Most cheese-of-the-month clubs go something like this: For a g-note, you get a year’s worth of aged dairy, courtesy of a complete cheese-mongering stranger. Don’t like Stilton? Too bad—it’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner for one stinky month of the year. Cyril’s at Clay Pigeon Winery, one of our favorite new urban wineries, is spearheading a “Cheese CSA.” It’s a new, democratic way of exploring cheese on a budget.

The Deal: $32 gets you one hulking pound of cheese and a vote for the next month’s selection. Each member of the CSA is then invited to the "Pick-Up Party," hosted by Cyril’s cheese-wiz Sasha Davies and distinguished wine-geek Michael Claypool. At this get-together for cheese-lovers new and old, members are treated to a tasting menu with free wine and beer pairings. To top it off, Cheese Club works on a monthly basis, so if you develop a sudden intolerance to lactose you can always back out.

A taste of things to come:
February 21^st, L’Amuse Gouda

1. A pound of two-year-old Dutch Gouda that "tastes like salted caramel, butterscotch and cheese rolled into one."
2. A tasting menu of winter squash soup with Gouda shavings and aged Gouda biscotti with walnuts.
3. Beer pairing with Boneyard RPM IPA from Bend, OR
4. Wine Pairing with Cabernet Sauvignon from Jan-Marc Cellars in Portland, OR

Butterscotch Gouda? I’ll subscribe to that. Sign up via Cyril’s Kickstarter campaign

Cyril’s
815 SE Oak Street
503-206-7862
Tues-Sun: 4-10pm, 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays