Wine and Cheese

[futronic]

To celebrate finishing my last university exam, I had a bottle of Cloudy Bay's 1998 Pelorus sparkling wine from New Zealand with Port Salut and Brie. They were both excellent matches.

[Busboy]

Curious what people think would go well with a Reblochon? (Just had a nice example sans wine)

Something lighter in weight, fruity and red like a cru Beaujolais, or perhaps even a not-too-weighty red Burgundy. For a white, you'd be safest pairing with something regionally similar like a Chasselas if you could locate it, or dry riesling or something sparkling like a Blanquette de Limoux.

I just spent a week in Savoie, where reblochon is unavoidable -- not that you'd want to avoid it, except to save room for the tomme or a little beaufort. Savoyard wines seem to be labled by grape, a la nearby Italy and Alsace, and when the locals are in a red wine mood, they knock back a little gamay with their reblochon -- the base grape for Katie's beaujolais. There's a little more variety in the local whites, but I found that the roussette de Savoie, which tastes somehow like a redneck viogner (the sommelier at the local 2-star wouldn't let us order it one night: too unrefined for his chef's cuisine), made a wonderful match. Look for honeysuckle, rather than oak, is probably the lesson there. But delicacy is not a requirement.

My favorite match: a real sauterne, a chunk of cheddar that's done hard time in somebody's cellar, and a peach. Summertime.

[primowino]

One of my favourite combos is a bit different than anything else mentioned. I am a fan of good quality Vouvray - cheap Vouvray can be pretty nasty. Demi-sec examples from good producers ( Huet, Champalou, Gaudrelle etc) and preferably a few years old, go well with a variety of soft and semi-soft cheeses, but my favourite is with French goat's cheese particularly Valencay.

[HOOLIGAN]

Roquefort Le Papillon and Sauternes maybe a 1921 D'YQUEM

[Carlovski]

I personally like cheese with a good quality hard cider.

More of a sat in a field chewing straw treat than haute cuisine, but it works for me!

[Brad Ballinger]

Also like Parmigiano Reggiano with cabernet sauvignon.

Try a nice piece of aged Parmigiano Reggiano with some really high quality aged Balsamic vinegar (old enough to be really viscous and concentrated - I use a 20 year old) drizzled on it. :wub: This is truly one of the most delicious things EVER.

Yes, tru aceto balsamico di modena (the stuff certified by the consorzio produttori) on reggiano is hard to beat. For a wine (whether or not balsamico is in the picture) I like Amarone. I also like Amarone with gorgonzola.

But I'm simply gaga over explorateur and Champagne.

[Boris_A]

than haute cuisine, but it works for me!

Anything goes/is haute cuisine in the era of postmodernism.

For me:

Gruyère Alpège and Chasselas from Saint-Saphorin.

[Busboy]

Roquefort Le Papillon and Sauternes maybe a 1921 D'YQUEM

Name-dropper.

[bigbear]

Thunderbird and Velveeta.

[Pan]

Thunderbird and Velveeta.

[KatieLoeb]

Thunderbird and Velveeta.

Sliced off the block or the individually wrapped slices?

[Michael Laiskonis]

I've been doing a composed cheese course of Fourme de Montbrison (mild, slightly sweet and salty blue from the Auvergne) with a soy caramel, bacon, dried and crushed pain d'epice, prune, and a light caramel-like tuile. We've tried many pairings- Beaumes de Venise, White Banyuls, Amarone... but my fave so far is a Tokaji.

The idea behind the dish is to marry the cheese with both sweet and savory elements as cheese is such a great transistion between sweet and savory courses. Any other thought on pairings, perhaps something we haven't thought of?

[KatieLoeb]

I've been doing a composed cheese course of Fourme de Montbrison (mild, slightly sweet and salty blue from the Auvergne) with a soy caramel, bacon, dried and crushed pain d'epice, prune, and a light caramel-like tuile. We've tried many pairings- Beaumes de Venise, White Banyuls, Amarone... but my fave so far is a Tokaji.

The idea behind the dish is to marry the cheese with both sweet and savory elements as cheese is such a great transistion between sweet and savory courses. Any other thought on pairings, perhaps something we haven't thought of?

Maybe a Monbazillac? A bit less floral than the Beaumes-de-Venise and a little less heavy handed (I assume the Tokaji is of sufficient puttonyos to require an insulin shot, yes?) than the Tokaji might be. Monbazillac is like Sauternes slutty sister. A little less classy and a lot easier, but still a really sweet girl

That cheese sounds divine. I shall have to find some. The composition sounds even better. What inspired the combination of the various savory elements of the tuile?

[lala]

Also like Parmigiano Reggiano with cabernet sauvignon.

Try a nice piece of aged Parmigiano Reggiano with some really high quality aged Balsamic vinegar (old enough to be really viscous and concentrated - I use a 20 year old) drizzled on it. :wub: This is truly one of the most delicious things EVER.

Oh my God, yes! yes! yes!

I bought my first bottle of 25 y/o balsamic last year for my birthday (now what does that say about me?) and had great fun drizzling it on lovely things. The only way to improve that balsamic/reggiano paring is to add some slivers of pear. I hate pear - loathe it. But reggiano, pear and aged balsamic is just...swoony.

[Susan in FL]

I bought my first bottle of 25 y/o balsamic last year for my birthday (now what does that say about me?) ...

Maybe it says about you what it said about me when I bought my first fresh whole truffle for myself for my birthday a couple years ago!

I have a big smile from your post.

I so agree with you all about aged parm-reg, aged balsamic, and Cabernet, and next time will include pear. Like you, pears don't excite me, but I can't resist what gave you that reaction. I do love pears with whatever-good-bleu-cheese-it-is-at the moment and Port.

[futronic]

Amarone with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Unfortunately, Amarone is an acquired taste for some people. I'm not one of those people.

[Brad Ballinger]

I've been doing a composed cheese course of Fourme de Montbrison (mild, slightly sweet and salty blue from the Auvergne) with a soy caramel, bacon, dried and crushed pain d'epice, prune, and a light caramel-like tuile. We've tried many pairings- Beaumes de Venise, White Banyuls, Amarone... but my fave so far is a Tokaji.

The idea behind the dish is to marry the cheese with both sweet and savory elements as cheese is such a great transistion between sweet and savory courses. Any other thought on pairings, perhaps something we haven't thought of?

Aside from the Banyuls, what have you done on the fortified front? My guess is you probably don't want to go that route if this is a transition course and not the end of the meal, but I'm curious what you think.

If you don't want to pursue that direction, perhaps a Verduzzo Friulano. Also, I have a note below on an Alsatian Gewurz VT that seemed to be a "bridge" wine. Here's the note copied and pasted...

1998 R. Mure Gewurztraminer Clos Saint Landelin Vendange Tardive, Vorbourg Grand Cru. Seductive floral and apricot nose. Faint spice. Some orange peel oil. Not as sweet on the palate as one might expect. More suited for cheese or even savory cuisine. This is the type of wine I like with foie gras moreso than the thicker stickies.

[Alberto]

Pecorino Romano and Moscato di Noto Liquoroso from Sicily (or Sicilia IGT Zibibbo, which is easier to find). Recommendable.

Alberto

[Rieslingfan]

Not that it will surprise anyone, but I love Riesling with cheese. Older Riesling Auslese is wonderful with ripe, soft cheeses. I've had it with Tallegio and Reblochon and loved both matches.

Also Austrian Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) is great with goat cheeses.

[jddoyle]

I can't believe I am mentioning this after all these great suggestions, maybe this one is just too obvious:

Epoisses and Burgundy.

White or red burgundy, I normally don't go above Premier cru status on the wine because the chees is strong enough to overwhelm the subtleties of the wine.

I prefer red burgundy, though the wife says white. Guess which we normally go with?

Anyway, great thread!

[dlc]

I can't believe I am mentioning this after all these great suggestions, maybe this one is just too obvious:

Epoisses and Burgundy.

White or red burgundy, I normally don't go above Premier cru status on the wine because the chees is strong enough to overwhelm the subtleties of the wine.

I prefer red burgundy, though the wife says white. Guess which we normally go with? 

Anyway, great thread!

Along with Epoisses, my other favorite with Burgundies is Citeaux. I think that this is the correct spelling as I have only had this in France and have not been able to find this in the US.

[OPJK]

Recently, I was matching some cheeses to Billecart-Salmon NV Rose for a pre-dinner course.

One cheese that matched incredibly well and received great reception was the Ubriaco al Prosecco - a cow's milk cheese from Veneto that had been washed in prosecco must. It is a natural match to sparkling wine.

Another favorite was the incredible Bonati Riserva Parmagiano Reggiano. It is an artisanal cheese made by the Bonati family with milk that they get from their own cows. They feed the cows a particulat diet, that includes, if I remember correctly, lots of hay and cornflakes, among other things. The result is a sweet, amazing cheese that makes me wish for a giant wheel of it sitting out on a counter at home.

The other cheeses in the course were Humboldt Fog chevre and Hudson Valley Camembert. Yum.

(After dinner, we had some Stilton, Crater Lake Blue, and a gruyere with d'Yquem!)