News From The Cheese Caves

For all the many cheese types that are produced in France, no other type quite defines French cheeses than the triple-crèmes. I often refer to these cheeses as “luxury” cheeses because they are fat-added cheeses, more luxurious than the double-crèmes because they have a minimum of 75% fat in dry matter compared to the minimum of 60% for the doubles. 75% would not make them exactly triple the fat that would be found in the milk to begin with, yet considerably more than the 60% of the double-crèmes.

Neither of these cheese types may be my favorite types, not because they may be more fattening (because they aren’t necessarily so anyway) but I have to admit that they are quite popular. I took one to a Bastille Day party recently and the cheese was devoured within a matter of minutes, the firmer cheese beside it lasted a little longer even though it weighed less. One reason that I may veer away from these cheeses is because they contain relatively higher water content than the firmer varieties (one of the reasons that they aren’t actually more fattening). I would prefer to pay for the good solids offered in cheese than the water.

Every once in a while I sample one of those triple-crèmes anyway. At a Cheese & Wine 201 seminar recently we incorporated a Brillat-Savarin Frais (a rindless example from one of the best producers) into the mix of cheeses. One of the wines we sampled was a Friulano. The triple-crèmes have often presented challenges to their wine partners, or at least the pairings have only been rated as “good.”

Though I did not expect this matching to thrill us, after the cheese and wine had melded together in the mouth, the layers of flavor began to unfold into an unusual and exceptional finish. The Friulanos are noted for their delightful blends of aromatics – floral, fruity, vegetal and nutty – as well as their medium bodied textures, their softness that is balanced by some acid. These qualities would suggest a delightful match for the rich Brillat-Savarin Frais. The acid in the wine would dissolve the added fat of the cheese. The medium-bodied texture of the Friulano would complement the thick texture of the cheese. The nutty, fruity aromatics in the wine coupled with the sweet creamy flavor of the cheese might suggest a banana split.

What we noted was an enhanced savory note in the wine. A detection of the presence of umami rose up and it gave us the surprise top pairing of the evening. This was a pairing of cheese and wine where both the wine and the cheese were elevated, a one plus one equals three matching!

After experiencing this pairing I plan to include Friulano wines more frequently in our classes.

Posted by Max McCalman

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 8:29 am and is filed under Cheese and Wine Tastings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.