For a couple of years Gabriele and I have frequented a cheese shop in the Del Ray area of Alexandria. I lived in Del Ray from 1993 to 1998, and the neighborhood has undergone quite a renaissance in the past few years: http://www.weta.org/community/neighborhoods/delray/
The cheese shop we like is Cheesetique, a place that offers a wide variety of gourmet cheeses: http://www.cheesetique.com/
Recently Cheesetique added a small restaurant and wine bar, and Gabe and I stopped by to check it out. It was a beautiful Saturday and we hadn’t been to Del Ray for a few weeks — a perfect setting for a leisurely lunch. The cheese counter is in the front of the shop and the bar and tables in the back. We sat at the bar and ordered a cheese board and flight of Syrah wines.
The cheeses we tried were a Taleggio, cow cheese from Italy, tasty but strong. Fontanella was another cow cheese from Wisconsin and was good, and a Goat Gouda from Holland was our favorite. We ended up also ordering a junior grilled cheese sandwich and a Panzanella salad, both far superior to typical renditions.
There were three Syrahs, from Chile, France and Australia. A Cono Sur 2005 from Chile had an astringent feel in the mouth, was sharp, tart and had a lot of tannin. A Le Paradou, Cotes du Luberon 2005 had some Grenache mixed with Syrah and was softer than the Chilean, nicer bouquet but was very neutral, nothing stood out about the flavor. The Stone Coast, Limestone Coast 2002 was the best of the three, with the nicest fruit and a bit more complexity than the first two.
For us the ambiance and the food was far superior to the wine, but we highly recommend Cheesetique. And if you can’t find a wine you like there, you can check out Planet Wine right down the street: http://www.planetwineshop.com/