National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. We think cheese and bread is one of the greatest pairings in the gastronomic world. Add wine and you’ve got what was called, in the Old World, the Santa Trinità Mediterranea—the Mediterranean Holy Trinity. So, to celebrate, we thought we’d share one of our favorite grilled cheese recipes by food-and-wine expert Janet Fletcher, the creator of Planet Cheese. Her recommendation with these truffley snacks? Sparkling wine or Champagne.

The German sparkling wine, sekt, must be made by the traditional (Champagne) method.

Answer: False.

Only a very small amount of top German sekt (pronounced zecht) is made in tiny lots by the traditional (Champagne) method, usually from riesling, weissburgunder (pinot blanc), or blauburgunder (pinot gris). These wines are crisp and vivid, possessing the clarity and the purity of flute music. However, bargain sekt (which is most of it) is made fizzy as the result of the bulk process during which the second fermentation takes place in large, pressurized tanks, not in individual bottles like Champagne, using lesser German grapes or bulk wine from another European country.

“There are several people of color at the advanced level who are sitting for the Masters [Sommelier Exam]. Without the pin [earned upon passing the exam], people are not going to believe the Black sommelier when she comes to the table. That pin shows you know your stuff. It’s like the medical degree hanging in your doctor’s office.”

—Carlton McCoy, CEO of Heitz Cellars and 1 of only 3 African American Master Sommeliers, who serves on the Court of Master Sommeliers’ diversity committee, commenting on the importance of the MS pin to minority professionals.

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

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