Wine and cheese

I know that some people don't like the pairing of any cheese with wine, but I enjoy them together at the end of the meal when looking to finish up some wine. I also prefer stronger flavored cheeses with a strong flavored wine, and usually a wine with some age that will lend some funky characteristics.
I have a friend who is hosting a wine tasting tomorrow evening. He plans on starting it with a different cheese for each wine. He has a Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc to go with a baked brie and carmelized onions, a 1982 Mouton, a 1999 Guigal Cote Rotie (I think L'Ampuis), an older Turley Petite Sirah, and a Dead Arm (year unknown to me). Next, we will move into the dining room for dinner and a magnum of Barbaresco and a mag of CdP (year and producer?) His thought was to serve mild cheeses with all of the wines except the Dead Arm which he was going to pair with a Gorgonzola. I felt that the Dead Arm, especially if it's young and fruity, would do best with a milder cheese. I don't want to steer him wrong, so I thought I would ask the folks in this group about their thoughts on what types of cheese would show the wines the best. After all, it's a wine, not cheese, tasting. Maybe skip the Gorgonzola altogether?

Gorgonzola ia a toughie. I think I seem to remember a late harvest Alsatian wine at one time or the other? Riesling?

Last night we had a 1998 Chateau Fortia CdP with some aged Pecorino and that was quite good - each complementing each other with its strong flavors.

Our host is not a white wine guy, although he is opening the Chapoutier to be served with the brie. All of the other wines will be red. Maybe I'll suggest he save the Gorgonzola until the end when we open a 1985 Graham's Port.

Diane,
I teach a cheese appreciation course, which I usually include wine to accompany the cheese. I'm forever being confounded by my inability to, a priori, recognize what wine is going to go w/ a particular cheese. I find that matching wine & cheese is maddingly unpredictable.
I find that the wine doesn't have much impact on the cheese. But the cheese often has dramatic effects on the wine. Occasionally it'll destroy the wine. Most often, it just simply changes the taste of the wine, not for better or for worse, just changes it. And then there are those rather rare times when the cheese works in synergy w/ the wine and chganges it into something ethereal. But not all that often.
I find that blue cheeses go best w/ slightly sweet to very sweet wines. It tends to make dry reds taste metallic...does bad things on the palate. Probably best save the Gorgonzola, especially if it's the non-Dolce kind, for the Porto.
Tom

Thanks, Tom. I've been wondering about the French saying about wine: "Buy on apples, sell on cheese."

My experience is the same as yours -- rarely is there a wonderful synergy, the taste of the wine is often changed by the cheese, the taste of the cheese is only occasionally changed by the wine. And, very, very unpredictable effects at any time.

Regards, Bob

That '98 Fortia is one of my favorite "mid range" wines.....for about $23 it was always a greta bottle....still have about 4 or 5 left...how mmuch life do you think it still has?

[David M. Bueker]

Red wine and cheese rarely works for me, except for the tried and true cheddars and parmegiano type cheeses. Port and stilton/gorgonzola are ok (though not the great match that is legend). White wines, especially those with some age but also some residual sweetness seem to be the best for me. That said, some cheeses don't work no matter what you do.

That '98 Fortia is one of my favorite "mid range" wines.....for about $23 it was always a greta bottle....still have about 4 or 5 left...how mmuch life do you think it still has?

The Fortia looked and tasted like an older wine. I liked it very much, and if I had more bottles, I would plan on drinking them within the next year or two.

I know this is an old topic, but I'd like to add my own take on the wine and cheese subject.

Two weeks ago tomorrow, my wife and I were on vacation in Colorado, and on the previous day had visited the tasting room of The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Canon City, CO. One of the wines we picked up was a non-vintage merlot called Colorado Nouveau, which we took on a picnic in a meadow by a small stream. Lunch was an assortment of cheeses, crackers and bruschetta, and the wine, followed by some dark chocolates. The wine was not meant to be taken too seriously, and it was perfect with the cheeses and the circumstances. We enjoyed the whole experience so much , we made another 45-mile trip to the winery that afternoon for a few more bottles!

Maybe skip the Gorgonzola altogether?

Skip the Gorgonzola? Heaven forbid. I recently paired pasta in a Gorgonzola sauce with a nice big Barbaresco. Yummy!!

-- Clark