On Nov. 30, guest blogger Sara Kahn, founder of The Cheese Ambassador, wrote a post here called The Foodie Guide to Pairing Wine & Cheese. As I mentioned at the time, not only was Sara kind enough to offer her recommendations for wine and cheese pairings to our readers, she also offered to send us a cheese sample.

I’m happy to report that Cheese Ambassador’s American Artisanal Collection arrived, and we have now tasted three types of hand-crafted cheese. All I can say is wow! Oh, okay, of course I’ll say more!

Over a few days, Dave and I nibbled our way through aged Gouda from central Wisconsin, 3-year-old Cheddar from Pennsylvania and cave-aged Blue from southern Minnesota. This trio of cheeses featured completely different textures and flavors and, naturally, we paired each of them with wine from Washington state. What a taste sensation! Wow!

I highly recommend that if you love cheese, like I do, please look at The Cheese Ambassador‘s website. In addition to the American Artisanal Collection, there’s also a Mediterranean Cheese Course Collection with Tipsy Goat cheese from Spain, Port Salut from France and Piave from Italy.

And each cheese collection includes tasting notes, food & beverage recommendations and serving tips — which makes these collections excellent for entertaining guests or as a unique gift. And if you shop now, there’s 25% off a $50 purchase.

Cheese and wine – mmmmm!

Cheers!