While many people thought we would well be on the way back to economic recovery, we here at Salumiere Cesario are a bit more pragmatic. Things are getting better but they are not "WOOHOO!" just yet. So, we have been very cautious in what we have been choosing to bring in. We are focusing on great wines at affordable prices so that you, our wine-enthusiast customers, can still enjoy purchasing a great bottle of wine without worrying about a hefty price tag to go along with it!

We have plenty of great wines at sensible prices right now, including some great sparkling wines too. Here are a few highlights:

Tres Picos Grenache $15 a favorite of ours year after year. This wine delivers great flavor and mouthfeel at an incredible price.

Santa Barbara Winery Pinot Noir 2005 $23. Looking for a drinkable Pinot at a drinkable price, this is it. From the Santa Rita Hills where most wines are fetching twice the price. This delivers flavor and value.

Turnbull Cellars Old Bull Red 2006 $21 This is a great wine to have around. Robust enough to stand up to a big steak but affordable enough for burgers.

Chateau Planeres Prestige 2006 $16. This is an amazing wine from France. Looking for something rustic and chewy, here you go. Great with cassoulet or boeuf bourguignon.

Trocadero Sparkling $16, this is a steal at this price. A non Champagne sparkling wine from France delivers great fruit balanced with nice acidity and a rich mousse.

So many of you have asked us "why don't you do a cheese of the month?" We couldn't really come up with a good reason why not, so here you go. . .

Our cheese of the month for January 2010 will be Caerphilly. As we move into the future and await our rocket powered back packs, we should turn our attention back to traditional methods and foods.

"There are two traditions of Caerphilly. The earliest stems from small Welsh farm production. The cheese was made by hand and was a simple cheese for the farmers. It was the obvious use for surplus milk, vital before refrigeration and for people with little money to spare. It was usually for home consumption and any surplus was sold locally. The farmers ate what they had in the storeroom, which could be young or older, depending on what they had left." We regularly sell this Neal's Yard selection for $33/lb but will be offering it for $25/lb for the month of January.

Well, we are going to try it out this month and see how it goes. If the response is good we will continue to grow this idea. We think it has some great potential - let us know what YOU think.

We still have two country hams left. We also have about half of the Preacher Ham too (we keep this in the back, its kind of a secret club thing). If you are a disciple of all things porky, then you need to try these hams!

Country ham is a traditional old-school ham, cured, smoked and hung for 10 to 12 months. The meat is slightly smokey with deep and subtle flavors of soy and porkiness (I made it up don't ask). The Preacher or BBQ ham is the more traditional picnic or Sunday dinner ham you find in the south, but with a whole lotta flavor packed in. The skin is slightly crispy and is the essence of southern barbeque. Smokey, meaty and wonderfully moist. This is great on biscuits, in sandwiches, and even for breakfast with eggs.

Come in and taste these truly hand made hams and see why we love Ms. Nancy Newsom and why Salumiere Cesario is the new Palace of Pork in Walla Walla. Cheers.

On the beer front we have great news. Many of you want to try new beers, but there seems to be a fear of a new beer in a big bottle. Well our solution is simple, get a friend or two and come down to the store and sample a beer. You can sit and sip with a few friends right here in our shop, and even have some tasty eats with your beer.

We also just brought in a great new supply of beer from a trip to the westside. Lots of great big bottle beer to keep you warm this winter!

For those of you who missed the first batch of Meyer lemons, more are on the way as well as seville oranges and oro blanco grapefruit. If you have never used fresh squeezed citrus now is your chance. On salads, in cocktails, even in your water! Fresh citrus is good for you.

As well as fresh fruits, we will also be selling fresh squeezed citrus juice during the winter and spring. Fresh juice can be frozen and used throughout the rest of the year. We will also be making some tasty menu items with our fresh produce throughout the winter months. Stop in for a frisee salad when you need that reminder that warmer weather is on the way.

Fresh Pasta is back! We are making our handmade fresh pasta again on Sundays. We will regularly have taglietelle and fettucini and occasionally have filled pastas too. We are hoping to perfect our gnocchi soon but in the mean time we have a fantastic packaged gnocchi from Italy that is amazing and GLUTEN FREE!

Check with us every Sunday to see what fresh pasta we are making.

Yes, it's true. Our Gustiamo events are live and well and we have cooked up a great event for January. On Thursday, January 21st from 7:00 - 9:00 pm, we will be hosting a private tasting of several Veneto wines.

The Veneto is one of the largest growing areas in Italy with several DOC and DOCG ratings. While there are MANY great wines from the Veneto the most well know three are Prosecco, Soave and Valpolicella.

We have collaborated with one of our distributors to bring a handful of Veneto wines that are not available anywhere else in the Walla Walla Valley to you, our customers, first. Please join us for the first our our excursions through the wines of Italy, with Tasting the Veneto part 1.

We will serve some fantastic fare to accompany each wine, and the cost per person for this event is $20. We will limit the event to 30 guests, so we recommend reserving your spot soon! Reservations can be made by calling or visiting the store.

If you are one of our out-of-town customers, consider planning now to getaway to Walla Walla for for one of the upcoming Walla Walla Gourmet Getaway special weekend packages. Enjoy a two-night stay at one of Walla Walla's charming small inns, two seats in a wine or culinary class given by a local culinarian/wine educator, followed by lunch. Each weekend, a different culinary experience will be offered!

However, on one particular weekend (March 13th) Damon Burke of Salumiere Cesario will be leading a class on the art of making fresh pastas. We will be paired with Watermill Winery for a fun-filled afternoon of making your own fresh pastas. You will learn how to make pasta dough from scratch, roll out sheet pasta for making filled pastas and then show you how to turn sheet pasta into fantastic cut pastas. We'll talk through some creative ways to fill your pastas, and we will show you how to cook your filled pasta in broth as done in Italy.

If you are interested, please click on the link below for more information about this very exciting program!

Happy New Year from all of us at Salumiere Cesario!

Salumiere Cesario
Damon & Colby Burke