We are very pleased and enthused to welcome Gina Venissimo, proprietor and “cheese guru” of four wine shops in southern California named appropriately, Venissimo. You can access her site at www.venissimo.com. Located in San Diego, Mission Hills, Del Mar and Belmont Beach, this outstanding cheese establishment offers a large universe of domestic and international cheeses for every palate and price range. And for your convenience, Venissimo cheeses and gift baskets can be purchased on site or shipped. But not to stop there, Gina offers cheese classes, accessories and wine pairing classes as well. We know that her expertise will be well received and valued here at the Wine Inquirer and look forward to her articles in the coming weeks and months.
Ahhhh… wine & cheese unequivocally belong together, like peanut butter & jelly. But just as some prefer chunky to creamy, especially with strawberry, how can one possibly pick the best fermented curd to compliment their favorite fermented grape juice?
My name is Gina & I am the founder & Cheese Wiz (as in WIZard, not squeezy cheese) of Venissimo Cheese in Southern California. Over the course of seven years, I have had the honor of tasting nearly 2,000 cheeses. And the question that inevitably gets asked is, “What wine goes with this cheese?”
I must say, while many pairings are good, some a truly spectacular. Here are three ways to begin your journey of finding the ultimate pairings:
Pairing via terroir…
Why does food in Italy taste so darn good? Mostly because the cheese was made down the street that morning, delivered to the restaurant while the chef chopped tomatoes plucked from his garden that afternoon & drizzled with fresh-pressed olive oil from their neighbor. THAT is the beauty of terroir – all the elements that make one food distinctive also effect the other ones. When grapes grow on a slope near the ocean, salty air affects the flavor. The same salty air brushes over the grasses that the animals eat, therefore producing a distinctive flavor to the milk, which in turn leads to a certain flavor in the cheese. Get the point? Pairing foods from the same region is almost always successful.
Pairing via milk type…
The animal that provides the milk for cheese plays in a big role in the flavor of any cheese. Goat milk has less fat than cow milk & sheep milk is very high in fat. In general, cow milk cheeses tend to be the most pungent & nutty, perfect for fruity Gewurtztraminer & Riesling. Goat milk cheeses, especially fresh & soft-ripened chevres, cry out for crisp Sauvignon Blanc & Sancerre. Sheep milk cheeses rely on acidic wines to help cut through the natural oils, for example Chianti with pecorino.
Pairing via cheese type…
There are now thousands of incredible cheeses in the world & most of them fall into a category based on they way they are made & how they are aged. Fresh, rindless cheeses (like ricotta & mozzarella) dance on the tongue when paired with a rose or dry white. Creamy, soft-ripened & bloomy rind cheeses (like camembert & brie) blossom when paired with medium-bodied reds. Washed rind “stinky” cheeses (like epoisses & limburger) pair equally well with dry whites & full-bodied reds. Aged cheeses (like cheddar & gouda) respond to the boldness of spicy & racy reds. Finally, the saltiness of blue cheeses (like stilton & roquefort) naturally seek the balance found in sweet dessert wines.
If only it were this easy! The truth is, if YOU like it, then it works. Just like some of us like city living & some prefer the country, it’s all good, so give it a try.
Loading ...
Visit us on…