Say Cheese: Picturing the Perfect Wine Combo

The combination of wine and cheese may sound a little cliché perhaps, dare I say even a little cheesy. Still, since their invention, wine and cheese have been a dazzling duo, going together like strawberries and champagne, Merlot and steak, boxed wine and Taco Bell. Doing it their way, yes their way, wine and cheese are the Laverne and Shirley of the alcohol industry.
It may seem odd that two such separate entities have the ability to do this. After all, these two products come from seemingly opposite poles: wine is made to perfection; cheese can be processed to fit into a spray can and forego refrigeration. Wine is served with lobster; cheese is sprinkled on top of spaghetti and meatballs. Pouring wine is synonymous with sophistication, cutting cheese is a euphemism for passing wind. Nonetheless, when consumed together, cheese complements wine like no other food; it’s as if chunks of cheddar continually go up to bottles of Riesling to tell them how well they’ve aged.

The regular rules of food pairings - pairing white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat - do not apply to cheese and wine coupling, as most cheese is white or orange, or, if kept for too long, white and orange with soft green spots. Thus, in order to succeed in a proper pairing, we have to look beyond, viewing through the holes of a Swiss piece of cheese into an entirely different world.

Full article here.

February 10, 2007

Say Cheese: Picturing the Perfect Wine Combo