Chaource cheese paired with vermouth

I have to thank my colleague drinks writer, wine guru and good time pal Kate Hawkings for this week's pairing. Once she squealed excitedly about it on Twitter I knew I had to drop by her restaurant (Bellita) and give it a try.

Kate (also author of the excellent new Aperitif) is a big vermouth fan and was sipping a glass of her latest find when she tried it with a slice of Chaource, a creamy, slightly citrussy brie-like cheese from the Aube, the southern part of the champagne region. Maybe it wasn’t *quite* match of the century as she claimed - we have a good few years to go yet - but it was utterly delicious.

The vermouth, or vermut as they call them in Spain, is a delicately honeyed bianco style called Ciento Volando from Diego Fernandez Pons - off-dry but not over-sweet and was almost like eating a luscious ripe pear with the cheese. It's not available in the UK - yet - but do experiment with other dry and off-dry vermouths which are more flexible than you might think with food.

Chaource (pronounced sha-orss) also goes really well with champagne, chablis and other white burgundies should you feel so minded and actually won’t throw a good red burgundy (it’s a less pongy than brie as it matures). You can even buy it in Sainsbury's for the very affordable price of £3 (and almost certainly in Waitrose too).

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