I am so excited to be going to the Boston Wine Expo this year! While helping spread the word about this great event is certainly fun, what’s even more fun is getting ready for the event ahead of time by researching what vendors and seminars I want to go to. The Boston Wine Expo is a huge undertaking, and it’s highly recommended that you go in with a plan.
Since I love making charcuterie and cheese boards at home to enjoy with wine, I thought I’d create one featuring some of the vendors that are going to be available at the Boston Wine Expo.
Read on to find out who some of my favorites are, my real girl tips for creating a cheese or charcuterie board, and how to enter my giveaway to win 2 tickets to the Boston Wine Expo’s Grand Tasting on Sunday, February 19th!
The wine I chose to pair with this dinner of meat and cheese is from Boston’s own Ninety+ Cellars. You could say that I’m VERY familiar with another one of their company’s brands, Lila Wines (they offer rosé in cans, hello summer essential,) but I’ve only had a few bottles of their more traditional wine. Ninety+’s mission is to offer high quality wines at prices that fit into your budget alongside overpaying for rent and insane student loan payments, and they do this well.
I grabbed their Cabernet Sauvignon / Carmenére Chilean red blend at Roche brothers, because I love Cab Sav and I have to admit, I thought that it said “Cashmere” instead of Carmenére. It definitely had a smooth taste to it, and was really easy to drink. Per the label, it has aromas of black cherries and raspberries, but I’m not quite expert enough to distinguish those. Cheers to learning more at the Boston Wine Expo!
As for the actual board items, I picked up some proscuitto di parma, which is my personal favorite meat. I really don’t think you can go wrong with it when pairing with cheese because it’s just so delicious. When in doubt, just pick the option that you love. I paired it with Von Trapp’s Mad River Blue cheese, which is savory, buttery, salty, and perfect for snacking on.
The star of my board however is definitely the Vermont Creamery Bonne Bouche. It’s an ash-rinded slightly aged goat cheese that has a wrinkly appearance and creamy interior. The inside of the cheese becomes more ooey gooey as it ages, although I can’t help but to eat it right away every time I buy it. Spread it onto a baguette and it’s heaven in your mouth. I cannot wait to see Vermont Creamery at the Boston Wine Expo and hopefully try some more of their cheeses.
While I’m not fancy, (using a cutting board as a cheese plate and mostly just going with my gut,) I can’t wait to learn more at the Boston Wine Expo. On top of trying many new wines during the Grand Tasting, I might be most excited to attend the Say Cheese (and Wine) seminar. Learning which wines pair best with what cheeses, especially in the educational format, is going to up my cheese plate game a lot more than aimlessly googling has done in the past.
Now, for the fun part. GIVEAWAY!
In addition to entering the giveaway on my Instagram post, you can get bonus entries here. All you have to do is comment on this post and let me know what your favorite wine and cheese pairing is for 5 extra entries.
The winner of my giveaway will get 2 tickets to the Boston Wine Expo Grand Tasting on Sunday, February 19th. We all have work off the next day, so don’t hesitate to enter! The winner will be chosen on Saturday, February 11th at 2pm EST.
Cheers and good luck! In the meantime, you can buy tickets for either day at this link.
Prosecco and all.the.cheeses!