A Valentine's Day Cheeseboard to Love

Celebrate your loved one on Valentine’s Day with a romantic cheese board for two. A special date night couldn’t be dreamier than when indulging in a luxurious arrangement of silky, rich, and creamy cheese accompanied by a tantalizing selection of aphrodisiacs to tease the senses. To ensure a whiff of love in the air (and on the plate) follow these tips for a heavenly Valentine’s Day cheeseboard.

1. Flowers and strawberries for your Valentine are de rigueur

Buchette aux Fleurs is a fresh goat cheese from the Loire Valley in France. The cheese log is rolled directly in a bed of dried flowers, such as rose petals and marigolds before being packed. It’s smooth in texture with a bright white paste subtly perfumed with citrus and herbal notes. The fresh, slightly sour taste of the goat cheese pairs well with a crisp sparkling white wine or Champagne.

Vermont Creamery’s award-winning Strawberry Spritz Goat Cheese is a mild and creamy sweetened goat cheese log blended with luscious strawberries. The Websterville creamery produces fresh and aged cheese. Their fresh goat cheese is distinguished by a simple, mild, fresh goat’s milk flavor with lower salt, which makes the cheese highly versatile, exemplified by their Strawberry Spritz Goat Cheese, which “pairs perfectly with Champagne or Prosecco” according to Gina Martano, cheese expert at Vermont Creamery.

2. Show your love with a heart

Crave Brothers Heart Shaped Mozzarella is a delicate and milky cow’s milk cheese handcrafted on the Crave family farm in Waterloo, Wisconsin. Their mozzarella is formed in many shapes, including playful heart-shaped “balls” which are a perfect addition to a Valentine’s Day board.

Cowgirl Heart's Desire — Cowgirl Heart’s Desire

Cowgirl Creamery produces Hearts Desire, a Valentine’s Day limited version of their organic Mt. Tam triple cream cow’s milk cheese made from organic pasteurized milk. It has a bloomy rind ranging from pillowy to birch in appearance, with a dense fudgy core enveloped in a pudgy creamline. Flavor notes include salted butter, cream, and white mushrooms. Pair with a brut rosé Champagne or a medium-bodied Loire-style rosé to cut through the fat.

3. Slip into something soft and silky (with a cheese knife)

Crémeux des Cîteaux aux Truffes. Photo credit Rodolphe Le Menuier.

An oozy French triple crème cheese couldn’t be more appropriate for a seductive addition to your cheeseboard. And why hold back when the luscious cheese can be glammed up with a smear of musky truffles? (They are an aphrodisiac, after all.) Crémeux des Cîteaux aux Truffes is a rich and silky French triple crème with a slash of truffles running through the center. Made from pasteurized cow’s milk, it has a mild cream flavor that’s balanced by the earthy truffles.

4. Spice things up a bit

Point Reyes Farmstead Original Blue Cheese

A fresh and flirty Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese adds a little pizzazz to the selection. The bright and lemony blue cheese with a creamy, sweet milk flavor, surprises with pops of blue mold that tickle the tongue. The cheese is distinguished by its unique combination of three ingredients: Grade A unpasteurized milk from a closed herd of Holstein cows that graze on the hills overlooking Tomales Bay, California; the coastal fog and salty Pacific breezes that lend the cheese a unique character; and the influence of time. Original Blue™ is made within hours of milking, and then aged for a minimum of six months. The result is a creamier, full flavored blue cheese with hints of lemongrass and sea salt.

Pair sharp cheese and spicy blue cheese with a full bodied, fruity Amarone. Most Amarone wines have medium-high acidity with intense flavors which pair with robust foods that have high fat content, such as blue cheese, and pronounced earthy notes, such as truffles.

5. Indulge in the allure of aphrodisiacs

Janet’s Finest Compotes Raspberry Jalapeno

Garnish the board with a selection of amorous accompaniments touted for inducing passion. From glistening pomegranate wedges, ruby berries, and squidgy figs to dark chocolate, runny honey, and spicy chiles, these ingredients captivate, tease the imagination, and whet the appetite. Scatter the board with ripe and dried fruit, chocolate dipped nuts, hunks of white and dark chocolate, and emphasize shades of pink and red with fresh berries, pink peppercorns, and edible flowers. Highlight sweetness with dainty bowls of runny honey for drizzling and Janet’s Finest compotes in Raspberry Jalapeno, which is sweet with a hint of spice, for smearing.

Pairings:

Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Réserve Exclusive Brut

Nicolas Feuillatte is the youngest of the great Champagne Maisons. The iconic reserve brut “blue label” is a harmonious blend of 20% Chardonnay imparting elegance and finesse, 40% Pinot Noir for roundness and structure, and 40% Meunier for fruitiness and soft, supple character with aromas of juicy pear and crunchy apricot. Their award-winning Reserve Exclusive Rosé is composed of 10% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Meunier is the counterpart to the blue label. This rosé blend contains 16 to 18% red wine. Its structure is fine and dynamic, with full-bodied flavors of red currant, blueberry, and raspberry mixed with a hint of Gariguette strawberry.

Pierre Prieur et Fils Domaine de Saint-Pierre Sancerre Rosé

Pierre Prieur et Fils Domaine de Saint-Pierre Sancerre Rosé is made from Pinot Noir grapes grown in France’s Sancerre vineyards. The small, family-run winery makes this rich rosé of Pinot Noir from grapes grown in flint/silex and chalk soils, which contribute ripeness, minerality, and aromatics to the wine. Red berry and rose petal aromas lead into bright flavors of raspberry, cherry, strawberry, and stone fruits on the palate. It’s medium-plus bodied, with high acidity and a long, refreshing finish.

Tenuta Sant’Antonio“Antonio Castagnedi” Amarone Della Valpolicella DOCG is full bodied, fruity, and worthy of a celebration. Amarone della Valpolicella is the most prestigious red wine of Veneto. The four brothers who started Tenuta Sant’Antonio dedicate their primary Amarone to their father, Antonio Castagnedi. The best grapes from different vineyards are selected for this wine and are brought to the winery’s drying room to undergo the appassimento process. After at least three months of drying, the grapes have shriveled and lost much of their water, while retaining their sugar, flavor, and other components. Once fermented and aged in new barrels, the Amarone is a powerful wine, yet fruity, fresh, and clean.