The weather’s getting NICE, y’all! Now we can add socially distanced picnics to our list of things to do! In honor of our worlds expanding a wee bit, here are some excellent picnic cheeses that also happen to go very well with the Rezabal Txakoli, white or rosé, written about below. I love Txakoli, which is not a unique thing to say since it is so approachable and sippable (or, let’s be real, gulpable) that everyone loves it, but I’m happy to be part of that crowd. One major reason I’m into it is that it’s a rockin’ cheese wine. It’s bright and slightly sparkly, a perfect pairing with rich cheese. I have the two bottles staring me in the face as I’m writing this and it’s making me sooo thirsty imagining a refreshing, chilled glass of the Rezabal on a hot day, the condensation on the outside cooling my hand. Ahhhhh, paradise. Well, almost paradise. Cheese will make it paradise.

Let’s start with a good solid wedge of Mendia. Mendia, a sheep’s milk cheese from the Basque region (same at the Txakoli but on the French side instead of the Spanish) is one of my comfort cheeses. It is easygoing, smooth, and tastes like popcorn and butter, so I generally feel soothed when I eat it. This is an excellent picnic cheese because it’s easy to cut – a knife is easiest of course, but I’ve also just torn it apart with my hands when no knife was to be found and I was desperate. It also goes very well on almost any sandwich, with pickles, with tinned fish which is one of my favorite picnic foods, with jam, with tomatoes or cucumbers or carrots. You get the picture.

You know where they do a killer picnic? The English countryside. I have been lucky enough to experience the bread, butter, cheese, jam, hot tea combo in a on a hill with grass so green, it was almost florescent. It was very pleasant, so let’s bring that into the picnic here. Gorwydd Caerphilly, conceived in Wales and born in Somerset, is a firm cheese with an almost flaky center and a smoother, creamier line around the outside. It is tangy and nutty, with a touch of earth and happens to be another cheese that is besties with your bottle of cold Txakoli. And yes, in case you were wondering, you can break up with your hands which I have also done. Jeez, I really need to carry knives with me more often when I’m eating outside. It is lovely on its own but plays well with any sweet spread and buttery cracker you may have on your blanket.

Finally, I’m going to be totally predictable and say I must have Chabichou at my picnic. But we have to celebrate the little wrinkly goat’s milk cheese because it is difficult to get these days! It travels from France on a plane, but with fewer planes are in the sky it’s harder to get the little guy over here. With Chabs at your picnic, I request that you also have rosé. Really any rosé you like will do the trick, especially if it has a little strawberry or raspberry going on. I am lightly insisting on this just because I think the pairing will make you happy. It reminds me of fresh air and wildflowers and classy French people, which sometimes I like to pretend to be.

Since we’re sticking our noses out our doors, cautiously of course, let’s get some picnic action going. I think I’ll drag my parents (my quaranteam) out to our backyard, lay out this spread, pour three glasses of cold Txakoli and toast to the good weather! And the cheese! And the wine! Happy picnicking everybody!

For the love of cheese and warm weather,

Kiri

Three Cheeses for the Perfect Picnic