Cheese and Wine

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Choosing the right wine to go with a particular cheese can be a very tricky thing for the inexperienced. At times even the connoisseurs of wine and cheese find it tricky. We can offer suggestions but you can always select you favourite wines and cheese and let your taste buds decide.

There are well over 2000 types of cheeses in the world. France is famous for its creamy aromatic Brie, Switzerland for its nutty, buttery Emmenthal and Great Britain its regal blue-veined Stilton and delectable Cheddar. Each cheese is unique and reflects the geography, traditions, culture and tastes of its environment. The same maybe said of wines.

Total U.S. cheese production in 2010, excluding cottage cheese, was 10.4 billion pounds, up 3.6 percent from 2009. Of that production, Italian-type cheese totaled 4.4 billion pounds, up 5.48 percent from the previous year, and American-type cheese totaled 4.3 billion pounds, up 1.7 percent.

Wisconsin led the nation in cheese production in 2010 with 2.6 billion pounds, accounting for 25 percent of total U.S. cheese production. Likewise, California continued to rank second, producing 2.2 billion pounds of cheese. Other top cheese-producing states include Idaho, New York and New Mexico.

 

Simply Put

• Wine is the best beverage to go with cheese.
• White wine over red
• Red wine over dessert wine
• Dry wine over sweet

Hints for choosing the correct Wine

• Curd Cheese - White - Riesling, Sauvignon, Champagne, Sparkling wines
• Young Goat Cheese -White - Young Sauvignon, Riesling, some reds like Beaujolais
• Mellow Goat Cheese - Mature Whites - or heavy reds
• Soft cheese with white rind - white - Chardonnay or bold reds
• Cheese with blue rind - Traminer, sherry port style wines- Red - Pomerol
• Cheese with Red Spread - White Wines , Spicy Traminer, Muscat d'Alasce
• Fine Slice Cheese - White- Riesling - Mild Reds
• Spicy Hard - Rose , Merlot
• Sour Milk Cheese - cider

 

Fruit Wine Pairing

 Pear wines go well with blue cheeses and goat cheeses

Apples wines are fantastic with sharp cheddars, especially 5 year old Quebec

Cherry wines are lovely with soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert

Peach wines are great with Gouda, Brie, Edam and Blue

 

Getting Specific

Abondance is an excellent example of a great French artisanal cheese that dates back almost 700 years White wine is best try Chardonnay , Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc

Acapella is a soft cheese made from goat's milk. Acapella comes in different forms such as: Pyramid - a pyramid shape, dry and firm. (around 7 oz) Round - a round shape, soft and creamy. (3 oz) Ashed Round - soft and creamy. (around 4-6 oz) whites, Sauvignon

Allgau Mountain Cheese from Allagau has an intense spicy flavour White wine Schonburger

ALPINDON: “Gift of the Alpine,” our premium cheese, is a firm cheese carefully modeled after French Beaufort d'Alpage . Following centuries old tradition this cheese is hand-rubbed and made only with milk from summer pastures. It exhibits a smooth nut flavour, a complex finish, a rich golden interior and a dark textured rind. Additional aging concentrates its flavours, deepens its complexity, and increases the sweet crystals that develop throughout the body of the cheese. Made in BC by Kootenay Alpine Cheese Co Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon

Goat Cheese from Altenburge intense flavour with potent caraway taste White wine - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc,Chenin Blanc some like Sparkling wines.

Appenzeller cheese is a hard cow's-milk cheese produced in the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland. The Cheese receives its unique flavors from the herbs, liquors and wines that comprise the solution in which the wheels are bathed The cheese pairs very well with Riesling and other fruity whites. A wine which is high in fruit flavors will complement the Appenzeller cheese while also toning down the acidity of the cheese . The cheese can also be slightly spicy, which is why it complements Riesling so well. It can also be eaten with sweet slightly tart fruits such as apples, or paired with cheeses to make up a cheese platter. also with light body reds. Merlot

Ardrahan is a glorious washed-rind, semi- soft cheese from the south of Ireland. It has a creamy, nutty palate similar to a Swiss Appenzeller. Ardrahan is made exclusively on the Burns family farm in Duhallow Pinot Noir , Chianti , Sangiovese

Asiago is an Italian cow's milk cheese that can assume different textures, according to its aging , from smooth for the fresh Asiago (Asiago Pressato) to a crumbly texture for the aged cheese (Asiago d'allevo) of which the flavour is reminiscent of Parmesan . The aged cheese is often grated in salads , soups , pastas , and sauces while the fresh Asiago is sliced to prepare panini or sandwiches ; it can also be melted on a variety of dishes Asiago d'Allevo is produced by using a mixture of whole milk and skimmed milk Full Bodied Red wines may be best Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

Azeitão from Portugal is a concentrated round of sheep's milk cheese made with cardoon thistle rather than traditional animal rennet Has a very unique and full flavour great with wines. Best with red like Merlot or very crisp whites Tempranillo is good

Ballyoak is a type of Brie made in Ireland using pasteurized cow's milk. The cheese is then kiln-smoked with oak wood. Ballyoak cheese can be found in some gourmet shops as well as online stores. This cheese pairs well with Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc

	Beaufort is a cheese made in the Alps mountains in France from Tarine cows milk Chablis , Burgundy, white wine Rose will be oaky too
	Beecher's Flagship (Seattle) is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese with a uniquely robust, nutty flavor. It is carefully aged for 15 months under the watchful eye of the cheesemaker to fully develop its complex flavor and ever-so-slight crumble pairs nicely with a Pouilly Fuisse or a Syrah

Big Boy Blue This cow milk blue cheese is made in four pound wheels and is ready to enjoy at around 75 days. It has the heaviest blue veining of all our blues and is the most full bodied - strong, but not overwhelming. It is creamy, smooth and moist and is as tasty as it is beautiful in all its blue glory! Produced by Allapa Hills WA. Whites

Blackburn This namesake cheese from Fromagerie Blackburn is carefully aged for 5 months on the same family farm where the cheese is produced. The Blackburn is a wonderful example of a large format washed rind cheese. A semi firm texture conveys a deep and earthy flavour, which mellows as it is tasted to give notes of blackberry and sweet fruit. Le Mont-Jacob was awarded the title of best cheese in the washed-rind, soft and semi-soft cheese category at the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix The Blackburns are a seasoned dairy farming family and like many in Quebec, want to create more value from their existing operation. They went to cheese-making school at St Hyacinthe and in 2006 began cheese production Dry whites, Sauvignon Blanc

Blu Benedictine This award-winning blue is one of several cheeses produced by a Benedictine community in Quebec's eastern townships region. Bleu Benedictin has sharp, clean herbal aromas and a balanced sweet, earthy and piquant flavour. Expressive, but not overly strong, this blue is delicious crumbled over root vegetable soup or beet salad, or on a cheese board with figs and walnuts. Petite Syrah, Pinot Noir

Bleu d'Auvergne : The smell of Bleu d'Auvergne is strong. The taste is spicy with flavors of grasses and wild flowers Wines fortified wines, dessert wines or bold reds and Icewine. The same would be true of most Blue Cheeses for example Blue des Causses,Blu du HautJura or Blue de Gex and Blu du Vercors-Sassenage.

Blue Haze is a Canadian blue cheese.This is a smoked blue cheese, made from cow's milk, that is produced by the the monks at the Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Quebec. Soft and sweet, Blue Haze is smoked with a “harvest blend” of Ontario hardwood wood chips in Cayuga, Ontario. The middle of the cheese retains the piquant flavour of a great blue cheese, while the outer edges reveals a delicate smokiness that is expressive but not overly “smokey”. Zinfandel

Brie is the best known French cheese and has a nickname "The Queen of Cheeses a soft cow's cheese named after Brie , the French region from which it originated. Brie produced in other countries can be made different than the original Pinot blanc, pinot gris, gewürztraminer, semillon and unwooded chardonnay ,sweet Sherry

Brocciu is considered a national food in Corsica, an island off the Cote d'Azur. Brocciu is derivated from the word "brousse" which means fresh cheese made with goat or ewe's milk. Brocciu cheese is similar to ricotta in Italy. Brocciu is lactose free White wines are best try Sauvignon

 

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