Every Saturday morning I make the trip out of the city to Russos to buy fresh produce. I wish I could say that I go there for the inexpensiveve fruit and veges, the great Italian deli, the freshly baked bread, or the selection of imported olive oil. And I can say this, because it's true. But the real reason why I drive out of the city to shop instead of finding a more convenient place in the city is to visit Mark, the head cheese guy at the front of the cheese counter.

Mark is passionate about his cheese. Every week I show up, and even when he's busy, he invites me over. "Hey, I got something really cool in, you gotta try this," he'll say.

Continuing my wine pairing education, I attempted to do the (near) impossible by cooking a spicy Asian seafood dish and pairing it successfully with a wine of my choosing.

I am happy to admit that I failed miserably.

Since my wine class is over, I've been attempting to use my newfound "expertise" by pairing my weekday meals with wine based on what I know.  I've successfully paired several meals lately, but those meals have primarily been classics: California Cabernet with steak, Chablis with shellfish. I wanted to try pairing wine to notoriously difficult to pair cuisine: Thai food.

"Cheesy Party," the email from Keith and Diane, said. Bring a wine and a cheese to match, and we'll all sit around their pool with some good friends.

Needless to say, this idea appealed to me.

So I picked out a couple of bottles I had lying around, namely a bottle of 2001 Alphonse Mellot "Cuvee Edmond" Sancerre I picked up at Federal Wine & Spirits on Wednesday and a bottle of 2004 Bodegas Tres Picos Garnacha from Campo de Borja, Spain I had sitting in the rack since the beginning of the year. We stopped by our local cheese shop, Formaggio, and picked up a block of Orna from Valencia, Spain (to pair with the Garnacha) and a Sancerre goat cheese to pair with the Mellot.