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What to pair with Reblochon cheese

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on June 8 2016 at 10:02

Advertising feature If you’re a fan of tartiflette, that wickedly indulgent après-ski dish of potatoes, bacon and meltingly gooey cheese, you’ll be familiar - though you may not be aware of it - with Reblochon.

It’s a typical Alpine cows’ milk cheese made on small farms up in the Savoie region of France. The name comes from the verb ‘reblocher’ - to milk twice - and refers to the practice of tenant farmers to hold back some of the milk when the landowner came to collect his dues to enable them to sneakily milk the cows a second time for cheese (the cheese dates back to the 13th century).

It’s a rich, semi-soft unpasteurised cheese with a flavoursome crust, developed by washing the rind with a salt water solution or brine. While its ability to melt deliciously lends itself to hot dishes like tartiflette it can also be enjoyed on a cheeseboard or in salads and lighter starters. (See the Reblochon website for ideas and recipes)

If you’re wondering what to drink with it an obvious starting point are the fruity white wines of Savoie, the best known of which is roussette (also known as altesse).

Whites from the neighbouring Jura region including savagnin and chardonnay also work well as do the aromatic white wines of Alsace including riesling, pinot gris and with more mature, fuller-flavoured cheeses, gewurztraminer. You could even stray over the border into Switzerland for a glass of chasselas - or dôle, if you fancy a red.

Lighter French reds such as pinot noir, poulsard and trousseau also tend to work better than more tannic varieties than syrah and cabernet sauvignon.

For warm summer evening drinking and Reblochon-based salads why not try a fruity rosé such as sancerre from the Loire or a glass of sparkling wine such as a crémant du Jura.

Beer of course is always a good pairing with cheese. A blonde ale should go with younger Reblochons and darker Trappist ales with more mature ones (Reblochon can be matured for between 4 and 12 months.) A medium-dry cider is also a delicious match.

More adventurous choices could include a dry amontillado or - even better - palo cortado sherry or - closer to the area the cheese is made - a fragrant Chambéry vermouth. You could even try an apple or pear-flavoured eau de vie or schnapps such as Poire William which would play on the fruity flavours of the cheese.

For more information about Reblochon visit the official Reblochon website.

Photo © barmalini at shutterstock.com

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