Burratta cheese photo courtesy of Pepo Fuser.

Recently, in fact as recently as last Saturday, Sami and I were working in the tasting room and we got some club members who were up from San Francisco to pick up their club wines and sample some of the new wines that have just been released.  As we were pouring the whites we started discussing what foods to serve with which white wines.  

One of the club members mentioned her passion for Burratta cheese with white wines and Sami and I knew about Catelli’s Burratta cheese appetizer plate served with garlic toast points and arugula tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil.  Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it an unusual, soft texture. It is also defined by some sources as an outer shell of mozzarella filled with butter or a mixture of butter and sugar. It is usually served fresh, at room temperature. The name “burrata” means “buttered” in Italian.

So, off we dashed to get an order and the eight of us paired the appetizer with the Albarino from Eric Ross and it was a great hit.  The Albarino varietals characteristics of lychee, apricot, tree ripened peaches and tangerine with its clean bright acidity was a perfect match for the smooth creamy burratta cheese and the peppery overtones of the arugula.  Come and get it.  Cheers!

Bill Cauthers