Yummy Malaysiana: Wine With Cheese

Wine With Cheese

At lunch yesterday I sat next to a winemaker. Scrabbling for something to keep the conversation going, I enquired if he was a red wine with cheese man or a white wine with cheese man. He replied neither, I eat it by itself. So ended the conversation. He moved seats shortly after.

For me its white wine all the way. Never understood the fascination with serving cheese with red really as its the high acidity in certain white wines that cut through the inherent fat and, to me, the tannins in reds simply clash. The classic combination is goats cheese with Sauvignon Blanc, specifically Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire but there has to be more than just cracking open an SB.

This week is British Cheese Week, so a damn fine excuse for some experimentation. A little selection of cheeses from the family-owned Shropshire based cheese producer Applebys have come my way with suggestions for eight great cheese and wine partnerships.

As I get older I realise that I dislike, with growing intensity, smoky flavours. Not wanting to deride Applebys Smoked Cheshire cheese but nibbling on a corner was like eating a smouldering twig. I could see though that the Esk Valley Chardonnay 2010 with its oaky/lees complexity its a full on oaky chardonnay matched well with the smoky dimension. The cheese is smoked traditionally in the smokehouse with oak wood chips for 3 to 7 days, depending on weather conditions.

The unsmoked Appleby Cheshire was momentously more enjoyable, moist and crumbly, and sublime when matched to the Vidal White Label Syrah 2008 (yep, a red wine), a grand wine with cheese match. (Incidentally, the wine makers I spent yesterday lunchtime with were all from Martinborough, New Zealand and proffered a range of Pinot Noir wines which I would love to try against this cheese).

A second red that worked rather nicely wit! h the sa me Appleby Cheshire was the Louis Jadot Beaujolias Villages Combe aux Jacques 2011. Beaujolais as a region seldom gets a look-in at Scribbling Towers; a lightness to the wines and low tannins being the reason, but also explains why the match works so well. The wine is made from brought in grapes, rather than from producer owned vineyards from around Brouilly with a little from Regni blended in too.

Applebys Mature Cheshire, I assume, is a new addition to their range as there are no details on their website to explain the differences between the normal Cheshire and this mature version. Regardless the extra depth of flavour a really delicious cheese went beautifully with the Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2010. Lively acidity here being the key to a good match; but also the subtle oaky notes from some barrel aging. Lovely tropical fruit flavours and a lighter body than the Esk Valley Chard. Such a good match in fact that it trumped the Villa Maria Pinot Noir-Mature Cheshire match, just.

A similar situation resulted in trying the Grant Burge 10 year old tawny (a rich port-style wine) with Applebys Double Gloucester it was such a sublime combination that the (admittedly small sample of the cheese) was woofed down before remembering the Louis Jadot Macon Villages 2010 was also supposed to be tried with the cheese. The nutty, gentler, almost mellow flavour of the cheese matching the the mellow, dry finish on the Grant Burge. Luckily there is a little remaining in the bottle to sample with chocolate based desserts (something not too sweet but dark and brooding perhaps). Interestingly the Grant Burge wine is made in a solera-based system, so more sherry than port. Grapes are sourced from a selection of Grant Burges vineyards from various parts of the Barossa Valley, so non-vineyard specific. Alcohol is 19.5%.

Wine with Cheese

Applebys Cheshire with Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages Combe aux Jacques 2011 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 9.99 Waitrose) and Vidal White Label Syrah 2008 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 13.99 Waitrose)
Applebys Smoked Cheshire with Errazuriz Estate Carmnere 2010 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 9.99, Majestic Wine ) and Esk Valley Chardonnay 2010 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 11.25, Halifax Wine Company, D.Byrne & Co, www.nzhouseofwine.co.uk
Applebys Mature Cheshire with Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2010 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 12.99 Majestic Wine, Coop) and Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2009 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 14.99, Sainsburys, Majestic Wine)
Applebys Double Gloucester with Louis Jadot Mcon Villages 2010 [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 10.50 Budgens, Rhythm & Booze) and Grant Burge 10 year old Tawny [Adegga / Snooth] (RRP 12.50, Harrods, Hailsham Cellars, Steephill Wines)

Applebys cheeses are stocked by Waitrose, Paxton & Whitfield, Neals Yard Dairy,! the Fin e Cheese Co, independent retailers and direct from Applebys Cheese

An older post offers a comprehensive Matching Cheese and Wine Guide.