Corks and Curds: New Season New Zealand Cheese

Spring is here ! And with it the droves of lambs, kids, and calves. For the turophiles among us, aside from being adorable, the new animals are also a harbinger of cheese season. Though cheese is a mainstay throughout the year, the high season (so to speak) is Spring; while milk is in abundance, and traditionally, the animals diet the most complex.

The cheeses that are most indicative of the turn of season are most often the smaller format cheeses and those that require the least amount of aging. This can span from the hyper fresh like mozzarella and chèvre to the soft ripening styles with bloomy or geotrichum rinds. Unlike many large format, hard cheeses that develop complexity over time, the fresh Spring cheeses are a celebration of the milk in a much more pure form.

As we enter the warmer edge of Spring, we will be selecting cheeses from across the country (with the possible inclusion of hyper seasonal cheeses from abroad - though cheese availability is always somewhat fickle!). Included will be cheeses that epitomise the freshness of the season: unripened cheese as well as those that are meant to be eaten after minimal aging. We will also have cheeses that are significantly more aged but are only made in a short window in the year.

This Corks & Curds session will be equal parts cheese gospel on seasonality and celebration of what New Zealand can offer. Furthering the idea of celebration, we will be pouring 4 wines, mostly with an emphasis on fresh styles: Pet-nat, nouveau, vin de soif…. Wines that invoke soon to be Summer laziness.

Due to the nature of cheese availability at any given time, the final line up will be confirmed closer to the date, hopefully 1-2 weeks out. Wines will be confirmed once we have all the cheeses locked in, but expect an assortment of eclectic styles from some wonderful makers both from NZ and abroad.

Seats are $65 per person. There will be 6 cheeses served and 4 wines poured.

(Though we cannot predict where we will be as a country at the end of October, we are prepared to go ahead at Level 2 with safety precautions and distancing measures in place)