Canadian Whisky - BlueToad

To have a modern day wine and cheese party, start by buying the best
and most interesting wines and cheeses you can afford for the event.
his house years ago and someone asked
him if he had any cheese and crackers
to go with the wine we were enjoying.
He returned a few minutes later
happy to accommodate the request
with a plate of saltines and Cracker
Barrel cheddar. Not exactly what we
were hoping for, but decidedly better
than cheese foam in a can and gardenflavored
Wheat Thins.
Though there are no hard and fast
rules about wine and cheese pairings,
there are a few guidelines which do –
without doubt – increase your chances
of finding great combinations. You can
start with either the wines you want to
drink or the cheese you want to serve
as a point of departure and go from
there. Cheese is made from the milk
of different animals, from the water
buffalo to the blessed doe-eyed bovine,
and each person has their preference.
This will have a strong effect on which
wines pair best. Cow’s milk cheese
is generally less acidic than sheep or
goat milk-based cheeses and therefore,
the former can often be enjoyed
with Chardonnay or other lower-acid
whites, while the latter two pair better
with higher-acid white wines like
Sauvignon Blanc or Albariño.
White Wines
In general, whites will work better
than reds for a wine and cheese-only
pairing, as they are normally best with
soft, medium and some strongerflavored
cheeses. This is because white
wines have more acid than reds. The
softer the cheese, the more fat it leaves
as a layer on your tongue and therefore
whites with higher acidity break
through this layer. Red wines in the
same example would have their flavors
muted or stripped by the fat layer
because they generally have far less acid
and do not break through this barrier.
red Wines
Reds are best if following a main
course and usually do better with
hard cheeses. The rule of thumb is:
the harder the cheese, the higher level
of tannins (the mouth-puckering dry
quality in red wines) a wine can have.
Also, fruity, less-oaked reds fare better
with medium-bodied cheeses. Very
stinky cheese is usually a tough match
for either white or red, as often these
wines will be best with a dessert-type
wine. Sometimes Champagne or other
sparkling wines can work, but if serving
really smelly cheese, Cognac or
Armagnac is an interesting match.
Sweet Wines
If you are serving a sweet cheese like
white Stilton with bits of ginger and
mango in it (this is not a blue cheese),
the wine has to be sweeter than the
cheese. This is a rule of thumb for dessert
wines in general – always as sweet
as or sweeter than what they are being
paired with. Wines like Sauternes,
Vin Santo, German Beerenauslese,
and Hungarian Tokjai go amazingly
well with blue cheese, which has to be
experienced to be believed.
To have a modern day wine and
cheese party, start by buying the best
and most interesting wines and cheeses
you can afford for the event. Serve all
cheeses at room temperature or slightly
cool and select white wines for soft and
medium-bodied cheeses and red wines
with hard or aged cheeses. If you want
to serve white and red wines, move
through the cheese from soft to hard
and make the switch to red once to get
to the hard or aged cheese. End with
some form of blue cheese and its best
match. As for the port wine cheese ball
and cocktail weenies – if anyone asks –
you can always say they were sold out
at the grocery store.
Bon Appetit!
classic and new-found wine and cheese pairings
Stilton cheese (cow) with Port
roquefort (sheep) with Sauternes
Gorgonzola with Vin Santo or, amazingly, Amarone
Goat cheese with Sauvignon Blanc (try a Sancerre from the Loire Valley in France)
Parmigiana-reggiano with Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Amarone, Champagne
(what a discovery Champagne was with this!)
Gouda with Riesling
Brie with un-oaked Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Champagne
Swiss with Gewürztraminer
Sharp, aged cheddar with Cabernet Sauvignon or Barolo
(actually, Barolo is a dream combination)
comté with White Burgundy (100% Chardonnay)
mahon with Spanish Rioja
Teleggio with Barberesco (amazing)
Please drink responsibly LiquorandWineOutlets.com • march 2O12 | 11