Match of the week

Pairing Comté cheese and Chivite Coleccion 125 Reserva 2001

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on March 9 2009 at 08:39

I spend a lot of my time trying to discourage people from drinking their favourite red wine with a cheeseboard because it's so often a disappointment but every now and again you come across a red wine and cheese combination that really works.

I had in fact picked a cheese for the purpose, a nine month old Comté. It's similar in style to Gruyère but has a richness, roundness and depth of flavour - almost a fruitiness - that you rarely get in Gruyère cheese.

Being a comparatively young cheese it was mellow rather than intense so gave an easy ride to a mature modern Spanish red, a 2001 Coleccion 125 from Bodegas Julian Chivite, a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It's a wine I've consistently enjoyed over the years, a wine that's still very much in its prime but on which the tannins have softened sufficiently not to intrude on the pairing

It also survived a Dorset Blue Vinney, a West Country cheese which is milder and more mellow than many blues.

Those were the only two cheeses on the table by the way - and all you need. The more cheeses you have, the more chance that one of them will get into a fight with your wine.

Image ©Awe inpiring images

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