Perfect Wedding Gifts

With high wedding season already off to a start we've put together a selection of gifts to make all of your gifting needs a snap. Choose from our exclusive collection of cheese knives, cheese boards, and gift baskets. Our Artisanal Pantry, stocked full of every couple's cooking essentials, is the ideal gift for newlyweds. Select a Cheese of the Month membership and each month the happy couple will receive three hand-selected cheeses. Or purchase a gift certificate to one of our many cheese and wine tasting classes; it's a perfect post honeymoon date!

Laguiole s Cheese Knife
Price: $65

Wine Cask Lazy Susan
Price: $120

Cheese of the Month Club
Price: $55 / month

Artisanal Pantry Collection
Price: $325

Question: Why do Robiolas seem to be so different? Some are wrapped in leaves, most are not, some are all cow milk, some are made with mixed milks. Find out in the next Artisanal e-newsletter!
- The Artisanal Staff

Last Time We Asked: What are the conditions that a cheese cave should have in order to make it a successful cave and does 'cave-aged' cheese really make a difference?

Answer: A cheese cave should have a cool temperature, high humidity, and air exchange, much like an actual cave. A good cave that is intended for storing a full range of cheeses all in one chamber will work best if it is set to about 50F with a relative humidity of 85-90%. If the cheese cave does have only the one chamber there may be some parts of the chamber that are a little cooler than others and it may have some sections that are less drafty than others. These areas can then be used for storing the cheeses that will be better maintained in these differing conditions. A good cheese cave will have light ventilation but should not be too drafty. A good cave should not be too large for the inventory of cheeses it is to contain.

Having different types of cheeses in one cave is not as big a problem as one might expect. But keeping the cheeses somewhat segregated within the one cave will minimize cross-contamination of bacteria and molds. For example, keeping the blue cheeses away from the open-textured crumbly types is recommended, as the blue molds can penetrate the interiors of non-blue cheeses over time and will negatively affect their flavors.

If the one-chambered cave has different shelves it is best to keep the families of cheeses together and separate from the others on their own shelves. Ideally a cheese cave should have wooden shelves so that the cheeses can ''breathe'' underneath themselves as well as around the sides and the tops of the cheeses.

And again, a cheese cave should not be too large. Keeping several cheeses in a small space is better than keeping a few in a large space. The cheeses themselves will tend to keep the humidity levels of the cave at an optimal level.

If you have the luxury of having a multiple-chambered cheese cave keeping the families of cheeses in their own caves will allow you to give each family the specific conditions of temperature, humidity, air exchange, as well as the microflora more specific to that family so that the cheeses will develop or will be maintained best.

The conditions offered in a good cheese cave will help a cheese develop to its fullest potential for taste and texture. A regular warehouse without the ideal conditions for cheese storage will not only deny that cheese its potential for reaching its peak, but will also cause the cheese contained therein to suffer, will likely make the cheese dry out and develop off-flavors. The conditions for storing some cheese types are more specific than others. The younger softer cheeses require more neonatal TLC than the older drier types.

For more information on this trivia and other exciting cheese questions, get your autographed copy of The Cheese Plate by Max McCalman.

Do you have a question for our trivia section, or some trivia of your own to share?
Send it to editor@artisanalcheese.com and we may use it in a future newsletter!