Let's get right down to business about the results from yesterday's Marriage Mondays. Today's recipe is going to be more so a pairing suggestion for the winning cheese to bring out nuances in the wine. I hope you enjoy!
Contestant Number # 1: Vermont Butter and Cheese's Coupole - The easy and safe choice - the young cheese pairs well with the young wine, similarities abound when it comes to the zippy-ness of each member of this pair. However, without excitement and differences this pair will fall somewhat flat, not bad, just flat -- in a way it's like dating someone who is too similar to you that you don't bring out each other's unique qualities. It's about challenging what you are used to and expanding your horizons here in Marriage Mondays just as in real life you want someone who pushes you and turns you into your best self! If you were to go the safe and easy route and not feel the desire to challenge yourself, I recommend making a spinach salad with the goat's cheese, some slivers of strawberries, slivered roasted almonds and a nice light balsamic vinaigrette.
Contestant Number # 2: Monte Enebro - Maybe a one night stand, but this certainly is a case where one member of the pair controls the spotlight, so the tasting becomes more about the cheese with its delicacies and intricacies than about the happy marriage between the fresh, light, and fanciful wine and this bold and unique cheese. Monte Enebro with its complex taste profile needs a supporting actor, not a full-on partner. There are times in food and wine pairing where you want to specifically highlight the qualities of one member of the pair and this is an excellent example of one of those times. The piquant characteristics of the cheese will be perfect when paired with a sweet sherry or a Sauternes for example. I attribute the success of this pairing to be due to the fact that the cheese is inoculated with Penicillium Roqueforti and therefore in certain ways assumes some classic blue cheese notes, making a dessert wine an easy choice!
Contestant Number # 3: Achadinha's Capricious - The surprise winner -- A perfect case of opposites attracting here. The aged goat's milk cheese when paired with its opposite, a young white wine, gives each member of the pair an opportunity to exhibit characteristics that one would not necessarily notice when consuming each separately. This sure isn't the easy and safe route, but with a little coaxing, this will prove to be the height of success. The nutty, crunchy, caramelly-ness of the cheese will be complemented with its opposites in the fresh, crisp, floral qualities of the wine. The wine becomes a much more complex and dynamic entity when paired with this cheese which I find really interesting -- making an everyday drinking wine, a special occasion sort of beverage.
I am sure you are curious what I envision as the perfect way to serve this, well these two contestants should be paired without too much fuss to ruin the nuances in each.
I would try this pairing together without any other elements first and then to add a little bit of oopmh, I like to put the cheese on a nice toasted piece of Bouchon Bakery's Brioche Bread -- inherently sweet and crumbly this will complement the crumbly texture the cheese perfectly. Apart from the bread, I would add a few marcona almonds for salt and a few slices of fresh Apricot to your little open faced sandwich. The mixture of the saltiness of the marcona almonds with the sweetness of the fruit will balance out and complement the wine and cheese's brilliant flavor profiles. This pairing should show you that sometimes just adding one or two elements to a wine and cheese pairing will take the relationship to the next level of greatness.
Enjoy folks!
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