Meet Winn-Dixie's Cheese Steward

If only Brie could talk.

The things that cheese could say only James Daigle would know. 

The Sarasota resident is the first-ever cheese steward at the Fruitville Road  that celebrated the  this week.

Daigle's goal is to give his cheeses organized across his case a voice.

"Every cheese has a story," Daigle tells Patch.

Take the Morbier for instance, which has morning and evening milk from the same cow divided with a vegetable ash. 

"This one will take you to a B&B in a Vermont snowstorm by the fire," he says.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Inside the remodeled Winn-Dixie with its wood-tone treatments, wood floors in the produce and deli area, cheese and wine stewards, a sushi chef, it's like stepping into a — something northerners would appreciate given the cult status that Rochester, N.Y.-based grocery chain has achieved.

Yes, there are custom cheese shops in Sarasota, but the personal artisan approach is now going mainstream by going into the grocery store. The cheese steward guiding customers on upscale cheeses is part of an overall strategy at Winn-Dixie to stay current with shoppers' demands.

"We realize as a trend within the industry, cheese became a focal point of what the guests is expecting from their experience," says Winn-Dixie's corporate executive chef Kevin Smith.

The Jacksonville-based chain, , partners with other companies to enhance the cheese program and uses analytics to determine what cheeses the customers at the store would buy.

"We across a fairly broad selection of cow, sheep's milk, goat's milk and from firm to creamy," Smith said. "Within each community, we refine that process based on what the community looks for. We have locations that are snowbird-centric. They have a different profile. My mom's Canadian and her choice of cheeses is far different from my father's, who is German." 

A longtime shopper at the store, Daigle was encouraged by management to work at the Winn-Dixie store as their first-ever cheese steward. When he heard the store's plans, it took him back to a rustic general store in Connecticut where he previously lived.

"They know I have the gift of gab, and I love, love people," Daigle says. "I'm a people person and that's just the way it is, and I happen to sell cheese."

Part of that chummy personality he chalks up to being a bartender at one time.

"That was OK but people would get intoxicated, they'd get stupid," Daigle says. "If people get intoxicated on my cheese, they just get better."

He's already noticed folks stopping by and telling him how they remember the tips he doles out to customers while he explains the cheeses.

"One thing at the table I tell people is to leave their cheese out for an hour or two and then serve it," he says. "Three people yesterday actually acknowledged that fact."

In addition to the stories, Daigle can rattle off just about anything about cheese. He was sent to train with Michael Landis at Alco Fine Cheese in Miami to go to Cheese College where for a week he had to sample cheese — each one at least three times.

"I knew to eat a lot of salad while I was there," Daigle cracked. But he took away plenty of new facts and ways to present cheeses.

Even the store director Dale Root became somewhat of a cheesehead after the steward came on board.

"I myself was a cheese novice, and I wasn't very educated on cheese," says Root, who has worked at the store for all of its 13 years. "But I'm learning through my cheese steward as well through my customers. A lot of my customers are very cheese knowledgable, and we find that by them saying, 'Oh you have all these varieties.'"

The way Root sees it — or tastes it — the best way is to sample. Some of his favorites include cheddars and smoke gouda.

"Some of them you're definitely going to love, and others you're going say it was good to try," he says.

Just try to test him. What does he consider the world's best cheese? Emmi Le Gruyere with a "nutty, fruity, crunchy" texture that "when you walk away, it will make your carriage screech," Daigle says.

"Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart uses this," he says. "It's the best." 

Oh, and the Gruyere goes well with a Cabernet, he adds.

What do people in Sarasota tend to buy at the store? Brie. And Ile de France is the one to try, he says. "It's like a rich, European butter," Daigle says.

What kind a cracker should I eat the cheese on? "Everything tastes good on a Ritz," he says, but the store also carries selections of fine designer crackers, too.

Daigle receives a lot of requests for cheese packages — gift baskets, platters, blocks, first timers — but asks customers what event they'll be at to select the best cheese.

"Are they good friends or bad friends? Do you want them to stay long or maybe you have bad neighbors? And they laugh," he says. Popular party platters Daigle considers to include a "coffee table cheese"  like a sage derby that would go well with a port wine or perhaps shires that includes five different types of cheddar.

Daigle also makes good friends with Peter Miller — the store's wine steward — who also offers wine samples in store and the two can guide customers on what cheese to pair with wine — which is an expanded department.

Miller previously worked in a wine store for more than three years and will go to a wine college to extend is education as a sommelier.

The Sarasota resident loves viticulture, varietals and any other wine-related subject (as well as the craft beer selection, too).

"So many people think it's complex, but it's not as complex as people think," Miller says. "And it's so varied that there's something for everybody."

Miller is a bit of a grape geek, too, telling people how wine is made, where it's from and where the grape flourishes like the Malbec grape.

"It originated in France, but it is grown to even a much, much greater extent in Argentina," Miller explains. "It just does very well in Argentina, so if you're looking for interesting Malbecs, the Argentinians are producing just fantastic Malbecs."

For a wine guy like Miller, he loves he gets to do this in a grocery store to make it easier to show and guide people for food pairings with wine. All he has to do is guide them to the right aisle or meat case using his food pairing display. 

"It helps bring a shopping experience together for people," Miller says. "Food and wine — it allows them to have a more complete shopping experience."

Winn-Dixie Events Cheese and Wine Event

Friday, July 27, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Taste of Winn-Dixie

Guests are invited to enjoy A Taste of Winn-Dixie with an evening of wine and cheese sampling, a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit and food tasting stations highlighting new store features, as well as live entertainment, a caricature artist, giveaways and more.