texacaliali wrote:

...with aged balsamic...

now you're talkin'!

...and let's hope it ^ shows up this holiday season...

rheatoomuch wrote:I was going to hit the big button but decided to check out the discussion from previous purchase. Not too impressed with the comments after folks recieved their cheese....

:-(

To be fair, both of those "Previous Offers" are for different cheeses than the one being offered here. The December one is for the Dry Jack which is what everyone loves. The October one was for their flavored jacks (not dry) which seems to have garnered the least favorable opinions. This offering (we think) is for the prezzo secco (half-dry) which is somewhere in between the previous two offerings noted.

If I wanted to give this as a gift, could I store it for a month? Would it hold up in the fridge? Not sure how to handle extended storage.

kingoffish wrote:On the homepage for wine.woot.com if you click on "continue reading" you will see that is says "Mezzo Secco Dry Monterey Jack Cheese 2 lb Wedge"

Or here is a link if you wish:
http://wine.woot.com/offers/vella-cheese-co-dry-jack-cheese#read-more

I know that the description page said "Messo Secco", but the frontpage did not (at least originally, they have changed the front page to match now). It originally just said "Dry Jack" which is a similar cheese from Vella that Woot has sold before.

This is the dry jack which is delicious

They look very similar, and with the confusing title it would be easy for a customer to make a purchase thinking they were getting the Dry Jack. I know that I almost bought a hunk because of the header on the homepage before I noticed the "messo secco" on the detailed description page. Judging by the other comments in this thread, there are other people who think/thought the offer was for the Dry Jack as well. I just wanted Woot to clarify for everyone which cheese was actually for sale. Which they have.

Thanks inky or whoever got things straight.

CrystalSinger wrote:Actually if you look at your original post, a mod has stated that they do, indeed, include costs such as tax shipping when they calculate the comparison percentage.

Well lets do the math on that then.
24.99+ 5= 29.99
33.00+ 15.39= 48.39

A total of a 38% price difference! Obviously the woot site calculates their % off only using MSRP. But obviously you want to also take into account shipping prices.

Hello Wooters!!
This is Gabe from Vella Cheese Co. We are very Excited and Grateful to be featured as today's Woot!! I am here to answer any of your questions as best I can. Thank you for your support and have a wonderful day

craigthom wrote:Are the cheese people reading this tonight?

I'm leaving town next Thursday for over two weeks. I'm in for three if I will receive it by Wednesday at the latest (Kentucky), but I can't buy it otherwise. Unless you promise to defer shipment until mid-December.

Unfortunately, while I can't say for sure (since Woot does the shipping), I don't believe it would be there by Wed. Thank you for your interest, though!

tsero4 wrote:Regular price:
2.5 lb. Quarter Wheel Mezzo Secco $33.00

$13.20 per pound

WOOT! Price:
2 lbs Wheel Mezzo Secco $24.99

$12.50 Per Pound

The WOOT! price is still lower but only by 5.3% not the posted 25%


Source: (http://www.vellacheese.com/pages/cheeses.html)

[MOD: Please be sure to include tax and shipping when comparing deals on wine.woot.]

Looks like the discount percentage and shipping price confusion got settled. I just wanted to clarify the weight. This is a quarter of a handmade random weight wheel. The pieces will range in weight from 2.25-2.5 lbs. We list this on our website as 2.5, Woot is listing it as 2. They are the same random weight cuts. Hope this helps, Thanks

psm321 wrote:Hi Woot! Guess what I'm going to ask! If you guessed "Is it vegetarian?", you got it!

Yes! This cheese is Vegetarian

gabevella wrote:Hello Wooters!!
This is Gabe from Vella Cheese Co. We are very Excited and Grateful to be featured as today's Woot!! I am here to answer any of your questions as best I can. Thank you for your support and have a wonderful day

Gabe, thanks for being here to answer questions! I had the same shipping concern as Craigthorn, so I'll definitely look for this cheese next time Woot offers it.

gabevella wrote:Looks like the discount percentage and shipping price confusion got settled. I just wanted to clarify the weight. This is a quarter of a handmade random weight wheel. The pieces will range in weight from 2.25-2.5 lbs. We list this on our website as 2.5, Woot is listing it as 2. They are the same random weight cuts. Hope this helps, Thanks

Thanks, GabeVella, that helps a lot. Vella cheese has received terrific ratings on Yelp.com. Almost all five stars. And the Woot shipping is reasonable, even cheap. (iGourmet charges $20.99 shipping for 10oz.!) I'm in.

matterhornfan wrote:Are you selling the Dry Jack or the Mezzo Secco this time? Different pages say different things, and the two cheeses are not the same.

This is the Mezzo Secco or "Part-Dry" Jack. It is the youngest of the Dry Jack cheeses, great for slicing, shredding or melting

Count me in. What put me over the top was seeing the Vella person on here. Can't wait to dig in to this cheese!

I believe Woot has offered this mezzo secco cheese before on 11/11/10, it was included in a combo with some salame and a dry jack.
I got that and I got the high moisture montery jack they offered on 10/20/11.

The mezzo and dry were both excellent and were the reason I went in for the high moisture stuff. The high moisture was good, but not as good as the dry and not something I would order again.

So in summary - mezzo secco = excellent. If you like goood cheese, you should check this out.

fiftymegatims wrote:How long will this cheese last?
Can it be frozen?
Is it shipped cold?

Unopened, this cheese will last, out of refrigeration, for over a week.
It can keep in refrigeration, unopened, for well over a year.
While it can be frozen, I wouldn't recommend it. As was stated by someone else, it will affect the texture of the cheese.
This is not shipped cold. As a vaccuum-sealed, aged semi-hard cheese shipped in cooler weather, it isn't required

jelliott04 wrote:Can someone from Woot or Vella chime in and tell me the Nutritional Info? We do a low carb diet I'm wondering about the carbs.

I'm tempted (if the carbs are nil), but didn't like the last Vella cheeses that I purchased via woot. They were shipped without a cold pack and the texture was just sort of rubbery. I'm thinking that if this is the dry cheese, maybe that wouldn't happen?

Thanks!

Jen

The Mezzo Secco has just 1g of carbs per oz. so, it is low-carb.
Yes, this an aged dry cheese so, it will ship much better. Thank you!

factotum wrote:Would this be good for raclette?

Yes! This cheese is perfect for raclette. My mom uses it all the time!

Flavor-wise, how would this work for topping french onion soup? Typically we like a saltier, nuttier style cheese like a Gruyere or a Jarlsberg. Does this have any of those flavors, or best to use something else for french onion?

theother1 wrote:If I wanted to give this as a gift, could I store it for a month? Would it hold up in the fridge? Not sure how to handle extended storage.

Yes, this will hold for at least a year

Also, the write-up mentions this as a good fondue cheese. Do you have any good fondue recipes to share for use with this cheese?

North316 wrote:Also, the write-up mentions this as a good fondue cheese. Do you have any good fondue recipes to share for use with this cheese?

While I don't have a fondue recipe that I can easily post or link to here, this cheese will work well with most recipes. It will substitute nicely for the Gruyere used in most recipes or just add it in as an extra cheese. More cheese is always better!

North316 wrote:Flavor-wise, how would this work for topping french onion soup? Typically we like a saltier, nuttier style cheese like a Gruyere or a Jarlsberg. Does this have any of those flavors, or best to use something else for french onion?

I think this works great for French Onion Soup. It does have the nuttier flavors like Gruyere or Jarlsberg but, it is less salty.

gabevella wrote:I think this works great for French Onion Soup. It does have the nuttier flavors like Gruyere or Jarlsberg but, it is less salty.

I would definitely agree with this.

I have recently started on the wedge I bought in the Dec 2011 offering and found in the back of the fridge. It is still very, very good (let it warm up a bit before eating it) and has the nuttly flavor North316 is looking for. And it isn't salty either - I dislike really salty cheeses.

Of course, my purchase was of the dry, but it's all I can go on. If this is similar, it'll fit the bill.

They had it during a April Woot-Off.

http://wine.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4974463

What's the best way to store this after it's opened?

nsaxena24 wrote:What's the best way to store this after it's opened?

Rewrapped and sealed airtight. A vaccuum sealer works best if you are planning to store for an extended period. Rewrapping tightly with a NEW piece of plastic wrap or a Ziploc bag. Keep the air off of it to slow mold growth. If a little mold develops on the outside, just cut it off

gabevella wrote:Unopened, this cheese will last, out of refrigeration, for over a week.
It can keep in refrigeration, unopened, for well over a year.
While it can be frozen, I wouldn't recommend it. As was stated by someone else, it will affect the texture of the cheese.
This is not shipped cold. As a vaccuum-sealed, aged semi-hard cheese shipped in cooler weather, it isn't required

Refrigerated and unopened, it'll keep for more than a YEAR??

SO glad I had the hubby order TWO! One we can eat soon and one we can save and age a bit longer.

I'm also probably going to order one and have it sent to my folks. I know they would enjoy this.

OK, sold! Wasn't quite sold last night, but after paring away a little mold from last April's purchase, it is still delicious (Dry Jack, that is), and it made my '09 Pedroncelli Cab sing with joy!

Good good stuff. 2 lbs is just waaaay too much for me living alone but others should jump on this.

Got some of the other Vella softer cheese and despite all the positive comments, did not at all care for it, nor did others I served it to. Rubber was the operative word.
However this looks interesting, another 27 minutes to ponder...
[edit] Caved
Last Wooter to Woot:rjquillin
Last Purchase:a minute ago

Just cut into mine a little while ago. I'll be getting this again if I see it here in the future. It's really good.

This arrived on Tuesday and I just cut into it. A very nice balance of sharp and smooth with nice buttery notes. I am really happy with this and hope to see this great deal again.

My wife and I have both been enjoying our cheese immensely. We have had it by itself, with wine, with mustard, with crackers- and it holds up and stands out in all these cases.

It is flavorful, but not crazy, it is a good semi-hard to hard cheese.

One note- make sure it comes up to room temp before eating. Cut off what you plan on having in about 20 minutes.