Cheese Tastings, a history

In spring of 2008, David and Jessica started some cheese tastings matched with wine. It might be interesting to revisit these combinations.


Cheese Tasting #1
Camenbert
Parrano
Olives
Wine: Pinot Noir (not sure source)
Rye crackers

David loves parrano--a nutty cheese. Parrano descriptor not in book. More research required. Cambert good, soft and brie-like. Kind of boring.

Cheese Tasting #2
1) French Port-Salut, a cheese from Brittany. Said to be generic and uninspired. Cows milk, soft, slightly pungent, mild.
2) German mountain cheese from Trader Joe's. Said to be soaked in a red wine rennet. A relatively mild cow's milk cheese with a grassy, almost sheeps milk taste. Slightly smelly. Not a soft cheese, but a softer texture than swiss.

Wine: Chateau Candelaire, 2005 Bordeaux

+ olives and multigrain crackers.

David found cheeses boring, did not like the #2 cheese.

Cheese Tasting #3
Goat Cheese and Rose!

Some favorites from my old job at A.G. Ferrari: Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog and Drunken Goat with the lovely Belleruche Cotes-du-Rhone Rose.

It was delicious with a fig jam for the Humboldt Fog on plain multi-grain Kashi crackers. Accompaniments also included sliced apple, almonds and Brazil nuts. It seems these cheeses do well with fruit and nut accompaniments, as I had roasted vegetables and olives available, once we had a bite of the cheeses with a sip of the Rose, we lost our taste for the savory. Nuts and the sweetness of figs and apples went best.

David liked this paring the best. It was the first time we went through an entire hunk of cheese! It was just too good to stop eating. The Humboldt Fog was at a perfect temperature and aged perfectly with the soft, brie-like texture by the rind and the crumbly interior. Truly a beautiful cheese. Drunken goat was as creamy and palateable as ever--a goat-cheese cheddar in my mind.

For certain a pairing that will be repeated!