So, what do us cheesemongers do on our days off, you ask? Take home our favorite pieces of cheese and perform a series of glamour shots on them? No… I mean, yeah! We love cheese that much. To continue on our kick of this season’s best young goat cheeses, I brought home one of my personal favorites: a gooey, naughty piece of Capriole Piper’s Pyramid. I also picked up a bottle of wine from the Chelsea Wine Vault – a deeply tinted and floral Rosé, Tavel.

Spring is in session, and as the days heat up and grow longer, there is no better way to unwind in the setting sun than with a crisp glass of Rose and a big bite of fresh, tangy goat cheese. It’s a match made in heaven.

Piper’s Pyramid, from Capriole Farm on the Indiana/Kentuky border, (Kentuckiana, if you will) is styled after the French Loire Valley goat cheeses – hand ladled into Valencay molds and surface ripened. This beautiful cheese is sprinkled with Paprika, adding a bright orange flare to it’s truncated top. Piper is the name of the cheese maker’s red-haired granddaughter. In her own words, “The slightly red finish on the cheese seems especially appropriate. I just couldn’t think how to give it freckles!” …Adorable!

At peak ripeness, Piper’s Pyramid is gooey on the outside and densely fudgy on the inside. It’s flavors are rich, slightly floral, and goaty – in each bite you can picture Capriole’s happy goats romping about and munching on all sorts of fresh spring grasses.

Tavel, the Rosé from Chelsea Wine Vault, is a perfect match for this cheese. It is darker and stronger than your average Rose, so holds up well to the rich, musty edge that Piper’s Pyramid boasts. Delicate rose-petal notes in this wine accentuate the floral characteristic’s of the cheese, making for a truly enjoyable match.

So stop by Lucy’s Whey, grab yourself a Piper’s Pyramid, then jolt over to Chelsea Wine Vault for a bottle of Tavel. Make sure to enjoy both of them slightly chilled, and go indulge on your stoop, relishing the onset of this hot, New York summer!