Pairing cheese with wine seems like a no-brainer, but one wrong move and you might (gasp) have the salty, pungent taste of a blue cheese all night long. To save you from your cheese woes, here's how to make the perfect cheese plate, and then in Part II of this post, we'll discuss the order to serve cheeses them if pairing with wine.
1. Give Equal Opportunity - you want a variety of milks represented. Include at least one of each of these cheeses:
A goat's milk - it's tangy and earthy; e.g. Chevre, Valencay
A sheep's milk - for its nutty and gamey flavors; e.g. Pecorino, Monchego, Pyrenees Brebis
A cow's milk cheese - all rich and buttery but a bit more neutral; e.g. Everything else from Mozzarella to Piave to Brie and Gouda
2. 3's Not a Crowd - A sufficient cheese plate contains a minimum of 3 different cheeses and a maximum of 5. Any fewer and you don't get to taste the full spectrum that cheese offers; any more and you're unable to differentiate between the cheeses much.
3. Think Variety - Get your taste buds ready for bootcamp and include a broad spectrum of tastes and styles. If you have 3-4 cheeses on your plate, choose one soft, one semi-soft and or one firm, and one hard cheese, with each cheese offering something unique.
4. Pretty It Up - Offer accompaniments to the cheese including sliced baguettes or plain water crackers and then one of two of the following: marcona almonds, quince paste, grapes, pear slices, and figs
5. I've Got The Blues - I love pungent, stinky blue cheeses; the more mold the better! But - I rarely include them on a cheese plate if I'm serving it with wine. More on this in Part II of the post.
Some of my favorite cheese combinations include (plated in order):
a) Vermont Butter & Cheese Co. Fresh Chevre, D'affinois, Piave Vecchio, 3-Year Aged Grouda
b) Westfield Capri, Brillat Savarin, Pyrenees Brebis, Parmigiano-Reggiano
How to Pick a Summer Wine: The Gentler, Lighter Side of Wine
Summer’s soaring temps beg you to step away from heavy Cabernets and check out the gentler, lighter side of wine. When choosing the perfect summer wine for your outdoor engagement party or wedding, think light, crisp, refreshing--and because people tend to drink more in the heat--lower in alcohol. Nothing more prettily suggests summer than a dry (i.e. not sweet) rose. Avoid the simple, syrupy versions and try French roses from the Mourvèdre grape or roses made using the Saignee method for more complexity. Pick wines from countries where you imagine the locals sipping leisurely at sidewalk cafés while basking in the sun, like Spain. A Spanish fave is Albarino from the Rias Baixas region. Made to drink young, Albarino is a crisp, white wine with intense fruit, lively acidity and generally a lower level of alcohol. It pairs perfectly with summer foods from seafood to grilled vegetables. But you don’t need to swear off red wine for summer. Look for light bodied wines like Pinot Noir from Oregon or a Valpolicella from Italy, both capable of standing up to barbequed foods. And don’t be afraid to put a slight chill on your red wine. It is summer after all!
Rías Baixas Albariño from Spain, “Exceptional with Everything” Oh Really?
There's nothing we love more than a challenge. It's in our makeup. We're two women, thirties. One Indian. One Filipina. The first, founder and CEO of a business in the arguably male-dominated wine world. The second, building experience to be a future proprietess of a wine store. Add to this: In New York City. So when presented with the opportunity to play wine and food critic for a night—to pair Rías Baixas Albariño wines, proclaimed to be "exceptional with everything" with Mercat’s offerings —it is impossible and simply against every ounce of who we are, to refuse.
Mercat means “market” in Catalan, the language of the northern Spanish region where owner, Jaime Reixach, is from and where the restaurant’s menu draws its inspiration. The albariños we’ll be drinking also originate from the northern region, and so we’re already anticipating more perfect wine pairings than tragic mismatches.
It’s a beautiful warm Thursday night—and we are tasting two Albariño wines: Alba Rosa from Martinez Serrantes and Pazo San Mauro, both 2006 vintages. We take our time with each wine—assessing them alone and then side by side. At the end, we agree that both are delightful: the Alba Rosa is sparkling with surprising depth while the Pazo San Mauro would bring life to our springtime picnic. Further, we imagine that if each wine were to be personified, they might just be these two ladies, described as such:
Now, we move on to the heart of our challenge: Exceptional with everything? Oh really? How do these two beauties handle themselves in company? After the three and a half hours of glorious sipping, chewing, and chatting, among ourselves and the restaurant staff, here are our findings:
No surprise, our lovely wines get along splendidly with their classic and traditional partners: we have raves for the nicely seasoned patatas bravas—not too spicy, not too garlicky—and the padrones/blistered shishito peppers, the char and oil offset by the tartness of the wines. One of us goes wild for the Canelons de Verdura/eggplant wrapped spring vegetables, manchego, and cranberry reduction. And then Chef Lowder sends over Trencat d’Ous/mushroom with salsa verde topped with a fried egg, which again, goes splendidly with our wines. Even the suckling pig/Cochinillo, which we think will surely clash, in fact becomes the surprise of the evening. Like the beauty and the beast, our wines and the pig make an unlikely but harmonious pair.
We ask ourselves for the last time: Rías Baixas Albariño from Spain: Exceptional with
Everything?If not for being the gluttonous bottomless pits that we are, we would certainly have answered YES with an exclamation point. But since we order those two desserts—Torrades Sta. Teresa/fried bread with lemon yogurt and Pa Amb Oli Xocolata/bread, olive oil, and chocolate, our answer must be: Almost. These two desserts with our two Albariños — are disastrous.
Rías Baixas Albariño from Spain: Exceptional with
almost Everything.
--Anu Karwa and Marie Estrada
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http://www.riasbaixaswines.com for more info on Rías Baixas Albariños from Spain
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1 comment:
Thank you so much it is a wonderful help, now to make a cheese plate & perfect cheese & wine pairings is without a doubt simple by using your information. Thank you
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