A Summery French Cheese Board

Cheese and wine is not just for after a meal or for a cold winter’s night. As most cheese is better matched with white wines it makes sense to make a meal of it and create a summer cheese board that can be eaten with some crusty bread and a mouthwatering salad.

Comté and a Jura Savignin

Comté cheese comes from the region of Jura, eastern France – a beautiful area of mountains, rolling pastures and pristine fresh air. This hard cheese is rich, concentrated and nutty with a savoury, brown butter flavour that develops as it matures. The 36 month aged cheeses have an almost roasted chicken skin flavour and these are brilliant on a cheese board matched with one of the local wines, Domaine de la Renardière Les Terrasses Savignin Arbois Pupillin, Jura 2012. This really is a unique wine full of flinty minerality, walnuts and brown spice, with lip-smacking freshness and a savoury dry texture. It is one of the best wine matches you’re likely to come across – the two were made for each other.

Brie de Meaux and Champagne

Brie de Meaux is made just outside Paris, and what do Parisians love? Champagne! Made only 45 minutes away by TGV, Champagne is the ideal accompaniment, particularly those made just from white grapes, Blanc de Blancs. Brie is a creamy soft cheese which can have buttery flavours of mushroom and almond as it ages. The acidity of Champagne works well here, the bubbles caressing the milky texture of the cheese and the hints of nut and brioche matching those in an aged example. Try Jacquart’s Blanc de Blancs 2006 – now almost 10 years old, this wine is rich and complex with hints of brazil nuts and brioche but lots of refreshing lime and apple acidity.

Goat’s cheese with Sancerre

France’s most famous French goat’s cheese is made in the Loire Valley - the birthplace of Sauvignon Blanc. Crottin de Chavignon is made in a tiny village of just 200 people and is the perfect partner to the local wine, Sancerre.  The acidity in a good goat’s cheese is the key to why this pairing works – the high natural acidity in Sauvignon Blanc grown on the flinty soils of Sancerre is the ideal accompaniment. Try Domaine des Vieux Pruniers, Sancerre 2013, full of citrus and herby green leaf flavours or a great alternative like the fresh, minty Sauvignon de Touraine, Domaine de Pierre 2014 - also recommended with a bowl of Moules Marinières; see our recipe here.

Camembert with Vouvray

Normandy’s Camembert is a classic with the local ciders, so why not try a sparkling wine that’s all about the baked apple-scented fruit flavours. Aged Camembert is richer and more pungent that Brie so needs a little more oomph from its wine partner – step forward Chenin Blanc. Didier Champalou’s  honeyed Vouvray Sec 2013 has lovely notes of warm hay and red crunchy apple which work brilliantly, while his sparkling Vouvray Brut NV is cool and refreshing with light bubbles and hints of quince and Bramley - particularly good with baked Camembert.

Sauternes and Roquefort

The classic British cheese and wine combo at Christmas is Port and Stilton, but the French prefer the sweet, honeyed, richness and refreshing bite of Sauternes with their blue cheeses. Roquefort’s salty taste and high toned acidity is perfect with the apricot and mushroomy aromas of Sauternes. The sweetness complements the salty tang while the natural acidity in the grapes is the perfect foil for the cheese’s acidity. Try a chilled Clos Dady’s Sauternes 2011 - a great match for blue cheese but equally a wine which can be drunk with your al fresco desserts – perhaps a crème brûlée or tarte tartin?

Cheese and white wine? Let's take this outside...

By Chris Penwarden