Motley Cru

Even before I was into wine, it seems that “wine and cheese” have gone together in the public mind as if they are a perfect match.  In reality, it is hard to find wines and cheese that truly elevate each other.  At least for my palate.  My wife and I enjoy “cheese dinners” where we’ll get 4-5 different cheeses, fresh bread, crackers, some meats, and that will be dinner.  However, we typically open one bottle of wine, and that wine never works with all the cheese, and even rarely elevates the cheese.  Last night, however, we had an interesting experience in that we had two wines that truly worked great with two different cheeses.

The main wine was the 2006 Carlisle Two Acres, a blend of mostly Mourvedre, with some Petite Sirah, Carignan, Syrah, and Alicante Bouschet.  This was a superb match with Parrano, a Gouda/Parmesan combination.  The wine seemed to help the two halves of the cheese blend into one, becoming delicious, creamy, butterscotchy, and nutty.  The cheese, on the other hand, rounded some of the edges of the wine, and helped it, too, blend into a more complete whole.  The earthy, meaty aspects of the Mourvedre were toned down a bit, the fruit became more lush, the tannins were softened, and an already great wine was improved.

The second combination was a bit of an accident.  I forgot that we had a bit of the 2003 Mr. K Noble Man left over from a couple nights earlier, so I brought it out.  It was still superlative by itself.  One of the cheeses, called Minuet, was a bit of a disappointment by itself.  It’s a triple cream goat cheese blended with creme fraiche, but it was a bit unripe and unyielding, with an almost chalky texture.  When paired with the wine, however, it opened up, showed sweetness, and the wine seemed to erase the chalkiness of the cheese.  The wine benefited from a bit of acidic brightness that came from the cheese, and it, too, was even a bit better in combination.

Maybe it is possible to find wines that pair with cheeses as well as these two combinations worked out, but I’m not sure I want to open at least 4-5 bottles every time we have a cheese dinner.

If you like foie gras, there’s something incredibly decadent about searing your own at home.  In part, you are not limited to the invariably tiny pieces that you get for eighteen bucks at a restaurant.  We got a whole lobe, wacked off about a third of it, cut slices about about 3/8-inch, and then seared them.  Got roughly 5 good-sized pieces, served on toasts and drizzled with a reduction of Chambers Muscat and figs.  Drank a 2003 Mr. K The Noble Man.  Spectacularly good.  The savory of the toasts and the foie gras was a great foil with the richness of the wine.

Also had some Coho salmon with a basil cream sauce that was a very nice match with the 2007 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.  Not the same classic pairing as the foie/Noble Man, but it’s tough to beat salmon and Pinot.