On cheese and wine

VG, we celebrated our 25th... congratulations!

Sancerre white, of course... ;-)) I think that would be a good choice, sauvignon works well with goat's cheese. Roquefort and port go wel, but do try a top Loire sticky, one of those with balls like Poirel's Chateau de Suronde.

You knew that already ;-))

I will not comment on Emmenthaler, but recent tests with some "hors d'age" comte' with Chateauneuf were impressive, and last year the same cheese with a really good Vin Jaune from the Jura were stunning.

Banon (weird goat packed in leaves) is a special case, it all depends on the quality and on the aging of the thing. Since july this cheese is protected with an AOC, hence all banon made from cow or sheep milk is banned, as well as any not made in the defined terroir. Assuming you have the right one, then aging is critical. This cheese, over a 2 week period, goes from a mild creamy gentle taste to an intense spicy peppery powerful nutty tannic liquid delicious mess.

Young banon goes well with some of the aromatic southern whites like corsican vermentino or some of the rare interesting Provence whites, Chateau de Roquefort was magnificent with a 10-day banon. As you turn the power up, you need to resort to whites with a lot of character. A "dry" white from Macon, domaine de Bongran, had enough structure and mellowness to stand up to a 20-day banon. Beyond that we resorted to some definitely oxidative whites from Roussillon, and the 2-motnh old monster was adequately subdued by a Rivesaltes Ambre' 93 by Cazes.

Mike

Congratulations on the anniversary. Glad the Loire Cab Franc was good.

As to cheese matches: I prefer Sauternes or maybe Tokaji with Roquefort. I think Port does better with Stilton (something about the firmer drier texture). Sauvignon Blanc is my first instinct with goat cheese. With more mature ones I go for a bigger SB, or a lighter red if I'm feeling like taking a chance. Manchego is a cheese I find goes well with big reds, or with Port. Aged Gouda and cheddar also do well with bigger reds. Munster goes well with late-harvest Alsaces, esp. Pinot Gris or Gewürztraminer. I find Epoisses and red Burgundy a good match, others here find it repugnant. Most Emmenthal around here is low quality, I've had a couple of good ones, but not enough to say a match. Best, Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Congrats again, Nils! As for your question: Manchego is to me one of the great red wine cheeses, provided that it's not too young. I've had it with aged Bordeaux and it was lovely. It's one of my standard accompaniments now for red wine tastings. I haven't much access to good Emmenthaler, but Gruyère is another fine foil to large red wines. I'll defer to Mike's expertise on the subject of Banon...

Mark Lipton

Congratulations to all four of us!

Have to admit - I don´t really dig Roquefort all that much - too salty, too ... I don´t know, sometimes I feel I get blsiters on my tongue .... I much prefer Epoisse (which, of course, has very little in common with the Roquefort).

Yea, I knew dat ...

Notes are being busily taken ...

cheese, over a 2

Pure rocket science, then. I feel that, in order to do something constructive with this, extended testing is required. Unfortunately very little Banon available in these dreary and desert lands ... I wonders if that farm outside Helsingborg that does ecologic goat´s cheese snd which we are going to taste Nov 25th has anything that could be ... or else I´ll set up a laboratory enxt time in the deep South (late April).

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

-- Respond to nils dot lindgren at drchips dot se