What to drink with cheese ?

Do you like camembert, comté, stilton, cheddar ?
And what about goat cheese, roquefort or vacherin ? Of course you do.

Like most French people, I'm a huge fan of cheese.

Look at this :

It looks good doesn't it ?

Well here is something that might startle you :


Cheese and Red wine just don't go together.
I know, this may shatter one of France's most traditional preconceptions, but the sad truth still remains.
Red wine + Cheese = not good. 

The red wine's tannins, its acidity and overwhelming power have a negative effect on the taste of the cheese.
I know this is a polemic issue. I might have the French Trade Union of Cheese makers who will try to pour tones of Camembert on my front porch to punish me for saying this.
This is my mere opinion and I don't expect to convince everyone out there.
However for me it is crystal clear : red wine and cheese are an insanity. 

So what will you drink with cheese will you ask me?
Very simple, my dear readers, there is a world of white wines out there, just yearning to be drunked with a nice little Stilton.

• For example, take a Goat cheese. 

Saint Maure de Touraine for instance. Well most of you, will have it with a soft red wine, fruity or herbal.
Big mistake.
Next time, try having the exact same cheese with a Chenin blanc from Touraine. Its acidity, freshness, even fruitiness will allow the Goat cheese to express its best aromas.
Sauvignon would also be a good choice.  Herbal aromas, grass, straw : a perfect match for this light cheese which often comes with a straw in its center.

Here have a bit of this Champ Chenin, 2007 by Olga Raffault. The tasting note will come soon.

• Next example: Comté. 

Comté is a rather salty cheese, a little nutty too. Drinking it with red wine will simply kill the subtle underwood flavours it exhales.
So go ahead and have it with a white Savagnin from the Jura region. I already wrote a note on these magnificent yet unfamiliar wines (Check it here).
The nuttiness and woodiness will be perfectly suited for the comté's salty texture. Honestly it is simply one of the best food and wine pairing I've ever tasted.

• Last but not least : Roquefort, Stilton Blue Cheese. 

You would think that with a cheese that strong you would need a REALLY tannic wine, something that can tame their power. Well there again, my friends, you would be wrong.
The sweetness of a dessert wine fits incomparably  well with blue cheese.
Try Sauternes, Barsac, Icewine, or Dessert wines from the Loire Valley like Coteaux-du-Layon, Bonnezeaux or Quart de Chaume (see my note on these wines which unfortunately remain a well kept secret). It will give a spectacular end to your meal and you may even move on to your dessert, it will ravish your guests trust me.

Have it with this lovely Coteaux-du-Layon, 2000, from Saint Lambert du Lattray. See my tasting note for the 2005 vintage.

So you see, I'm not saying you should not have red wine and cheese. It's a habit, and I must admit I love doing it. The most important thing to learn how to pair food and wine, is just to do what you like. There is no right and wrong. You're free to enjoy Château Yquem with French fries if that's what makes you happy. 

Yet I truly believe that to experience the greatness of cheese (it is the French person in me speaking here !), the subtly of their various aromas, you should really try having them with whites.
Trust me you won't regret it !

And if you have doubts on what you may try with your cheese, go ahead and ask me I'll gladly answer if I can!

5 steps to outperform your own nose

You want to know how to smell wine. You think it will change your life to be able to make a difference between blackberry and cherry in a Cabernet Sauvignon. And you are right my friend, for it will.

Luckily for you, the does and don't of wine tasting are not very complicated.
It will only take you 5 steps to learn how to use your nose perfectly.

1. Be daring. 
Don't hesitate to put your nose way down in your glass in order to get a full grasp of the wine's aromas.

2. Don't wear perfume. 
I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's one of the pivotal elements of a successful wine tasting. Try making a difference between strawberry and raspberry with Chanel 5 on you. It might be a little challenging.

3. Try not to have to much food around you. 
You may enjoy wine with your dinner of course, but having a Blanquette de Veau may give you the false impression that there is mushroom aromas in your wine. This pesto smell is not coming from your wine, it's your neighbors' pasta!

4. Smell everything you can. 
This is a critical point. If you don't build up your own database of fragrances you won't be able to remember what apricot smells like when you come across it. Don't hesitate to sniff everything you can: in your kitchen, in a garden, at a restaurant, at work even. Oh and also, don't forget to explain to people why you are putting your nose in their personal belongings, they could get the wrong idea...
You may check out my post on how to taste wine and recognize aromas. I've got a few tricks that may help you impress your friends! Click here. 

5. Try different methods. 
Only imbeciles never change their minds. If you realize taking a long and profound whiff of air doesn't work well for your, try something else. Go ahead and take small and quick breaths for instance. Also you may try to keep your mouth open when inhaling, it might help you to get more aromas.


So you see, tasting wine is really not that difficult.
The secret is perseverance and time.
You just need to train, taste, sniff, whiff, inhale, chew, spit, over and over, until you finally can call yourself a real wine aficionado.
If it were only about tricks we would all be contenders of Robert Parker or Michel Rolland.

So go ahead and have a glass! Cheers! 

Wine note: Chinon Cabernet Franc

I am in the Loire Valley for the week-end and decided to try a few new Chinon wines.

Most people don't really like Chinon. They think it is inevitably harsh and green.
And truthfully most of the time they are right. Chinon can have a very powerful aroma of Green Pepper and full bodied tannins that make it difficult to appreciate for the beginner wine drinker.

The trick is to serve it between 15° and 17°C and to open it up at least 1 hour before tasting it.
Most of all if it is a "hill" wine (and not a river wine), be sure to wait a few years before drinking it. It will soften the tannins.
And surely save a lot of pain to your gums. 


Yet sometimes Chinon wines will surprise you with their complexity and their fruitiness.

"Les Picasses", Château de Coulaine, Chinon, 2004 (100% Cabernet Franc ) came as one of these surprises.
A great wine to appreciate with lamb chops (like I did), red meat, mushrooms or roasted duck.

Here are my tasting notes:

Color: a bright ruby red wine which gives a hint of what we will be expecting...

Nose: intense black berries (Blackcurrent, blackberry) followed immediately by earthly notes like moist soil, mushroom and a herbaceous touch. After a while and if the wine warms a little you may also find some licorice and cigar box. 

Mouth: as expected the tannins are firm, rich but an interesting acidity counterbalances them well. 

The Loire's sweethearts

Most people don't really enjoy dessert wines.

They think they are too sweet, too heavy, too powerful. And a part from foie gras nobody really knows what to pair them with.

So they usually end up being stacked in a cellar, waiting for New Years Eve or at least for you to let go of your diet for one evening.

Yet I think this is a grave mistake.

Dessert wines in spite of their ridiculous name, should not only be kept for dessert. They can magnify a whole meal if you accept to let go of your cultural prejudices.

Dessert wines contain a high level of sugar and alcohol. This characteristic comes from the fact that they are made from mouldy grapes.

I know this does not sound very appetizing.

Yet in fact this mould is not just any mould: it is a noble mould, called Botrytis Cinerea, also dubbed "noble rot".

Wine makers can really be poets.

This idiosyncrasy is only possible when the weather is sufficiently moist during the autumn.

Therefore only a few regions in the world have the adequate climate to produce dessert wines.

In France, Sauternes, in the Bordeaux region is the most famous of them all. Just check out the price of a bottle of Château d'Yquem.

But there is also great noble rot wines in Alsace (some Gewürztraminer for example) or, as my main title suggests it, in the Loire Valley.

Chenin, (the Loire's main white grape) is the variety that produces these great dessert wines. There are 3 dessert wines in the Loire Valley:

- Coteaux-du-Layon

- Bonnezeaux

- Quart de Chaume

As they are much less known then their counterparts from Sauternes, these amazing wines also have the great advantage of being much cheaper.

But this is not their only asset! Also their general acidity (typical of Chenin) gives them the ability to age easily and provides them with an overall impression of aerial lightness which is a plus when you want to pair them with non dessert foods.

So you see these wines are magical with the appropriate pairing.

For instance, try to taste a Coteaux-du-Layon with a veal medallion and mushroom sauce.

Or dare and pair a Bonnezeaux with an Orange glazed duck.

Prunes or raisins go well with these wines too. Try it out, you'll be surprised.

Anything with a little honey, dried fruits or foie gras will do the trick.

It's not very complicated and I assure you having one of those at your table will make a huge difference.

Here is a Coteaux-du-Layon I tasted last week and paired with chicken stuffed with dried prunes. It was absolutely delicious.

Coteaux-du-Layon, Saint Lambert du Lattay, 2005

Michel Robineau

Selection grains nobles

Nose: very subtle, fresh peonies, apricot

Mouth: an explosion. Dried apricot, honey, a very well balanced acidity and a round attack. Very long lasting taste.

This wine is just a drop of gold diluted in your veins. It's powerful yet soft, fragrant yet delicate, sweet yet elegant. Overall you really feel there's something different about this wine, something noble and pure.

Sunday afternoon tea

A little bit of sweetness in my world of Chicken and wine.
It can't hurt, and with the dreadful weather we've been having in Paris today, I just felt like hanging around home with a couple of friends.
Hanging around with food of course.

So here's a little improvisation that comes from the Kumquats I found at my local market this morning. I don't usually cook them, there are lovely just like that.

A la mode au jus ?

I know. It doesn't mean anything.

Or so you think.

In French "a la mode" means "fashionable".

So I was a little taken aback when I discovered that in the US it has a totally different meaning. Have you ever tasted waffles "a la mode" ?

If you were French, you'd be expecting something shiny and exciting, something with a twist that could reminisce of Haute Couture on a waffle. Maybe a bow or something.

And then you'd find yourself being served a waffle with a scoop of French vanilla ice-cream. That's it. Disappointing isn't it ? So much for John Galliano.