A couple weeks back we highlighted a goat’s milk gouda from the famed, Fromagerie L’Amuse, in Amsterdam. This week we’re pairing another cheese aged in those same cellars, their 2 year Signature Gouda. Made with pasteurized cow’s milk, traditional rennet, and packed with a crystalline crunch that everyone craves, this cheese will certainly grab your attention. Combining a silky smooth paste with a boozy, salty brown butter finish, this cheese leaves your mouth watering. You’ll often hear us Cheesemongers pair this cheese with bottles of bourbon or scotch, but this time we’ve found a match in Januik Winery’s 2018 Columbia Valley Red Blend. With a solid foundation of body, notes of dark red fruit, and a smoky, oaky nose, this wine has met its match with this Gouda. The two play wonderfully together, both benefiting from their high level of acidity, and indisputable character. Don’t just reach for a cold glass of rosé the next time you’re lounging by the pool, as this pairing may be just the trick for beating the heat.
The Pairing Week 9: A Wisconsin cheddar and an Italian red wine walk into a bar...
Some of the best pairings can be found where you least expect them. This week’s pairing is a prime example of the little surprises you can stumble upon when you choose to taste outside the box of pairing theory. In a small village just 40 miles north of Milwaukee, Joe Widmer takes tradition seriously, and has devoted himself to upholding the old-world methods of cheesemaking that have been practiced by his family for nearing 100 years. Joe is one of a small number of Wisconsin cheesemakers who hold the title, Master Cheesemaker, and among the many cheeses he produces at Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, his cheddars are absolutely additive. This week we’ll focus our attention on his 6 year-old cheddar, a cheese with deep richness, a smooth creamy paste, and notes of citrus that appease the tannins of a red wine produced in Alto Piemonte, at the base of the Italian Alps. Tasting of brandy-soaked cherries and cocoa, this Nebbiolo blend, from Antonio Vallana, transforms when eaten along side this adolescent Wisconsin cheddar. The wine’s medium body, firm tannins, notes of dark fruit, and balanced structure of acidity benefit from the cheese, and push forward a delicate sweetness, previously hidden. It is our hope that this pairing will encourage you to take a bit more risk the next time you think about pairing cheese with wine.
Week 8: Go for the Goat!
This week’s pairing features one of our most popular cheeses from our case. And if there’s one cheese to count on for a reliable pairing, it’s typically, the L’Amuse Brabander. Hand-selected from a cheese cooperative in the Brabant region of Southern Holland, by Betty and Martin Koster of Fromagerie L’Amuse, Brabander is a pasteurized goat milk gouda that most everyone favors. Through careful selection, and a unique method for aging, Brabander is dynamic in flavor, meanwhile delivering a melt-in-your-mouth, yet slightly crystalline paste. Reminiscent of a sea salt and cashew caramel ice cream, Brabander is aged for just about 6 months at slightly higher temperature and humidity than typical of most goudas. For this week’s selection, we’ve paired this gouda with a food-friendly rosé from the Savoie region of Southeastern France, made from the regional varietal, Jacquére. With notes of rusty late season strawberries, light body, mild effervescence, and the perfect acid, the rosé from Domaine Labbé provides ideal qualities needed for an effortless pairing.
The Pairing Week 3: We proceed to get funkier
2020 Vietti Moscato d’Asti & Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson
A number of cheeses we sell in our case are seasonal in production, meaning they are only produced during specific months of the year. One good example is Meadow Creek Dairy’s Grayson, a soft-ripened, washed rind cheese made from unpasteurized cow’s milk. With the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia in their backyard, Meadow Creek makes this farmstead cheese the old-fashioned, hard way. From raising a herd of hybrid Jersey cows that live and birth exclusively outdoors, to rotationally grazing, and only making cheese while the animals feed on fresh pasture, this farm follows the rhythm and pace of their land. Each March, soon after calving begins, milk starts to flow, and with it cheesemaking commences. Wheels are generally aged for between 2 and 4 months, the former tasting more mild, while age brings about a more meaty, smoky flavor and a creamier paste. This cheese screams for a beverage pairing that provides a balance of acidity and residual sugars, one like this Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont, Italy. With notes reminiscent of apricot and ginger, and a kind bit of fizz, we found this wine not only capable of standing up to this cheese, but complementary in both taste and mouthfeel. Like all cheeses, enjoy them at room temperature, and serve this wine chilled.
The Pairing Week 2: And We Take A Baby Step Towards the Funk
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.
The Pairing Week 1: Start at the Beginning
We knew that we were going to start this project with a triple creme. Soft, creamy cheeses are some of the most commonly requested cheeses out of our case. Aged for weeks, rather than months or years, soft younger cheeses offer a clean expression of milk, and tend to pair relatively nicely with other foods and beverages. In the case of Brillat Savarin, a soft-ripened triple créme cheese from Normandy, France, the milk is enriched with cream early in the cheese making process, resulting in a texture within the finished cheese reminiscent of softened butter. These softer styles of cheese serve as a good reminder that producing great tasting cheese is a function of harvesting high quality milk. Here are some of our tasting notes from this week’s pairing.
2020 Gail Cellars “Doris” Dry Rosé & Brillat Savarin
Citrusy, with a bright level acidity, this rosé pairs well with the cheese’s high butterfat content. The saltiness of the cheese welcomes hints of red fruit from the grapes, similar to unripe strawberries. A thin, bloomy rind, and a luscious cream line underneath, help make this pairing a well-balanced combination of flavors and textures.
The Pairing
Here our long time Minneapolis manager Peter introduces a brand new series we’re launching.
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve launched a new weekly wine and cheese pairing program here at France 44 called, “The Pairing!” Each week we’ll showcase a specific wine and cheese pairing, along with insights as to why we believe the pairings taste great.
With Easter right around the corner, we thought we’d kick things into gear with two great pairings at once! Here’s a brief recap of our tasting this past week.
2019 Donnoff Estate Riesling & Stony Pond Farm Swallow Tail Tomme -
What a great way to begin our brunch-time tasting meeting! The Riesling’s subtle sweetness balanced the rich, buttery, earthy flavors within this raw milk tomme. Tasting the cheese's rind drew out vegetal notes from the grape, pointing to the complexity of the wine, and its ability to pair with different cheeses.
2018 Calera Pinot Noir & Pitchfork Bandaged Cheddar -
Surprisingly fun, and very complimentary, these two tasted fantastic together, elevating one another to a new level. With a slightly higher ABV of around 14%, we knew this wine might be a challenge to pair with this cheese, but as it turned out, the wine’s intensity was tempered by the salty, umami, and mineral-like flavors expressed in the cheese. Kinda leaves you wanting more.
