BOOKMARK
	Summer 2007 Edition 42.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gael Arthur © PLANNING A WINE AND CHEESE PARTY.

The BC cheese cooler at les amis du fromage

As the article under “Good Drinking” demonstrates, a wine and cheese party with a theme can be a simple little event, with a lot of fun and education packed into a few hours.

Simple is the key word in that sentence, as you want the focus to be on the wines and the cheeses, giving them the chance to take centre stage.

At some point, things will deteriorate into drinking instead of tasting and that is the time to haul out more food – nothing too rich, as the cheese will have given everyone their quota of cholesterol for the week. They will be craving crisp crunchy things, so think about wine friendly vegetables.

If you opt for French cheeses and wines, do a bit of research and try to match the wine region with the cheeses that are produced there. Centuries of making cheese and producing wine has led to some wonderful combinations

1. Diversity is great –within limits. Seek advice, but don’t be afraid to try something that might seem counterintuitive as well – you won’t know what works for your palate until you try. A rational tasting would have no more than five cheeses and six to eight wines - otherwise, it gets too confusing (although entertaining).

2. Virtually any theme will work – a collection of five or six wines and cheeses each from different countries would be good event. With all the BC flavoured cheeses out there, another potential event would be a beer and cheese event. We weren’t sure whether that would also require a concurrent tasting of chips and dip – it can all get very complicated. Don’t ask too much of your palate and stamina.

3. Have lots of good French bread on hand (however many loaves you think you need, add one more). For variety, when the hard tasting and thinking is done, several different crackers will add an element of complexity to the tasting. For example, Gone Crackers Flax and Sesame and Lesley Stowe’s Raincoast Crisps are good textures and flavours to add variety – and can completely change the taste of a cheese.

4. Not for the faint of heart! If you are planning to do a structured “taste and talk” kind of event, make sure that all participants are equally game. Wine or food knowledge is not nearly as important as enthusiasm and willingness to talk about what works for them. It is often the less trained (or is it less jaded?) palates that can make the best observations. The fun lies in watching facial expressions, both when people find something they like and when something just doesn’t work.

5. Have lots of water available. And coffee or other drinks for the wind-down of the tasting. There may also come a time when ordering in Thai food seems like a good idea. There are no set rules (hmm, maybe those Rieslings would be good with the Thai food…)

A bit of practical cheese advice: The following cheeses seemed more versatile than the rest of the cheese tasted. This doesn’t mean that they were the absolute best with each wine for all people, but you are a lot less likely to get some of the particularly challenging flavour combinations.

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Happy Valley Goat Cheese - http://www.happydaysdairy.com

Little Qualicum Cheeseworks Caerphilly - http://www.cheeseworks.ca

Armstrong 3-year-old Cheddar - http://www.armstrongcheese.com

Poplar Grove Naramata Bench Blue - http://www.poplargrove.ca

Or, simply call Les amis du fromage and ask them to choose. http://www.buycheese.com