Maybe I'm a boob.

Well, anyhow, *I* certainly would! ;-)

M.

And some people might be scared of a cheese that is so powerful that no wine can accompany it (not many, maybe a... Amontillado?)...

But *I* would not be scared, so go ahead, Cabrales and Palo Cortado sounds fine ;-)

Mike Tommasi wrote in news:4u02e9F15e0c3U1 @mid.individual.net:

Then, you have probably had the wrong Cabrales. Good Cabrales is not a scary cheese. It can be creamy and it will surely be a strong blue cheese, but not scary. For many french people, a strong cheese is not impossible.

Not as a match. The only generoso I can think would go with Cabrales is a PX, but not an old one (perhaps an Alvear 2004). Old Px and Cabrales would be a competition of power. Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Amontillado are too dry for such a strong cheese. My suggestion is a Mistella Molt Vella del Masroig

Best,

Santiago

Hi Santiago

I tasted Cabrales twice and it was fairly dry and powerful. I matched it with some of those Loire botrytis that you know I like so much, and it was a nice match but the cheese still dominated.

That sounds good, a fortified wine makes sense. I try to go once a year to the Montsant area, that is where I buy my olive oil (actually Falset). Any other winery suggestions?

I'm in AZ as well but visit the California wineries often. I sometimes drive my small car and therefore can't take back much with me. However, the current laws allow the winery to ship if you purchase them inside the winery. If you are a wine club member of a particular winery then they can ship throughout the year as well as they view the purchase as an inside sale as long as you joined the club while visiting that winery.

Yes, I have run into all sorts of "takes" on the laws, regarding shipping to AZ (primarily from CA), though the laws seem to change daily.

Some wineries say, "hey, you're here and you bought the wine. We're just helping you to ship it home."

Others say, "you were here last week, didn't you BUY this wine then? We'll just help you ship it."

One, J Sonoma, said, "no, we won't even sell you the wine, because we know you're in AZ and will drink it there. We won't even ship it to your Napa address, 'cause we KNOW you're from AZ... "

A few will ship to my Napa address, and some will ship to my AZ address - no questions asked.

It seems that much depends on the wineries' distributor and how they pressure the winery to react. If only if could be simplified, but maybe one day. Right now, the state of AZ is on the verge of killing the wine industry here, just to keep a few well funded and well positioned distributors happy, by setting up Direct-Ship laws that have unrealistically low quantities attached to them.I hope that these attempts will fail (fail from the state's and distributors' point of view) and that we'll just be able to buy, what we want and have it shipped - in the Winter, of course.

Hunt

Not all wineries are aware of current law changes or as you stated they have their reasons to ship or not ship. Current law says they can ship if you buy it in the winery. I believe that was ruled by the supreme court a couple years ago.

Until I can get small wineries to ship I frequent A To Z wines or Epicurean Wines which are both in Scottsdale. They have a rather large selection of wines at prices about the same as Costco.

As of September 2006, wineries producing 20,000 gallons or less can obtain a permit to ship directly to Arizona consumers. It costs a few hundred dollars, so a small winery may not have enough business in AZ to justify the cost.

I understand some shipping companies will not ship wine to AZ, or other areas, for reasons unknown to me.

Andy