Swiss and Cheddar in March

No, it's not our response to the economy. The dead of winter is a great time to investigate the alpine cheese tradition and it's a fine time to delve into the wonderful world of cheddar.

Sunday March 8 at 1:30 at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd (120-121st. St.)
The Joy of Cheese Presents the 8 Best Swiss Cheeses in New York City.
No, I don't mean Finlandia v. real Swiss Emmenthal or Jarlsberg v. Leerdammer, we're talking Hand-Crafted cheese! We will have the best Emmenthal on the planet and a fab Gruyere but there will also be two or three rare firm cheeses from Switzerland as well as several soft gooey ones (but no Vacherin, sorry). Of course, there will be mystery cheeses, fruit, dark chocolate, program notes, and wine recommendations from the fantastic team at Nectar Wine Bar. Tickets are $25 (you pay for your wine as you go) and available either at the door or more safely via Brown Paper Tickets
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/54883

Tuesday March 10 & Wednesday March 18 at 7pm at 10 Degrees, 121 St. Mark's Place (1st Avenue and Avenue A)
The Joy of Cheese Presents Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Cheddar But Were Afraid to Ask
We'll have Old World Cheddar, New World Cheddar, and everything in between. They've been making cheddar for nearly a millennium now and there are more offshoots and flavors from this cheese than you might imagine. You'll never take it for granted again. We'll sample six or seven absolutely off-the-hook wonderful cheddars as well as six or seven potent variations on cheddar.
The optimal pairing is whiskey, but we understand if you have to go to work the next day. The 10 Degrees bar is well stocked with red wines, beers and other fine alternatives. As always there will be mystery cheeses, fruit and dark chocolate.
Tickets are $40 ($35 via Brown Paper Tickets) and you pay for your drinks as you go.
The Brown Paper Tickets direct link is http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/56938

Contact me at thejoyofcheese at gmail.

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese January Events

We're going to start the year with a bang--four events in three venues. Let's get right to the point.

Thursday January 8 at 6:30 at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
The 8 Best Cheeses in New York City
Let's get back to basics with a tasting of the eight best hand crafted cheeses available in New York. No, I'm not saying exactly what we'll have, but expect names like Beeler, Mons, Cravero and Guffanti to be in the house. Oh, okay, I'll divulge this much, the Roquefort alone will be worth the price of admission. Tickets are $25; there will be dark chocolate, fruit and at least one mystery cheese (which may be ninth and/or tenth best cheese in Gotham), you pay for your drinks as you go. For reservations contact me at thejoyofcheese@gmail.com or pay in advance at
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/50650

Tuesday January 13 at 7 at The 92nd St. Y, 92nd and Lexington Ave
A Wine and Cheese pairing class.
I will co-lead a class with noted wine expert Meg Staloff featuring six phenomenal wines and six remarkable cheeses to match. It's a class whose theme will be revisited on April 1 and 29.
Tickets are $50 and available on the Y's website,
http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T-LP5FW35

Wednesday January 14 and Tuesday January 27 at 7 at 10 Degrees, 121 St. Mark's Place
Blue Blue Blue!!!
Our third annual survey of six (maybe seven) of the finest blue cheeses in the world balanced by six (again, maybe seven) non blues that will match the sweet whites and ports that are recommended with these superb cheeses. The tasting will take place in the newly redecorated salon room at 10 Degrees.
Tickets are $40, $35 in advance via Brown Paper Tickets
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/50658

I'm happy to answer any and all questions during the tastings and in advance at thejoyofcheese@ gmail.com

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese Presents the October Tasting Schedule

Big Cheeses for Big Wines
October 14 and 21 at 7ish at 10 Degrees, 121 St. Mark's Place

It's hard to pair cheeses with the big red wines that become all the rage during autumn and winter. Some cheeses conflict with the deep flavors of the wine; others are simply overwhelmed by the wine. October 14 and 21 (yep, just two Tuesdays), we will taste and discuss twelve or so cheeses that are distinctive enough to pair well with rich red wines. Expect great cheese from Portugal, Sardinia and of course, Georgia (yeah, the state). As always there will be mystery cheeses, fruit and dark chocolate.
Tickets are $40 at the door and there is a 10% discount via www.brownpapertickets.com after October 2.

When in Rome...
October 19th at 1:30 and October 22nd at 6:30 at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
We will survey 12 or so of the very best Italian cheeses. Expect cheese from some of the finest Italian producers and affineurs such as Madaio, Guffanti, Cravero, and Cora. We will present ten of the cheeses in five pairs and each pair will be accompanied by a sample size of a wine from the superb Nectar Wine Bar collection and a description from Nectar manager Beth Baye.
Tickets are $50 and available either at the door or via www.brownpapertickets.com after October 2nd.

Feel free to hit me with questions at thejoyofcheese AT gmail

-Martin

The July tastings

There are two sets of Joy of Cheese tastings in July.
The first is Sunday afternoon July 20 at Nectar Wine Bar, 2235 Frederick Douglass Blvd. nectar is a fabulous new wine bar opened last month by the folks who made Harlem Vintage into one of Manhattan's leading wine boutiques. The Joy of Cheese is in charge of the cheese program there, and I'll be conducting a survey tasting on the new world portion of the menu, Constant Bliss, Kunik, Bayley Hazen Blue, Pleasant Ridge Reserve and the Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. We will introduce five cheeses that represent the next step beyond these superb cheeses and of course there will be two mystery cheeses and dark chocolate at the finish.
In addition, there the cheeses will be paired with a flight of wines from the Nectar wine list.
Tickets are $50 and available via www.brownpapertickets.com

Then July 29, 31 and August 5 we return to our downtown homebase, 10 Degrees, 121 St. Mark's Place, to conduct Classic French Cheese vs. Le Nouveau Fromage, a tasting that will contrast what the French think of as basic cheeses (their Kraft) with what new and exciting cheeses from the leading French affineurs.
Tickets for this event are $40 at the door, $35 via www.brownpapertickets.com

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese Presents Taking Sides vol. 1, a comparative tasting

The Joy of Cheese Presents Goat v. Sheep

For nearly two years, The Joy of Cheese has engaged in survey courses of cheese from different regions and different styles of cheese making. Now, we’re going a tad deeper. .

In the debut of a six month series of comparisons and contrasts called Taking Sides (which isn’t entirely accurate, you can choose to like both), we will investigate pairs of similarly made cheeses from the same region with one key difference. One cheese in each pairing will be made of sheep’s milk and the other will be of goat’s milk. In this manner, I hope we can begin to gain a sense of the flavor properties that each region exerts on a cheese.

For instance we will feature a firm goat and a firm sheep from the French Pyrenees. We will also have leaf-wrapped fresh goat and sheep cheeses from Tuscany. There will be two blues from Devon England, two fresh cheeses from nearby, and so on and so forth.

There will be dark chocolate (only one), fruit and two mystery cheeses (which will not be compared against one another). I am happy to answer questions about these cheeses and about cheese in general.

The tastings are Tuesdays April 22^nd and 29^th as well as Thursday April 24^th

As always the tastings run from just after 7 until around 8:30 at 10 Degrees, the wonderful wine and high end spirits bar at 121 St. Marks Place in the East Village. Admission to the tasting is $30 and you pay for your drinks as you go (but it’s 2-4-1 Happy Hour till 8).

Reservations are a must. Contact me at thejoyofcheese@yahoo.com

The Joy of Cheese blog is up at http://thejoyofcheese.blogspot.com

Next tastings: May 13^th 15^th and 20^th Taking Sides part two, the cheeses of the East Coast versus those from the West Coast..

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese Presents The Local

The Joy of Cheese Presents The Local

The epicenters of great American cheesemaking are Vermont, northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Wisconsin. But this region is no slouch either and we’re going to prove it.

There are great washed rind cheeses being made in Connecticut, outstanding sheep cheese is made both in Hudson Valley and in Southern New Jersey and there is even great hand crafted cheese made in five boroughs. Those cheeses comprise the focus of our next tasting, The Local. We’ll introduce and discuss 12-14 cheeses made in either New York Connecticut or New Jersey.

There will be dark chocolate, fruit and two mystery cheeses. I am happy to answer questions about these cheeses and about cheese in general.

The tastings are Tuesdays March 25^th and April 1^st as well as Thursday March 27^th

As always the tastings run from just after 7 until around 8:30 at 10 Degrees, the wonderful wine and high end spirits bar at 121 St. Marks Place in the East Village. Admission to the tasting is $30 and you pay for your drinks as you go (but it’s 2-4-1 Happy Hour till 8).

Reservations are a must. Contact me at thejoyofcheese@yahoo.com

The Joy of Cheese blog is up at http://thejoyofcheese.blogspot.com

Next tastings: April 22, 24 and 29: Taking Sides: Goat versus Sheep, a series of side-by-side contrasts of goat and sheep cheeses from similar regions.

-MJ

The Winter season at 10 Degrees

Our winter events at 10 Degrees begins with It's Better to be Blue, a survey of excellent blue cheeses, January 22nd, 24th and 29th. See the preceeding post for more information.

The series continues, February 26, 28 and March 4 with Pasteur's Delight, a tasting focused on the very best cheeses NOT made from raw milk and a discussion of the Pasteurization laws.

Winter ends with The Local: the cheeses of NY, NJ, and Connecticut, March 25, 27, and April 1.

Details soon.

-MJ

The Joy of Cheese Presents It's Better to be Blue

The Joy of Cheese Presents It’s Better to be Blue

Blue cheeses are thought to be one thing: strong. Yet there are many different levels and degrees of strength and pepperiness (yes that’s a word I just made up) as well as a broad array of overtones to be enjoyed from blue cheeses.

In our second annual survey of blues, It’s Better to be Blue, the Joy of Cheese will explore many different blues, balanced by other cheeses that pair well with ports and sweet white wines. We’ll investigate at least 12 and probably more cheeses and I promise, your palette won’t be exhausted by 9:00.

There will be dark chocolate, fruit and two mystery cheeses. I am happy to answer questions about these cheeses and about cheese in general.

The tastings are Tuesdays January 22^nd and 29^th as well as Thursday January 24^th

As always the tastings run from just after 7 until around 8:30 at 10 Degrees, the wonderful wine and high end spirits bar at 121 St. Marks Place in the East Village. Admission to the tasting is $30 and you pay for your drinks as you go (but it’s 2-4-1 Happy Hour till 8).

Reservations are a must. Contact me at thejoyofcheese@yahoo.com

The Joy of Cheese blog is up at http://thejoyofcheese.blogspot.com

Next tastings: February 26, 28 and March 4: the Pasteur’s Delight, a tasting of cheeses that are NOT made from raw milk

-MJ

So what's next

Well, nothing for a few weeks while we let the holidays blow over.

It doesn't mean we're idle, however. I'll be busy setting up the menu and cheese program for a new wine bar owned by the folks who created Harlem Vintage. Our debut tasting will be in early January.

Meanwhile the next Joy of Cheese event at 10 Degrees in the East Village will be in late January. We'll do our second annual survey called Ports and Blues and Other News.

-MJ