We’ll never tire of saying it : Cheese and wine get on very well ! It’s a reliable and solid relationship, sure of itself and renewable at leisure ; it inexhaustibly offers new sensations like so many tales recounted to the palate … Yet enjoyers of the dish will sometimes feel pushed to go elsewhere, to get off the beaten track and discover and experiment … In the end isn’t taste a story of … senses ? Gourmets define themselves, among other aspects, by their curiosity, their thirst for new taste harmonies, and donning the costume of “matchmakers of flavours” can turn out to be surprising, worthy or unwholesome, but always amusing ! These marriages, often more delicate than arrangements concerning wine, require audacity and openness and are an irrepressible challenge !

Because it is good to recall that a taste experience always depends on several factors : the cheese itself, together with the associated drink, but also their refining state, their unique taste tonality (which will perhaps not be found in another example of the same product), their temperature … And above all, above all : invidividual tastes. If it is a sweet dream to chrystallize alliances, it is also unwise to play the naïve : unanimity is an illusion when matched against experience, sensation and moods.

Thus there is only one rule : as for wine, respect the bent of the flavours ; that is to say that if you have several cheeses and/or drinks, arrange them from sweetest to strongest, so as to be able to savour each element.

Here are some paths to explore … by your taste buds !

Cheese and beer

Cheese and champagne

Cheese and whisky

Cheese and beer

Since the monastic tradition of the Middle Ages, beer and cheese have been loyal accomplices : the one and the other were elaborated within abbeys and monasteries, which were a common source and gave rise to the guild tradition, portends of a promising alliance. Certain convinced supporters will even tell you that this association, especially when it came to cheeses with washed rinds, went much further than wines in terms of complexity and purity of partnership.

Light beer is made from wheat : it is very mild with citrus fruit aromas not to say a tad spicy. It is fruity without being bitter and easily accompanies :
 soft cheeses with veined rinds, rather mild and buttery : Marinette, Gratte-paille …
 a Semi-refined Manchego, to demonstrate its milky tones.

Lager beer gives off the aromas present in malt and cereals. Its slightly sweet lightness gives an impression of smoothness. It is to be experimented with abbey cheeses, whose bitterness will be slightly attenuated by the beer : Abbaye du Mont des Cats, Cîteaux de l’Abbaye, Abbaye de trois Vaux, Echourgnac à la liqueur de Noix… But it can equally accompany hard fresh cheeses, such as Morbier, Ossau, Ardi-Gasna.

Stout, has brown-sugar nuances : its mildly-sweet personality leaves a marked taste of hops. Be tempted by :
 hard cheeses : Bethmale, Keen’s Cheddar, Extra-old Mimolette.
 Dry ewe-milk cheeses : Roncal, Idiziabal with delicately smoked aromas. In this union, the beer agreeably coats the reasonably dry texture and aromas of the cheeses, provoking a charming contrast.
 Washed cheeses : Maroilles, Vieux-Lille.

Brown ale has dominant malt and caramel flavours. When served very cold, its bitterness is more intense ; it is more tempered with mildness and bitterness seeming more balanced. To be tasted accompanied by :
 Very refined hard cheeses such as Boerendkass Vieux, with caramelized aromas
 Soft cheeses with washed rinds : Herve, Vieux-Lille
 French blue-veined cows’ milk cheeses, whether they be Fourme d’Ambert, de Monbrison or de Valcivères.

Cheese and champagne

Tasting Cheese and Champagne is sure to create a little event : it is original but sober, simple but elegant, such a marriage is sure to charm more than one !It is the ideal aperitif to create a talking-point : accompanied by a Parmesan, a Comté de Noël not to mention a Chaource, and for velvety smoothness a Langres, itself refined in Marc Champagne brandy, and whose little dome is traditionally filled with the aforementioned beverage.Or the more specific way for an “all cheese” Meal, complete it with :

Blanc de blanc Champagne :
 Camembert : the dissolved sticky grease of the Camembert cheese and its freshness comes from the buttered aromas.
 Young Banon : its fineness will be respected by the Chardonnay’s minerality

Rosé Champagne

 Roquefort : this buttered and grainy cheese dissolves in time : the red fruit of the champagne respects the mould, and the whole guards the two products distinctly and surprisingly to the end.
 Salers : this cheese likes the citrus notes and pepper of the rosé, which “resists” faced with this atypical cheese ! Finally in a complete meal, with truffles often accompanied by champagne, how can it not finish with the famous Brie truffé ?

Cheese and Whisky

This alliance is certainly more suited to autumn and winter : it is therefore totally natural to prefer good cheeses from these seasons.But once again, there is no point in limiting oneself ; certain agreements even though faraway (“heavy” whisky and light, delicately perfumed cheese) can turn out to be pleasant by their contrast.

Scotches

The grand Scottish whisky family is composed of two branches : single malt (or pure malt) and blended. The composition of the former comes from one and one only distillery ; it is therefore totally imbued with its origin, and has developed a character peculiar to its own terroir. It is therefore ideal to confront its well-defined personality with a cheese that is on a par with it … As for blends they are the fruit of a mixture of different “vintages”, not to say years. They are generally more round with a personality less accomplished, but can nevertheless be relatively powerful and intense. If one could believe in a predominance of one over another, it is not necessarily the case ! Here soft-rind cheeses should be preferred : Brie de Melun, Brie de Meaux, Fougeru. A worthy partner in washed cheese turns out to be Mont d’Or ! The same goes for refined Parmesan and Manchego as hard cheeses, and also goats’ milk cheeses with marked accents such as Banon and old Pouligny. And the veined version : Bleu d’Auvergne and Cabrales.

Whiskey

It will be noted that there is a difference in spelling, as this product comes from Ireland. And everything is closely watched by the authorities ! Irish Whiskey is thus distilled at least twice (often three times), and left to age in wooden barrels, and exclusively in Ireland. The result is a particularly pure whiskey, smooth and subtle, elaborated with cereal and smoke aromas. Consequently, what should be preferred are nutty flavoured hard cheeses, such as Boerenkass Vieux, which links brilliantly with the peat-like smell of Irish whiskey. What should also be dared : semi-dry sub-rind buttered goats’ milk cheese which keeps a melty texture, such as Bonde en Gâtine.

Bourbons :

They are manufactured in the United States, and have the particularity of being composed mainly of maize (at least 51%) to which is added rye and/or barley. In addition it is distilled just once. The result, apart from the specific maize aroma, is a generally more supple and more thick taste, less complex than the previous ones. To be married to a Munster, not to mention an Epoisses.

Maya Marin, october 2009