If you know me at all, you know I love wine. But I also love a good cheese board to go with that wine. It’s one of my favorite summer past times, to sit in the setting sun and end the day sipping white wine and chowing down on some cheese. Nom nom nom.
You may remember a while back I wrote about Grocery Outlet and their great selection of natural and organic products (their NOSH section – Natural, Organic, Specialty, Healthy). I made a delicious smoothie bowl using ingredients from their NOSH section and it was totally delicious. Eating organic and healthy is very important to me, especially with my corn intolerance. So I’m really happy Grocery Outlet has this section of healthy foods to choose from.
Click here to find your local Grocery Outlet and check their e-mailer for a coupon!
When the Grocery Outlet Burbank location opened up earlier this month the thing that surprised me the most was the fabulous WINE section! It takes up an entire corner of the store!
I’ve already sampled a few bottles and I like what I’ve had so far. The best part – wines range from $3 to $7 on average. Quality wines at an amazing price is totally my jam!
Make Your Own Red, White, and Rosé Wine Tasting and Cheese Board
I decided to recreate one of my favorite wine tasting offerings at Disney California Adventure’s Al Fresco Tasting Terrace – the Red, White, and Rosé sampler. I like it because you get variety of varietals (say that 10 times fast), so it feels like a true wine tasting.
And you can’t have a wine tasting without a charcuterie and cheese board! I wondered if I would be able to put together an impressive and tasty cheese board by only using items I could find at Grocery Outlet. Well, mission accomplished! I found everything on my list and even a few surprises.
Here are the food items I picked up in the NOSH section:
Dried apricots
Chocolate covered cashews
Almonds
I also bought dried cranberries, Melba toasts, dark chocolate, raw honey, garlic & herb mustard, assorted cheeses, and summer sausage. I was the most worried about the cheese selection, as I assumed they would just have standard cheddar. But I easily picked out four cheeses for my plate: cheddar, Asiago, fontina, and blue cheese.
To make my red, white, and rosé tasting course I selected Pull Cabernet Sauvignon, Pra Vinera Reserve Chardonnay, and Evan & Tate Breathing Space Rosé. I also picked up a couple additional bottles of wine for later, because who can resist the amazing prices?!
Just as I was ready to check out I spotted these cute Ramekins that I thought would be perfect for holding some extra things that didn’t fit on the board. They are official Corningware, GREAT quality, and were only $4 each! SCORE!
For the five bottles of wine, the three Ramekins, and all the food I spent $60. But for the actual cheese plate ingredients and the three wines, I spend around $35-$40. AND I can create two or three two-person cheese plates out of the ingredients. It’s an insane value.
I had a lot of fun putting this cheese plate together, and I recorded it on Facebook Live to show everyone how easy and quick it is to make a beautiful looking cheese board! Thank you to those of you who hung out with me Live!
Seriously, look at this thing of beauty … can you believe all of this came from a discount grocery chain?
Oh, and you’ll never guess which wine was my favorite …. I’m totally a white wine girl but the Cabernet was OUTSTANDING. It’s the only glass I refilled! The other two were delicious but I couldn’t get enough of that Cab! Shocking! And it was a $6.99 bottle of wine … it goes to show you can’t judge a wine by its price. I liked it better than some $30 or $40 dollar bottles of Cabernet I’ve sampled in the past.
I hope this tutorial helps you put together your own charcuterie and cheese board. It’s super simple and makes a great lazy weekend afternoon snack or meal.
Don’t forget to check out the Grocery Outlet website to check on the grocery bargains available near you!
