Sunday, December 5, 2010

Wine and Cheese French Edition

I was super stoked when I walked into the class and saw that we would be having some of my all time favorites: Pouilly Fuisse and Epoisses!

Since this is the French version of the wine and cheese series put together by Angie Ortmann, aka STLwinegirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com), I was really hoping that we could actually have some champagne but we had a Francois Montand Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine instead. There were few bubbles in it, which seemed strange, and it was quite tart. This was a paired with a St. Angel Triple Crème and they both tasted rather barnyard altogether.

Luckily, my favorites saved me since next up was a Bucheron Chevre with my favorite Chardonnay-style wine, Clos Reissier Pouilly Fuisse. It doesn’t have the oak or buttery taste of a California Chardonnay and instead there is more crispness and flavor, which helps cut through the thick, creamy cheese.

One of my all time favorite cheeses, Epoisses, is a small wheel with a creamy center. Since it was still fairly chilled, the cheese was not as oozing as I prefer it to be after it sits for awhile, but it still stood up well against the Jadot Marsannay, which is made from the Pinot Noir grape. The cheese by itself is quite pungent so it really helps to have a wine with some bite to it so they both calm each other down.

The Mimolette is French’s version of cheddar, which was aged for 18-months. Unfortunately, I don’t think this was old enough, meaning not sharp enough, to stand up to the Eschappe Bel Bordeaux, a very dry wine made from the merlot grape.

And for dessert, a Blue d’Auverge was paired with a super sweet Chateau Gravas Sauternes, which could have been dessert all by itself. The blue really did not calm it down enough to make it drinkable for me.

Since it’s the holiday season, there aren’t any more classes planned for awhile but I’m sure things will pick right up in January!