Wine and cheese are two of life's great culinary pleasures, and finding the perfect match can be a delicious endeavour. I recently organized a tasting at my Anglican church, St. Alban’s in Richmond. Billed as a fun-raiser and a fund-raiser, I paired 10 wines and nine cheeses. Here are three of the matches.
We uncorked a 2014 Rodney Strong Chardonnay Chalk Hill ($29.99). Chalk Hill is a small viticultural area in Sonoma County that makes some excellent Chardonnays due to its volcanic soil. The terroir adds minerality to the wine and makes the vines struggle, producing better juice and tastier wine.
On its own, the Rodney Strong is a sturdy chardonnay with a nose of tropical fruit and notes of toasty oak, vanilla and custard. On the palate there is smooth creaminess and minerality, plus flavours of pineapple and ripe apples with baking spices.
But the Chalk Hill Chard character went to the next level with the Swiss Gruyere. Gruyere is a semi-hard cheese with a creamy texture and a nutty character. These traits made it a tasty match for the wine’s creamy texture and its toasted almond flavours.
We then switched colours with an elegant rosé. The Adorada Rosé ($17.49) has a stylish bottle sealed with a coating of black wax with a pristine pearl-white label announcing, ‘Eau de California’. You might think this was a high-end perfume!
No it’s just a classy way of marketing an adorable wine produced by Fetzer Vineyards of Mendocino County to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Their website describes it as, “The essence of California in an intensely aromatic blend of wild rose and sweet pea with notes of lush strawberry and honeycomb. I’m not sure if I picked out the sweat pea but I can agree with the rest of the quote; it’s definitely floral and fruity, refreshing and slightly off-dry so it’s a perfect spring sipper.
This time the pink wine was better on its own without the cheese. The Asiago Wisconsin cheese we tried was delicious by itself but too acidic and salty for the wine. A Brie or Camembert would probably be better.
And my favourite wine of the trio was the 2015 Devil’s Corner Pinot Noir from Tasmania. This island state of Australia looks like Vancouver Island and has a similar cool climate, which is what Pinot Noir needs to be stellar.
Britain’s Decanter Wine Magazine rated it 89 out of 90 points. “Unoaked and approachable, with lifted violet aromas and herbal riffs, fresh summer pudding savouriness and velvet tannins.” I loved its cranberry fruit and refreshing acidity with hints of beetroot and other dark berries.
I matched this with Dutch smoked Gouda. While the wine had plenty of acid and flavour, I felt the smoky cheese overshadowed it. My experience is that most cheese and wine combos work, but sometimes they don’t. But it’s fun to experiment!
All of today’s wines are available at the Ironwood government store and other select LDB outlets.
Eric Hanson is a retired Richmond educator and a fan of wine and cheese tastings.
