A cow's milk blue from the De'Magi affineurs in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany, aged in the must of Passito, the Italian dessert wine, with raisins pressed into the rind. One of Dom's favorite blues right now. The paste is soft and yielding, stained a deep purple-red along the outer edge where the wine must has soaked in. The first taste is all fruity sweetness, raisin and dessert wine right up front, before the blue underneath opens up with a tangy savory pull and a gentle earthy weight. There's a subtle nuttiness running underneath and a slow warming spice on the finish that lingers well past the swallow. This is a blue for someone who wants the fruit and the funk in the same bite. The Passito must does most of the talking on the front end, the blue holds the middle, and the finish stays sweet and savory at the same time. It sits in its own category, somewhere between a wine-washed table cheese and a proper aged blue.
