Happy New Year from the Cheese Department!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, you can replace their memories with two tasty cheeses, new for 2008!

Brisbane cheese importer, Fresca Italia, famous for bringing hand-made Italian cheeses to the United States, is branching in new directions: cheesemaking. They have commissioned the award-winning cheesemaker, Soyoung Scanlan of Petaluma’s Andante Dairy, to create some new cheese flavors, two of which we are currently featuring here at Woodlands.

First up is a buttery, delicate cheese called Colle Rosso (which translates to “Red Hill”). Based on the classic Italian cheese Robiola, this cheese made from a mix of half cow’s milk from Petaluma’s Spring Hill Dairy’s Jersey herd, and half goat milk from the Volpi goat ranch on Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road. It is a soft almost brie like cheese and pairs well with crackers and a sparkling wine.

Their other new cheese has flavored toppings that will change through out the year. Christened Quattro Stagione -- Four Seasons -- this small round is currently being topped with a grape pomace for winter. It is a very mild, fresh tasting cheese with a crunchy chewy taste. Eat it on its own, with almonds, or with a pinot noir.

Ms. Scanlan has been written up in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Saveur magazine, among others, and with these two cheese, Fresca Italia shows that its new venture is off to an exciting start!