Say Cheese Please

There is probably no other food and beverage pairing that is as renowned as wine and cheese. It is the ultimate cliché, and these days it seems to be the insult of choice by certain political activists wishing to accuse their opponents of elitism. Never mind that many of those throwing accusations of ‘wine and cheese eating elitists’ are themselves from a similar social class. Wine and cheese need not be elitist, but it must be delicious. Here is a rundown of such a tasting held last week in the company of great friends, but first a disclaimer.

I do not profess to be an expert on cheese, though admittedly I am learning and have come a long way. My dear friend Caroline is usually entrusted as our in-house ‘cheesemonger’ for such affairs and I have her to thank for introducing me to a procession of delicious cheeses. Unfortunately I was a terrible student, perhaps due to the influence of the wine, and do not remember the specific names of three cheeses. The important thing to remember, however, is that wine and cheese pairing is about matching flavours and textures, both of which are still keenly in my head.

The cheese included a very mature Cheddar, a Brie de Meaux, a raw soft goats cheese, a washed rind cheese akin to a Stinking Bishop, and a deliciously sharp blue cheese. All cheeses were purchased from Neal’s Yard Dairy and were from the UK (except for the brie), and while not all were organic, all are produced humanely using traditional techniques.

Being in charge of selecting wine for such an affair may sound envious, but the endless choice and the pressure to find a creative theme is rather challenging. A previous tasting was entitled the ‘Franco-Prussian Empire’ due to a pairing of German wines with French cheeses. Feeling no such frivolity this time around, I stuck to grapes and producers I knew to be reliable and delicious, hitting on all price points. For the whites, I selected two Rieslings of decidedly different characters: one, a 2005 MGP from Marlborough, NZ (£5.50 – discounted due to bankrupt stock), the other a 2005 Dönnhoff Nordheimer Kirschheck Spätlese from the Nahe in Germany (£21.95). The reds included a 2005 Merlot from Ventisquero’s ‘Grey’ line from the Maipo Valley in Chile (£11.75), and a 2004 Chateau Teyssier, St Emillion Grand Cru from the Bordeaux region of France (£21.95). Both reds were decanted for three hours and all wines were purchased from the City Beverage Company.

One might think powerful cheeses need powerful wines and to an extent that is true, but sometimes contrasts are equally important. I found the Cheddar, with all its rustic gusto, paired well with both the Ventisquero and the Teyssier (which is 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc), but preferred the Teyssier. Its sharply structured edge caught the bite of the Cheddar beautifully, while the Ventisquero accentuated the earthier and more sensual side of the cheese.

The washed rind cheese was pungent and nutty and paired best with the Ventisquero, but that stinky quality was nicely complimented by the Dönnhoff, the acid and rich fruit creating somewhat of a harmony.

Likewise, I prefer a rich and fruity wine with a sweet edge when eating blue cheese. The classic pairing of Stilton/Port and Roquefort/Sauternes is an excellent demonstration. The Dönnhoff was superb with the blue cheese, but the MGP was also lovely despite the lack of rich gusto the late harvested grapes of the spätlese had. I found the red wines both accentuated a bitter quality with the cheese. Salty and sweet flavour combinations seem self evident, but savoury and sweet also tango. This is why sweet wines works so well with foie gras.

The rich butteryness of the Brie worked well with the Dönnhoff as well, but I preferred the Ventisquero. It seemed that the rind content affected the pairing and the more rind (which I love), the more those earthy flavours of coffee, chocolate, and stewed fruits grounded it. The notes of blackcurrant were particularly pungent on the Ventisquero, with momentary pulses of Ribena, but nonetheless it worked.

Lastly, the gentle quality of the goats cheese (not something usually associated with goats cheese) was stunning with the MGP. This is more of an Alsatian style Riesling, pleasant fruit, but an underlying minerality that offers structure. It also lacks the unctuousness of the Dönnhof, which in the case of the goats cheese was perfect as it was the least fatty of the cheeses. The acidic grip of the goats cheese was well matched by the acid of the MGP. I found the Dönnhof a bit too overpowering for this one.

And so you have it – 5 cheeses, 4 wines, and an evening of much mirth. Hopefully this provides some inspiration for similar events of you own. I would like to say that I think white wine is underappreciated by many when pairing wine with cheese. Aromatic white wines with a hit of concentrated fruit (sometimes mistaken as sweetness) work wonderfully with many cheeses – Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Muscat, and some Pinot Gris. Surely there are others so go and explore and remember to say cheese.