We were so excited to have cheese expert and renowned food writer Janet Fletcher offer to do a wine and cheese pairing seminar for our Summit Circle members this year and it was every bit as much fun as we thought it would be! Winemaker Matt Ward selected six of our wines for the event and Janet brought six cheeses. The pairings were beautiful and gave everyone the chance to learn from Janet what makes a good match. After the seminar, we drifted out to the terrace for a lovely lunch brought to us by Farmstead in St. Helena. An informal poll as the day wound down determined that the 2009 Reserve Claret and the Old Quebec Reserve Cheddar 7-Year was the favorite pairing of the day!
Janet Fletcher's blog, Planet Cheese, is read by cheese enthusiasts internationally, and she is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. A longtime contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, Janet has received three James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award for her newspaper journalism. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and numerous national magazines, including Saveur, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, Culture and Food & Wine. A resident of California's Napa Valley, where she maintains a large garden of perennials and edibles, Janet teaches cooking and cheese appreciation classes around the country.
