 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is striking. Dark plums, cherries, mocha, licorice, cloves and sweet French oak notes blossom in the glass. Rich, voluptuous and beautifully balanced, the 2007 impresses for its layered personality, volume and depth. In 2007, the Riserva is all about harmony. Ideally, the wine is best cellared for another year or two, and it should have no problem aging nicely for at least a handful of years after that. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2022. ~~eRobertParker.com #207, Jun 2013
1997 TERRENO CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA
Price: $59.75 Your Price: $52.58 Quantity in Stock: 36
A blend of 90% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Canaiolo, made by the same consulting enologist that works with Fontodi and Felsina, Franco Bernabei. This wine is fully mature with notes of red cherry fruit, dried tobacco spice and fresh earth, truffle mushroom like notes with dried meat and herbs, nice complexity and development on the nose. Smooth as silk on the tongue with light red berry fruit and silky smooth tannins this is a real crowd pleaser with fully resolve3d tannins and wonderful freshness and balanced acidity. Still Drinking Beautifully! Finish 35+ Excellent
2012 THE MEGA MALBEC COMPANY ARTIST SERIES BLEND BY PURO UNO MENDOZA
Price: $100.00 Your Price: $88.00 Quantity in Stock: 311
Dark black and black plum fruit here on the nose with notes of black olive tapenade, dried herbs and violet floral notes, nice evolution and complexity here on the nose. A very balanced wine on the tongue, big and chewy with lots of ripe plum and cherry fruit with sweet herbs and an array of that spice and nuance from the nose coming through on the finish, lovely freshness and balance, this wine is drinking beautifully but will still last for a decade or more in your cellar. Finish 50+ Most Excellent
2019 CHARLES KRUG CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA
Price: $37.25 Sale Price: $32.78 Quantity in Stock: 102
Sourced principally from the five family estates in Yountville, the 2019 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon displays cranberry and briary aromas with hints of brown butter and clove. This medium-to-full-bodied wine showcases a rich mix of cranberry and black currant flavors set against a beautifully integrated backdrop of lightly toasted oak, all leading to a smooth lingering finish of berries and butter.
Wine Watch Review: This wine has a forward and seductive bouquet of dark coco, black currant and hints of toasty oak spice, sweet tobacco spice and more. A balanced wine with lots of ripe berry fruit with cigar box spice, brambly notes, clove spice, lovely complexity, and good length on the finish. Finish 40+ Excellent +
Menu
Prosciutto De Parma
Fresh Cut 24 Month Parmesan Reggiano
Parmesan Flan
Tagliolini Carbonara
Tiramisu
This is a seated tasting and is limited to 26 tasters and the fee for this event is $95 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com
A bit about Parmigiano Reggiano
Parmigiano Reggiano is produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna to the left of the Reno river, and Mantua to the right of the Po river: this is the area hosting the farms where the cattle are fed on locally grown forage. The feeding of cattle complies with the norms of a strict specification that bans the use of silage, fermented feeds and animal flour.
The milk from the morning and the previous evening is poured into the traditional upturned bell-shaped copper vats. It takes about 550 litres of milk to produce each wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano. The milk slowly and naturally coagulates with the addition of rennet and a whey starter, rich in starter cultures, from the previous day’s processing.
The curd which forms is then broken down by the master cheese-maker into minuscule granules using a traditional tool called “spino”.
This is where fire comes into the picture, in a cooking process which reaches 55 degrees centigrade, after which the cheesy granules sink to the bottom of the cauldron forming a single mass.
After about fifty minutes the cheese-maker removes the cheese mass which will give rise to two twin wheels.
Cut into two parts and wrapped in the typical linen cloth, the cheese is then placed in a mould which will give it its final shape.
A casein plate with a unique and sequential alphanumeric code is applied to each wheel: it is its identity card which makes it possible to trace its entire production back to its origins, anytime and anywhere.
After a few hours, a special marking band engraves the month and year of production onto the cheese, as well as its cheese factory registration number and the unmistakable dotted inscriptions around the complete circumference of the cheese wheel.
After a few days, the wheels are immersed in a saturated solution of water and salt: it is a process of salting by osmosis. This last passage closes the production cycle of Parmigiano Reggiano and starts its maturation period.
The story of Parmigiano-Reggiano is a long one, and also a slow one, following the natural rhythm of the seasons.
In fact, the minimum maturation time is 12 months, the longest among all the PDO cheeses, and only at this point can it be decided if each individual wheel is worthy of the name it was given at its birth, and therefore continue the maturation up to 24, 36, 40 months and more.
After 12 months, the Consortium experts carry out a test called “quality inspection” on all the wheels: each wheel is tapped with a hammer and the trained ear of the quality inspector recognises any defects inside the cheese that may compromise quality.
The conforming wheels are marked with the hot-iron brand thus becoming Parmigiano Reggiano. All identifying marks and signs are removed from any wheels which do not meet the PDO requirements.
The quality control identifies three cheese categories:
“first-grade” Parmigiano Reggiano: the cheese that fully complies with the production specifications. It is marked with the hot-iron brand.
“medium-grade” Parmigiano Reggiano: the cheese that shows minor or moderate defects in the structure of its paste and/or on the rind, yet that do not alter the typical organoleptic characteristics of the product. These wheels are marked with the hot-iron brand, but they can be recognised through the parallel grooves engraved all around the cheese rind.
“de-rinded” cheese: the cheese that shows major defects is downgraded by eliminating the marks of origin through the removal of the rind (a few millimetres). Therefore, this cheese cannot be called Parmigiano Reggiano and refer to the PDO in any way.
Starting from the 18th month of maturation, dairies may request the Consortium to affix an additional mark on first-grade Parmigiano Reggiano:
PREMIUM or EXPORT mark: it gives trading companies and consumers a further indication of the quality of Parmigiano Reggiano.
These marks can be affixed also on the packaging of the cheese selected in this way.
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