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Wine and Cheese Pairings

Last week, I picked up some samples of new releases from Ashley Trout's Flying Trout Wines. On the fact sheet for her 2007 Old Vines Malbec (to be reviewed in the November issue of my Review) was the suggested Cheese Pairing: Manchego and Taleggio. Lynn and I tried this pairing.  The creamy but firm sheep's milk Spanish Manchego and the rich, creamy cow's milk Taleggio from the foothills of the Italian Alps both went beautifully with the Malbec. This gave me the idea of suggesting other wine and cheese pairings that we have found to work well with Washington wines.

Merlot - This varietal goes well with slightly creamy cheeses: Wensleydale (cow's milk) and Ossau-Iraty (sheep's milk from the French Pyrenees). These also go well with Petit Verdot as a stand-alone varietal.

Cabernet Sauvignon - English cheddars such as Montgomery's and Neal's Yard go nicely with Cabernet Sauvignon, also with Cabernet Franc.

Syrah - This variety calls for fairly firm, flavorful cheeses such as Manchego, Garrotxa (sheep's milk from Spain) and Vella Dry Jack (Sonoma, Calif.).

Malbec - In addition to Manchego and Taleggio (see above) this wine goes well with Shropshire Blue and Brie. Malbec is one of the few red wines that can go with double or triple cream cheeses.

Chardonnay - Alpine cow's milk cheeses such as Gruyere and Alpenzeller go well with this. Also Morbier from Franche-Comte.

Viognier - Rich cheeses such as Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog (California goat milk) and Mt. Townsend Seastack (Washington, cow's milk) go well with this rich, aromatic variety.

Marsanne and/or Roussanne - These call for slightly creamy, flavorful cheeses. Garrotxa (see above) and Cypress Grove Midnight Moon (a wax rind goat cheese) go well with these full-bodied whites. The slightly tangy cow's milk Welsh Caerphilly also works nicely.

Avoid double and triple creams such as Brie and St. Andre except with sweetish whites such as Riesling. One exception is Malbec (see above)

TMSA Holdings Acquires madwine.com

A couple of days ago, I received a press release from Chuck Lefevre, the proprietor of TMSA Holdings, owner of Esquin, in my email box. Part of it states:

The purchase brings two great brands - MadWine and Esquin Wine Merchants - under one roof. For customers, this will mean unprecedented access to domestic and international wines.

"Pairing MadWine with Esquin is an incredible opportunity for us to expose the great wines of Washington state to the rest of the country," says Chuck Lefevre, owner of TMSA and Esquin Wine Merchants. "In fact, MadWine will offer more Washington wines than any other on-line retailer."

MadWine ships to all states that permit shipments from out of state. Go to www.madwine.com. For the Esquin website, go to www.esquin.com