Wine and Cheese

A match made in heaven?

Everyone loves wine and cheese don’t they? Does anyone really care about which wine with which cheese?  Think again – how many of you have had a glass of good red spoilt by the impact of drinking it with a smelly, well matured soft, or blue cheese?  I reckon a few of you. Cheese and wine can be a heavenly match, but only if you follow a few simple guidelines.

Taste, smells and flavours are all about balance; it’s no different with wine. Over or under-season a dish, and it’s a pale reflection of the triumph that it could have been.  Sip a glass of delicious, crisp white wine, then have a bite of chocolate and go back to the wine – I can guarantee that it will now taste sour and acid; go on, try it to prove my point!

With cheese, just like wine, there is a plethora of styles, but all with radically different flavours, from salty, tangy goats cheese, through nutty, creamy cheddar, to sweet yet salty blue.  On the basis of all of the above, it’s logical that you need different wines to suit different cheeses, without becoming too obsessive about the whole process.  I’ve always hated red wine with soft cheeses such as brie, as they give the wine a metallic taste – far better with a soft, creamy Chardonnay. But tradition has always put red wine with cheese. Throw tradition out of the window.

I put this theory to the test in a recent wine and cheese pairing exercise. Bath wine merchant Great Western Wine have teamed up with local cheese supplier Pong Cheese to bring together this classic partnership, to the extent that, from next week, there will be a bespoke cheese fridge in their shop with a range of 8 cheeses supplied exclusively for them - weekend wine and cheese shopping sorted.

My job was to match the cheese to the wine –tough job, I know. Here are my favourite matches, following a few simple rules:

Goats Cheese

Bosworth Leaf Goats cheese – the textbook match for goats cheese is Sauvignon blanc, both of which originated in the Loire valley and are natural partners. New Zealand Sauvignon blanc can be too aggressive, so I picked a vibrant, zesty, wild herb-dusted one from the south of Chile, Las Cenizas Laberinto Sauvignon blanc 2015 (£15.50), which picks up the tangy, salty, mouthwatering flavours in the cheese.

Creamy brie-style – Perl Wen, an unctuous, gooey delight from Wales, worked magically well with Mas Sardana Cava Brut Nature NV (£13.50), bringing out the creamy, nutty character in both. Fizz and cheese? Why not. Another option would be classic Chablis.

Washed rind cheeses - Lincolnshire Poacher – this is a nutty, fragrant, relatively mild cheese, not dissimilar to Comte – I loved this with the fresh, vibrant style of Souson Ailala 2015 (£13.95), a deliciously fresh, juicy red from Galicia in north west Spain, with no oak, just a riot of red fruit flavours – spot on.

Cheddar

Westcombe cheddar – avoid big, tannic reds with hard cheeses, and let softer, spicier reds coax out the very best of the flavours in both, in this case Domaine de la Janasse Cotes du Rhone 2015 (£12.50), a rich, silky red, full of blackberry fruit and oozing charm.

Matching Pong Pecorino Toscana was a delectable discovery – for traditionalists, go with a classic, but lighter style, Tuscan red, such as Morellino di Scansano 2014 (£14.95); but, with the cheese’s granular texture, and powerful, salty, sweet character, we had a eureka moment and tried it with the dry, but delicately aromatic Patricius, Tokaji Dry Furmint 2015 (£12.75) — a flawless alliance.

Blue Cheese

Port is always a safe bet, but my tip would be to go for a honeyed dessert wine – sweet, complimentary, but lighter in style.  Sauternes is great, but it was the seductive Italian sweet range which took top billing.

First up Perl Las Blue, a mild, creamy welsh blue which snuggled up cosily to the honeyed, dried apricot-stashed, Anselmi I Capitelli 2015 (37.5cl £18.50) from northern Italy, whilst the powerful, yet meltingly tender, sweet, creamy Mountain Gorgonzola, formed a blissful marriage with its Italian compatriot Fattoria dei Barbi Vin Santo 2009 (37.5cl £17.95), the most classic of all Italian dessert wines.

And finally, onto Cropwell Bishop stilton - melt-in-the-mouth, and remarkably delicate with a tangy bite – another blue cheese charmed by the irresistible attraction of a luscious Italian, this time a sweet red, Bertani Recioto Valpolicella 2012 (50cl £23), a mellifluous nectar, of dried raisins, cherries, dark chocolate, candied lemons and spice, at a temperate 13% alcohol, which coaxed out every inch of character from this Nottinghamshire delight whilst parading its own glories simultaneously.

Wine and cheese matching – join the adventure.

By Angela Mount