Sunday School

WINE

Chinon “La Peau de l’Ours,” Domaine de la Marinière, ’24

Loire Valley, France

Domaine de la Marinière is a small family estate in Panzoult, in the heart of Chinon, where Renaud Desbourdes and his son Boris farm 19 hectares organically. The family has been working this land since 1965, and Boris has helped usher the domaine into its next chapter with organic farming, hand harvesting, and native yeast fermentations.

“La Peau de l’Ours” is their fun-loving, decidedly un-fussy take on Chinon. Made from Cabernet Franc, the grapes see a short maceration before finishing fermentation without their skins, then spend time in tank to preserve all that fresh, juicy fruit. The result is a lighter, fruit-forward style of Chinon that is made for drinking, not overthinking.

The name is a playful reference to the French expression “vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué,” literally “selling the bear’s skin before you’ve caught the bear.” Think of it as the French version of “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

In the glass, it is bright and wonderfully gulpable, with crunchy raspberry, fresh cherry, violet, and a little peppery herbal character. The tannins are soft and fine, with plenty of lively acidity keeping everything light on its feet. This is Cabernet Franc in its most playful form.

$14 glass‍ ‍•  $10 glass

CHEESE

Chällerhocker

Lütisburg, Switzerland · Cow–R

What the Chällerhocker, there’s a boy on my cheese! Use your imagination (or your smartphone) and envision a wheel of today’s cheese. It’s about 15lbs whole and the size of a fat cat. The name translates to “Cellar Sitter” and that’s exactly what’s printed on the rind—the grinning face of an eager boy, sitting above his cellar, waiting for his cheese to ripen. Take a cue from this eager beaver and eat this cheese.

Chällerhocker is cheesemaker Walter Rass’s riff on famous Alpine-style cheese Appenzeller, but made with better milk, aged for a few months longer and washed with a different mix of wine, herbs and spices on the outside. It’s firm, butterscotchy, sharp and delicious. Chällerhocker is a complex yet approachable cheese with notes of almonds, sour cream, onion and a perfectly delicate crystaline crunch. We recommend pairing this snacker with a bold red wine or seasonal Oktober Fest-Märzen.

$9‍ ‍•  $6