Parmesan Wheel Cutting Ceremony

"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 28 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
Wednesday, July 24th 
6:00pm

1lb 24 Month Aged Parmesan Reggiano
Price: $25.00

Of course, we will be serving a few wines to accompany the cheese!

2021 CLOS PEGASE CHARDONNAY MITSUKO'S VINEYARD CARNEROS
Price: $24.75                 Sale $21.78

possesses complex aromas of Meyer lemon, ripe pineapple, and white honeysuckle, framed by subtly toasty oak. An intense and vibrant mid-palate has vivid fruit flavors, and the finish is balanced with rich fruit and minerality

2018 AVIGNONESI VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO DOCG
Price: $25.00                 Sale $22.00

The Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is a selection of Sangiovese from all of our vineyards in Montepulciano, creating a multifaceted wine that is a true expression of the terroir.

2019 CHATEAU LA GRAVE FIGEAC GRAND CRU SAINT EMILION, FRANCE
Price: $65.00                 Sale $49.00                   

(93+ points) The 2019 La Grave-Figeac sports a deep garnet-purple color and fragrant notions of warm black and red cherries, mulberries and stewed plums with hints of woodsmoke, baking spices and lavender. The medium-bodied palate has a fine backbone of grainy, approachable tannins and invigorating freshness supporting the tightly wound, mineral-laced fruit, finishing with a lively lift. Impressive showing!  Wine Advocate

A confidential gem in Saint-Emilion, Château La Grave Figeac has it all: a dream location and a small surface area, an extremely racy character thanks to its blend, a family management and a certified organic culture for 10 years...

Indeed, the vineyards of La Grave Figeac cover barely 6.5 hectares, half of which is enclosed in the vineyard of the legendary Château Cheval Blanc - its address is «1, Cheval Blanc Ouest» - while the other two immediate neighbors are Château Figeac and Château L’Evangile. At the helm is the Clauzel family, owners of the estate for 30 years, now represented by Laurent and his wife Caroline.

Alongside the Merlot, the Cabernet Franc grapes are given pride of place (35%), to bring additional structure and finesse to the wines. These wines also benefit from the deep roots of the vines (45 years old), which give them as much sap as freshness. Finally, they shine with their singular fruit, both pure and vibrant. Not to mention a very attractive price positioning for a terroir of this level

2021 FERRARI CARANO TRESOR, SONOMA COUNTY, USA
Price: $49.00                 Sale Price: $39.00

Always a blend of the classic five Bordeaux varietals this 2021 is 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 8% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot.  Dense and rich bouquet of dark currant and black cherry and cassis like fruit on the nose with dark coco, cedar, graphite, tobacco spice and espresso to compliment the intense fruit.  Big and chewy on the tongue with rich berry fruit, thick and chewy with ripe round tannins, a firm hand of acidity and a host of that spice and earth notes from the nose lingering through the finish, this wine is one of the best values that I have tasted this year!  It is even better on the second day and will last a decade or two in the cellar.  Finish 50+  Most Excellent

2021 SCHRADER CABERNET SAUVIGNON DOUBLE DIAMOND OAKVILLE
Price: $96.50                 Sale Price: $79.00

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon stands to outshine the award-winning 2019 vintage with even deeper concentration and complexity. On the nose, the wine leaps from the glass with ripe blackberry, cassis, black cherry, and red plum, with a lovely herbaceous undertone. The palate expresses juicy red and black fruits with hints of black tea, damp earth, vanilla bean, lavender, and just a touch of flint. With fine-grained tannins and mouthwatering acidity that lingers through the long finish, this wine is ready to drink upon release but will cellar well for years to come. 

Varietal Composition: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Barrels: 54% New French Oak, 46% Second-use Schrader Darnajou French Oak

2012 THE MEGA MALBEC COMPANY ARTIST SERIES BLEND BY PURO UNO MENDOZA
Price: $100.00 Sale Price: $88.00

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

Menu
Prosciutto De Parma
Fresh Cut 24 Month Parmesan Reggiano
Parmesan Flan
Tagliolini Carbonara
Tiramisu

This is a seated tasting and is limited to 28 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.