Our journey continued with a stop in Vinzel for a cheese delicacy called a malakoff. This little cheese beauty consists of a piece of bread and stinky cheese, which is battered and deep-fried. Served with a mini-gherkin and a few pickled pearl onions, these specialties are something to behold. Seriously, if I counted Weight Watchers points, these would be about ten million. When you bite into a malakoff, the warm cheese oozes out, making it a perfect frigid temperature treat. Except, similar to fondue, one should not drink water after it or the cheese just forms a big ball in your stomach. I found that out the hard way—a little tip from me to you.
Something interesting to note is that there is a dispute between the two neighboring towns of Luins and Vinzel as to who invented the malakoff. I guess it’s a bitter rivalry too. Jean and I had visions of one town sabotaging the other town’s cheese stock for the year, rendering the malakoff totally defunct for the season. We could see the headlines: “Local Man Accused of Adding Bacteria to Luin’s Cheese: Malakoffs Ruined!” Maybe it was the wine and balls of cheese talking, but we were in stitches!
Our merry band of walkers headed on to our final destination of Bursins. This is a serious wine tasting route, with twenty-six wineries en route. We saw many testers with glasses in a sling—an official “tasters” contraption that enabled the glass to swing freely while the taster walked to the next stop. Worn around your neck, it was really a fashion statement … and a testament to one’s dedication to tasting. A small train also wound around the paved paths between the caveaux. Towards the end of the walk, that train looked pretty tempting.
The last stop brought a tasting in a dark cavernous establishment. The woman in charge poured samples with ease. She also brandished a special key to allowed lucky tasters to sample wines that were fermenting. A mini-tap was opened with the magic key and samplers enjoyed the new wines, called Bourru.
