We’re moving away from the super safe confines of triple creme brie towards a brie with a bit more in the way of flavor. Here is Peter’s report on this week’s pairing:
2018 Marion Borgo Valpolicella & La Ferme de la Tremblaye Brie Fermier
This lighter bodied red wine, made from a combination of Rondinella and Corvina grapes, hails from the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. Borrowing equally of modern and traditional techniques, this Valpolicella leans earthy and musty in profile, offering hints of warm spice which balance a salty palate and compliment this hand-ladled, farmstead cow’s milk brie. Buttery vegetal notes within the cheese are tempered by layers of stone fruit and ripe red berries within the grapes. Produced on an organic farm located just outside Paris, and with milk from a single herd, eating this cheese brings to mind savory flavors of toasted garlic and roasted asparagus. The milk used in making this cheese first undergoes a low-temperature form of pasteurization, called thermization, which aims to reduce spoilage bacteria within the milk, meanwhile preserving key milk components responsible for the desired flavors expected of true french bries. This pairing doesn’t disappoint.