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.