Favorite moments from 2015’s Big Cheesy tasting party

Events in New Jersey

Published on March 18, 2015

One Saturday each March, Anna Marie and I host our Big Cheesy annual cheese tasting party. This year’s complimentary event, held exclusively for guests of The Queen Victoria on Saturday, March 7, was a terrific success.

We had great attendance, as it seemed just about everybody staying with us showed up to experience the variety of cheeses, olive oils, and collective wine.  Anna Marie and I enjoy preparing for the tasting, seeking out and selecting around 15 or so cheeses to fill our dining room table. We like to include a variety of different cheeses each year but we are known to be partial to a few flavors.

There are a few types of cheese that we feature just about every year, including a smoked Gouda, premium cheddar and a blue cheese of some sort.  To keep it interesting, we try to source them from new cheesemakers each year.  We also include some lactose free cheddar cheeses from Cabot  for Anna Marie or any guest that would like to try something new. One of our most unique cheeses at this year’s table was an Irish cheddar with ale in it. It was different and definitely fun to try.

Since this event starts around 1 p.m. many of our guests treat this as lunch, so we also bring out bread from local bakeries and specialty olive oils infused with herbs. We really enjoyed an avocado oil that was served at this year’s Big Cheesy. Guests are encouraged to bring a bottle of wine, which usually ends up being enjoyed communally.  This year they really delivered!  We had a variety of nice wines to complement the flavors of the cheese and olive oils, but my favorite wine was an Ancient Vines Zinfandel from California with a dark color and robust flavor.

We’d like to thank the attendees at this year’s event for making it the success it was.  We are delighted that so many guests booked rooms for next year’s tasting party before this one even concluded!  We hope to see you at the Big Cheesy in 2016!