With
Wine & Cheese Pairing
Bloomy: Creamy, decadent cheeses, with a soft rind.
Hard: Stiff cheeses, which are often sharp and/or salty. They can also be aged.
Blue: Pungent, often salty cheeses, with a blue tinge.
Fresh: Soft, often spreadable cheeses that can be tangy or mild. They are not usually aged.
Semi-soft: pliable, melty, earthyWashed: stinky, fruity, meaty, intenseFirm: dense, supple, grassy, fruity, sharp
Six Cheese Categories
What grows together, goes togetherSalty with SweetSalty with acidicTannins with fatAcid with fatSubtle with subtlePowerful with PowerfulColor with colorIntensity – delicate wines / delicate cheeses
General Pairing Guidelines
Old Chatham Sheepherding Hudson Valley CamembertTom & Nancy Clark
began OCS 1993 with 150 ewes
Largest sheep dairy in US with more than 1000 East Friesian purebred & cross bred ewes
No hormones, antibiotics, herbicides, pesticides
Milk 300 – 400 ewes twice a day
Made with their fresh sheep milk and neighbors BGH Free cows milk
Le Colture Fagher Valdobbiadene D.O.C.G. ProseccoProduced from the Glera grape in Veneto region of Italy
(2009)Can only be referred to as Prosecco if Conegliano Valdobbiadene or Colli Asolani or neighboring provinces of Rovigo, Verona, Trento and Bolzano and only if the producers have been bottling Prosecco in the past 5 consecutive years
1983 Le Colture was founded
Own 45 hectares of vineyards which are spread between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano and are all part of Valdobbiadene DOCG
Produce 600,000, (50,000 cases) bottles of wine and around 35% of it is exported.
Harvest: Mid-September to mid-October.
Vinification: soft pressing of the grapes, fermentation without skins at a controlled temperature. Fermentation: fermentation in steel tanks (Charmat method) – brings out the youthful floral and primary fruit aromas
Bright lemon and green apple notes with a hint of breadiness.
Comté St AntioneJura region of
FranceWild range of texture
from flabby to crystalline, flavor nearly nothing to savory, fruity or smoky
Made from Montbeliard cows in a cooperative
Aged 4 months – 2yrs in small huts.
Sponge bath w/ bacteria laced brine
Ivory – winter milk/ yellow – summer
Must pass evaluation over 12 pts /20
sweetness of cooked milk, a bit of stone fruit and the quiet nuttiness of browned butter
Trumpeter 2011 Chardonnay
Rutini Wines is one of the oldest and most celebrated wineries in Argentina founded in 1885
225 Hectacres under vineThe grapes are sourced
from 13 year old vineyards in Tupungato, 1100 metres above sea level, Mendoza.
Soils in the area are mostly sandy
Grapes are hand-harvested.
30% barrel fermentation takes places for 7 months in 50% new French oak, 50% second and third use French oak.
30% Malolactic fermentation.
Aromas of rich tropical fruit lead into flavors of citrus fruits followed by a refreshingly crisp finish with hints of vanilla
Epoisses De Bourgogne
Legend that the Cistercian community @ L’Abbaye de Citeaux began making the cheese.
200 yrs later recipe found, production began, WWII ended production
1956 Robert & Simone Berthaut re launched production
Stinky cheese with a drinking problem.
Pasteurized cows milk curds from Burgundy aged in humid cellars
While aging, bathed with Marc de Bourgogne, a French Spirit giving it its orange rind
2011 Erdener Treppchen Riesling KabinettRiesling 1/5 of vineyards
in GermanyWines are classified by
Pradikat level which is the ripening levels of the grape
Kabinett is light to medium bodied wines made from grapes with the lowest ripeness level of Pradikate.
Loosen Family – same family 200 years
Organic fertilizersErdener Treppchen
vineyard red slate soilDrinkable now until
2026Begins with subtle
and pure notes of cassis, slate, white orchard fruits as well as a touch of passion fruit
Mimolette Cheese
produced around the city of Lille, France
Cows milkThe orange colour
comes from the natural colorant annatto
Greyish crust of aged Mimolette is the result of cheese mites
Age from 6months – 2yrs
sweet, caramelized depth and smooth, fudgy finish
2009 Clos La Coutale80% Malbec 20%
MerlotClos LaCoutale -60
hectacres facing SWSoil – gravel, silicates
& limestone claySheltered from cold
winds land enjoys nice microclimate for their fruit to ripen fully early
Fruity aroma, with plenty of snap to the red plum, berry and licorice flavors. Well-balanced and focused, with a finish of dark chocolate. A well-contructed wine with astonishing elegance and red fruit with spicy overtones.
Manchego CheeseMade in the La
Mancha region SpainManchega sheeps
milkAges 60 days to 2yrs1984 protected by
DOCNot to strong,
creamy, leaves an aftertaste of sheeps milk.
Sharp and nutty
2006 Finca Loranque - Tempranillo/Syrah Counts of Floridablanca
acquired the land in 1865, Finca Loranque winery has produced wines made from the Grenache
Descendants of Count Floridablanca were the owners of Finca Loranque until 1982, when the Díaz Bermejo family
2002 the first vintage appeared fertile, calcareous clay soil, 500 hectares that make up the
land on the Estate, 42 hectares with the variety of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Merlot
20 tanks with capacities of between 10,000 and 20,000 litres
aging room is a park of 700 barrels made of French, Hungarian and American oak, with different capacities and toasting.
Aging room declared Cultural Heritage
Aromas of black fruit , the palate dances with blackberry and raspberry. As the wine opens up plum and dart fruit enter. Finish with soft spice.
PortFortified with neutral
brandy 77% alcoholSoil is clay schistl full
of stonesBaixo Corgo wetter
weather 45% of Douro plantings, Cima Corga (Pinhao) 40% Furthest East – Douro Superior 15% hottest and driest
Patamares
Vineyards are classified by Altitude(21%) – higher better. Yield(20%) – low yield higher points, Soil type (14%) highest grades for more schist follwed by shalel; Vine Training (12%) low wire trained south facing vines, Vineyard Location (12%) drier, warmer, eastern vineyards, Grape varieties (95) noblest varieties most points, Slope (4%) steeper better, Gravel Content(2%) water retention, drainage and heat radiation, Exposure (2%) Southern slopes, Vine Spacing (2%) more density better, Shelter from winds (1%) Age of Vines (1%) 25+ yrs older better
Stilton Blue CheeseThere are just 6 dairies
in the world licensed to make Blue Stilton cheese
Stilton is a "protected name" cheese and by law can only be made in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire
It takes 136 pints milk (78 litres) to make one 17 lb (8kg) Stilton cheese
Over 1 million Stilton cheeses are made each year
Every cheese is graded before leaving the dairy to ensure only cheese of the highest quality is marketed under the Stilton name
PortGrape VarietiesTouriga National – cassis
like 2% of the regions vines. Adds depth of fruit and tannic backbone
Touriga Franca – floral and leafy aromas. Lower tannins 22% Douro’s vines
Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) spicy and jammy 12% regions vines
Tinta Barroca raisiny when ripe adds chocolate notes. 23% regions vines
Tinta Cao juicy and fruity sweet spices 19% regions vines
Label – strip under capsule Vinho do Porto Garantia lnumber printed guarantees authenticity and denotes lot wine which the bottle originated.
Color extraction is quick in port cause fermentation ends after 36-48 hrs.
Fermentation at high temp 85 dg. Until ½ sugar is coverted to alcohol. Then wine is run off the skins into pipes partly filled with brandy. This halts the fermentation and leaves wine to 20% alcohol
Vintage bottle age 2 yrs in vat bottled, sold age 10-50 yrs
Ruby young baixo corgo grapes 3 yrs large neutral casks
Tawny young aged 3 yrsReserve –premium ruby
4-6 yrs caskTawny ageColheita rare bottles at
least 7 yrs in vat
Taylor Fladgate 2005 Late Bottle Vintage
Established 1692 is one of the oldest of the founding Port houses.
The originator of the Late Bottled Vintage
LBV was launched in 1970 with the 1965 vintage.
Late Bottle Vintage remains in wood between 4 & 6 years. It matures and settles down and is ready to drink when released.
Main varietals in Port are Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, and Tinto Cão.
In 1756 the Douro Valley became the first classic wine region to be legally demarcated.