Wine and Cheese Night

Last week, we welcomed WINOS, a women’s wine group that some of our members are a part of, for a special night of pairing wine to cheese. First we needed the cheese. So I called my cheese monger friend, Ali Morgan of Rare Edibles, and we picked out an amazing selection of artisanal cheeses and charcuterie to pair wines with. We chose cheeses and meats of different styles and diverse origins, from an Ashe-Ripened goat’s milk’s cheese from Spain and a soft, bloomy rind, water buffalo cheese from Lombardy to firm and strong, raw cow’s milk aged cheddar from Kansas; we all had a really fun time with this tasting, pairing wines to such an eclectic selection of cheeses.

As the group was gathering, the ladies enjoyed the crisp, refreshing 2009 Plantagenet Dry Riesling from the Great Southern GI in Western Australia. This wine is special for many reasons. One does not always see a wine from the cooler Great Southern GI, compared to the more popular Australian Riesling growing areas like Clare Valley and Eden Valley. Plantagenet has rich history in Australian winemaking, dating back to 41 vintages, and now owned by the oldest family owned business, Lionel Samson and Son. Sourced from 43 year old vines, it had a pronounced nose and chiseled palate of steely minerals, fresh lemon and lime, honeysuckles, and apple and lime blossoms with a clean, long finish. This was a really pleasant starter wine before the tasting began. There were 6 wines, four cheeses, and three cured meats; all pairings were a brilliant success, but I will only describe the crowd favorites to spare you in reading material…

One of the favorite pairings of the night was the first two wines were paired with an Ashe-Ripened goat’s milk cheese called Madurat. The cheese, by Bauma dairy in Catalunya, Spain, is an un-pressed, slow, whey drained, goat cheese that has been covered with vegetable ash and aged for 30 days. It is dense, chewy, and sweet with bright citrus zest notes. I paired two wines with this cheese: 1st and the favorite was the 2008 Aubry Campanae Veteres Vites Brut Grower Champagne (also used as a palate cleanser throughout the tasting), which the bubbles cleaned out the palate from the dense goat cheese texture. With a little bit of local, wild berry jam, this pairing was a perfect match. The second wine was more of a classic pairing for goat cheese with parallel citrus and white flower floral flavors and a mineral steeliness that also picked up the thick texture of the cheese right off the roof of the mouth. The 2013 Bailly Reverdy Chavignol Sancerre did a wonderful job of just that. Its crisp texture, and flavors of green apples, fresh herbs, and a hit of flint really hit the spot with this cheese. If a heavier, tannic wine was paired with this cheese, the weight and the flavors of the wine would over power the cheese; the tannins would appear unpleasant and the delicate flavors of the cheese would be lost. A light, fresh white is the best compliment for a softer cheese like goat cheese.

On the opposite spectrum, the second much loved pairing was the last. Here we had a 1999 Moulin St. Georges Bordeaux from St. Emilion paired with Cottonwood River Reserve, which is an aged, raw, cow’s milk cheddar from Kansas. This sharp cheddar had fruit-forward flavors, with a round finish. The texture was studded with even more crunchy protein crystallizations and had a little bit of crumble; however, it still retained a slight amount of moisture that coated our palates. With firm cheeses, the water/moisture content evaporates out and only the fat and the proteins remain. This calls for a wine with equal power, rich in flavors and weight, with lots of tannins to grip onto that fat and proteins of the cheese. If paired with a light white or red with low tannins, the cheese would over power the wine, the wine would appear thin; and this time, the wine would be lost. This aged Bordeaux was a great compliment to the aged cheddar. The tannins held on to each protein crystal of the cheese like white on rice. The structure and weight of the wine was in complete sync with the weight and sharp flavors of the cheese. Although, not from the best year, this is a great example of how much pleasure can be taken from a challenging year by a privileged producer. As sister chateau to Chateau Ausone, Pauline Vautheir and her father Alain crafts wonderful Merlot based wines for both Chateaux. This wine was fantastic: the black and blue fruits were still plump, and the minerality and the lengthy rich finish complimented the equally stretched finish of the cheese. Great times were had by all that night as we talked about how to pair wines to cheeses and meats.

The Cheese and Wine Pairing Lineup:
Pairing #1: 2008 Aubry Campanae Veteres Vites Brut Champagne & 2013 Bailly Reverdy Sancerre Chavignol… with… Madurat: ashe-ripened goat cheese from Catalunya, Spain