nanson.ch wine & cheese matching

Wine & Cheese - Interesting Combinations September 2002

A nice evening in Basel courtesey of Mövenpick where we tried some interesting wines in combination with even more interesting cheeses :

Apéro : 1993 Pol Roger, Champagne

Unfortunately, I forgot to make notes on the Pol Roger Champagne - but I do remember that I liked it (!)

The White Wines		The Cheese
1999 Paul Blanck, Riesling GC Schlossberg	+	Brillat-Savarin - Burgundy
2000 Château Lynch-Bages, Bages Blanc	+	Galegge Rotschimmel Geisskäse - CH
1997 Robert Mondavi, Chardonnay Reserve	+	Val Maggia Bio-Bergkäse - Tessin CH

1999 Paul Blanck, Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg
Gold colour. High toned citrus nose. Dry style with a thick palate, but seamingly only medium intensity fruit. Acidity is nicely long. A good wine. The combination with the soft white 'spread-able' Brillat-Savarin was a very good one. A lovely rich, double cream, cows milk cheese which was named after the 18th century French food writer. The cheese seemed to fill out the palate of the wine a little more whilst toning down the acidity a little.
2000 Château Lynch-Bages, Bages Blanc
Yellow. Slightly oaky nose with some gooseberry - actually very nice. Palate is slightly four square but the wine is very long with appley fruit. Very good. The Galegge 'red mould' goats cheese was yellow and soft - looking a little like Port Salut, very good on it's own too. With the wine, I found the combination a little disappointing, the cheese wasn't spoiled but the wine became a little bland.
1997 Robert Mondavi, Chardonnay Reserve
Gold colour. Wow! - no oak on the nose. The nose is actually quite subdued but there is an impression of 'boiled sweets'. The thick plate is much harsher than the nose, but very long in a bubble-gum way. Seems good acidity on the front of the palate but a little cloying at the back of the palate. Not a bad wine though. The Val Maggia 'bio-mountain cheese' was quite interesting with a slightly rubbery texture. Made a very good combination with the wine as it became less harsh on the palate and less cloying too.

The Red Wines		The Cheese
1997 Château Pichon-Comtesse Lalande	+	Zamorano Hard Cheese - Spain
1998 Alion, Reserva Ribera del Duero	+	Försterkäse, Rohmilch - Toggenburg CH
1998 Château St.Michelle/Antinori, Col Solare	+	Gruyère 16Mte. - Waadt CH

1997 Château Pichon-Comtesse Lalande
Deep garnet with a ruby rim. Smokey medium toast nose, hard to find much else. A little prickly acidity but follows onto a fairly long finish. Medium-plus tannins, palate is also a little smokey though only medium intensity. Good but not special. Unfortunately all this cheese was gone - so a terrible match (!)
1998 Alion, Reserva Ribera del Duero
Deep saturated ruby colour. Toasty oak on the nose obscuring some black fruit. A silky but very tannic palate. Medium-plus length on the finish and very good concentration, reminds me a little of the premium Chilean wines. Very good but very young too. With the Försterkäse there was a definite improvement, the tannins being significantly toned down. A good match.
1998 Château St.Michelle/Antinori, Col Solare
Garnet colour. High toned red fruits and lower toned black cherry. Medium density palate with good acidity and strong but fine tannin. Very, very long. Surprised to find that this was easily the most interesting wine. The Gruyère was salty and slightly crunchy, and like the Försterkäse did a really good job of smoothing the tannin so another good match.

The Sweet Wines		The Cheese
1986 Château Doisy-Daene, Sauternes	+	Roquefort - France
1995 Oremus, Tokaji Aszu "5 Puttonio"	+	Thurblau - Thurgau CH
1995 Quinta do Noval	+	Sbrinz 4 Years - Wallis CH

1986 Château Doisy-Daene, Sauternes
Deep yellow. Dried vine fruits on the medium intensity sweet nose a little botrytis too. Reasonable acidity with a melon and sweet pear finish. Again only medium intensity on the palate. This wine is sweeter on the nose than on the palate. Good but not that special. In this case the Roquefort is a bit too salty for the wine, makes it a little bland.
1995 Oremus, Tokaji Aszu "5 Puttonio"
Golden colour. Nose is peaches and dried apricots. Palate is thicker than the Doisy. Much better acidity and fruit concentration This is a lovely wine. A much better match with the Thurblau cheese. The palate becomes even more dense with slightly lower acidity.
1995 Quinta do Noval
Almost opaque garnet. Nose is very alcoholic with prune and boot polish. Very sweet and tannic, licorice being the dominant flavour. But too powerful for me. The Sbrinz was a fabulous cheese, not too salty and a little smokey. Improved the port experience for me - but still too powerful.