A Word from Jerry Comfort:

Culinary Director for the Chateau Souverain and
Beringer Blass Wine Estates

I would like to include a suggestion to try a Spring Hill Jersey Cheese and wine pairing in person. Larry's cheeses are featured on the menu at the “Chateau Souverain's Cafe at the Winery,” on the mid-day “Sips and Temptations” Menu, and Sunday Brunch. Larry is also our Featured Cheesemaker at Chateau Souverain's seasonal Festivals:

• Aug 17th, 2002 “Bagel Festival”
• Oct. 19th, 2002 “Mushroom & Truffle Festival”
• Nov.16th, 2002 “Cheese Festival”

For Reservations call Chateau Souverain, Cafe at the Winery
Phone: (707) 433-3141.
Go to Chateau Souverain's web site.

Pairing Cheese and Wine
(An article written for the St. Helena Star )

Pairing cheese and wine is a confusing issue. Who do you believe? It's a very subjective subject. I recently sat next to the President of the Professional Sommelier Assoc. of Canada and he stated that white wine is better with cheese than red. Agree? I've read that a famous wine newsletter writer doesn't think cheese goes with wine at all. Agree? I think they're both right and both wrong. How diplomatic is that? What I mean is white wine does go well with a lot of cheeses and some wines taste terrible with come cheeses.

Last year the California Milk Advisory Board (The Cheese Board), who developed the Real California Cheese program, sponsored several week long classes at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. They brought in 24 chefs at a time to show them dozens of Farmstead boutique cheeses and how to cook with them. They asked me if I could teach the cheese and wine pairing portion of the seminar. In developing my seminar I wasn't quite sure where to start and the only articles or books I had read always suggested regional wines with regional cheeses (When was the last time you had a wine from Stilton England or from Greece with Feta?) Or they would recommend light cheese with light wine, strong cheese with strong wine. What's light, the color, the flavor? What's strong? Goat cheese, Sharp Cheddar, Feta. To whom? What's up with that?
Let's try and sort this out, first let's talk about basic food and wine pairing then apply that to cheese and wine pairing. Cheese is food right?

Let's take for granted you have selected a wine to drink because you enjoy the way it tastes. The winemaker has intentionally made that wine to taste the way it does, either fruity and sweet, medium bodied or concentrated and tannic or anywhere in between on purpose and you've selected it because you enjoy it that way.

Well the first thing you must recognize is that food changes how wine tastes. All wines react to the dominant taste in food meaning sweet, sour, salty and umami. If you like the way a wine tastes, how it is balanced, and the food doesn't change its balance much, then it is a good food and wine pairing. Some would say the wine "goes with" that food. When the wines textures change dramatically, and usually when they do they tend to get stronger (sweet wine gets drier, dry wines more sour, bitter, or tannic), we would call this a bad food and wine pairing. If you don't believe me try a sip of whatever wine you're enjoying then a bite of a juicy red apple or grape then another sip of wine and let me know if you like it as well. If you can't do that just think of the last time you brushed your teeth (toothpaste is sweet) and drank a glass of orange juice (acid balanced). This is an example of the beverage getting stronger or a negative reaction.

The other taste I mentioned is umami. Discovered in 1908 by a Japanese food scientist. This is the protein taste which actually is based on the taste of the amino acid, Glutamic acid. We could do an entire article just on umami but you're going to have to trust me on this one for now. As sweetness raises acidity first, then astringency, bitterness and tannins umami doesn't react to the acidity but with the astringency, bitterness and tannins also making the wines textures stronger. On the other hand, salty and acidic foods lower our perception of the wines acidity and soften the astringency / bitterness and tannins. We describe this as making the wine milder.

The second fundamental fact to recognize is that all wines react in the same manner to a dominant taste in food but to varying degrees due to the style of wine (sweet or dry, soft or tannic) not the varietal. Sweet wines react less compared to med. bodied wines, which react less than dry tannic wines. Have you had a light Cabernet, a medium bodied Cabernet, a concentrated tannic Cabernet? This helps you understand which type or style of wine to try and why.

Cheese is a complex food. All cheese contains sweetness, umami, acidity, and salt. The amount of these ingredients in each cheese changes as it ages and varies from style of cheese, to the types of milk. When the cheese ages, it dehydrates, which increases its umami, salt and acidity by evaporating out some of its moisture. These different milks and ages allow us to create a "Progressive Cheese List." Evaluating cheeses upon their balance of sweetness / umami versus salt / acidity not based on the type of milk, country of origin, or the style / firmness of the cheese. The recommendations of specific wines is based on which wines change the least from how the winemaker balances them. There are many other examples for each style in each category. Think styles not varitals and substitute like styles internationally.

1. Fresh, young cheeses, which are high in lactose and umami but low in acidity and salt, will make wine taste stronger. (Mascarpone, Ricotta, Fresh Mozzarella, Brie, Camembert, young Monterey Jack,) These styles of cheeses should be paired to light to med bodied, fruity with light to moderate oak and tannins. This is because the sweetness and umami will accentuate acidity, bitterness and tannins. Think lighter white styles like Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Sauv. Blanc or light chardonnay to light reds such as white Zinfandel, Beaujolais, Pinot Noir and light Merlots. Sometimes you will also find that rich, creamy (malo-lactic) wines leave a strong milk (lactose) flavor on the palate.

2. Young, cheeses high in acidity and umami yet low in salt tend to initially make a wine milder with a secondary astringency. These reactions follow the progressive wine list in that, they will soften high acid and low astringency wines but gets a secondary strengthening with full tannin, high astringency wine. (Fresh goat cheeses, Explorateur, Crescenza, Teleme, St. Andre,) Suggested wine styles are wines with crisp to high acidity, low to moderate oak, low tannins, cool climate wines such as many Sauvignon blancs, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Noirs, lighter Chiantis.

3. Cheeses with moderate to high salt and acidity will virtually be neutral or slightly soften the acidity and astringency / tannins in wine. (Feta, aged goat crotin, mild to sharp Cheddar, Carmody, Cambozola, Blue Castello) This is the most universal category of cheeses and will taste good with the widest variety of wines. This category of cheese lightly softens oak and tannins and accentuates fruit flavors. Play with this one and enjoy your favorite style.

4. High acid and high salt cheeses also tend to be high in umami, like the second category there is an initial reaction of softening the wines but will often get a secondary strengthening of astringency and tannins. They will soften most wines but light / mild wines can be overpowered. (Parmesan, Stilton, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, aged Asiago, aged sharp cheddars and Jack). These cheeses are traditionally served with off dry wines such as Port with Stilton, Sauternes with Roquefort since it just makes them milder and richer. Some other wine styles to try might be (Sherry, Madeira, rich, jammy Cabs, Merlots, Zins, and Syrahs) others to beware of are lighter / lean versions of these reds and Pinot Noirs.

Remember these are only guidelines. Personal subjectivity is crucial here; think of how many people don't like bleu cheese to begin with. The style of the wine is more important than the varietal or where it is from. You can find an off dry white Zin. To rose Zin, Beaujolais Zin, to med bodied to monster Zin. What style are you tasting with the cheeses?

Also if the cheese is used in a recipe and the entire balance of the dish is more important than what cheese is used. The dominant taste, sweet / umami or acid / salt of the dish will cause the most reactivity not just what cheese is used.

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