Mark's Wine, Beer, and Cheese Pairings:

Pugs Leap Pavé Cheese and Woodenhead Halfshell White Wine

Pont l’Evêque Cheese
and Hennepin Belgian
Farmhouse Saison Beer

Columns to Savor
Mark Todd

Bonifaz Porcini and Chanterelle Brie Cheese with Viognier Wine and Vella Dry Jack Cheese and New Belgium Fat Tire Ale.

Romatic Winter Cheeses: Fromager Des Clarines and Monesteriolo Cava Brut Wine; and Le Vache de Chalais Cheese and Smithwick’s Irish Ale

Italian Cheese Pairings: La Tur Italian Cheese with St. Michael-Eppan Pinot Grigio wine; and Ford Farms Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberry and Anchor Brewery Porter Beer

Holiday Cheese Pairings. Cahill's Whiskey Cheddar Cheese and Shiner Bock Beer. Marcarpone Cheese and Moscato d' Asti Wine

Tilsiter Cheese and Octoberfest Beer, and
Alsatian Munster Cheese and Alsatian Gewurztraminer Wine

Classic Pairings from France and England: California Crotin and Sauvignon Blanc from Quincy, and Montgomery's English Farmhouse Cheddar and Samuel Smith's India Ale

Picnic Cheeses: Fiscalini Cheddar with Chimay Ale, and Legendairy Blue Roomkass with J. Lohr Beaujolais Wine.

Picnic Cheeses that Celebrate Summer.

Spring Cheeses: White Stilton with Lemon Zest and German Hefe_Weisse Beer, and Blue Stilton with Australian Tokay Wine.

Irish Cheeses: Cashel Irish Blue Cheese and Late Harvest Zinfandel, and Cahill's Porter Irish Cheese and Guinness Stout.

Brie de Meanx with Gruet Sparkling NV Brut and French Morbier Cheese with Saison Farmhouse Ale.

Aged Gouda Cheese and Belgian Dubbel Beer, and Fourme d’Ambert and
Côtes du Rhone Wine.

Cheeses of the Alps: Allgäuer Bergkäse with Alsatian Pinot Blanc, and Appenzeller Cheese with Bock Beer.

Cheeses of the Alps: Chiantino Cheese and Altbier Beer, and Hirtenkäse Cheese and Gewürztraminer Wine.

Spanish Wines and Cheeses.

History of Beer, Cider, and Mead: Cheese's Other Companion Beverages with two pairings.

Read more about
Mark "The Cheese Dude" Todd.

Get more information on great Alpine and specialty cheeses at Fond O' Foods.

Cheese Expert
Mark
"The Cheese Dude" Todd

Pugs Leap Pavé Cheese and Woodenhead Halfshell White Wine

Pont l’Evêque Cheese
and Hennepin Belgian
Farmhouse Saison Beer

This month, it is all about summer! The pairings are custom-tailored to fit the season, or should I say “saison”? The beer this month is, in fact, a Saison, but not from “over there.” It is Hennepin, imported all the way from Cooperstown, New York. Pairing it with the classic little northern French stinky square, Pont l’ Eveque, is an exercise in earthy satisfaction. With the addition of some artisan charcuterie, we achieve maximum sensory stimulation!

This month’s wine and cheese pairing – my local take on a Loire valley classic – may be a challenge to duplicate precisely in other parts of the country, since both items are from very small producers. But it’s well worth the effort to track them down. The Halfshell White from Woodenhead was designed from the ground up to pair perfectly with the Hog Island Oyster farm’s Marin County Bounty. They hit a home run. In fact, they hit a grand slam home run, while throwing the winning touchdown in overtime and kicking the winning goal to put their country in the World Cup!

As a charter member of the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) club, I often feel slighted by the majority of America’s vintners who pander to the market, supplying over-oaked, oily Chardonnays for the less sophisticated (read “cretins”) to sip with their pinkies raised. Here finally, from Woodenhead, is a wine worthy of our great potential; unabashedly fruity, but lean and austere at the same time. And the Pugs Leap Farmstead Pavé is out of this world! This format does not afford space for all the great stories surrounding this upstart little cheese company, pioneered a couple years ago in a converted family home (originally belonging to one of the owners grandparents) in the Dry Creek region outside Healdsburg. Pick up these two, and experience “Loire in Sonoma.”

Cheese and Wine
Pairing

Pugs Leap Pavé Cheese
and Woodenhead Halfshell White Wine

The Cheese
I usually pick cheeses with wide distribution for obvious reasons, but occasionally I run into a local cheese that is just too good not to write about. Pugs Leap Farmstead Cheeses are that good. I have tried all three, but today will just write about my current favorite, Pavé. This company (consisting of owners Eric Smith, former architect, and Pascal Destandau, former environmental engineer) is named for the pet pugs the owners have had for years, with a nod to the local penchant for including Leap in your name (Stags Leap, Goats Leap and Frogs Leap “spring” to mind).

The cheese itself is named for the French word for paving stones, but instead of the small square or rectangle you might expect, it is shaped like a truncated pyramid, with sloping sides and a flat top. It’s made from pasteurized goats milk from their herd of about two dozen mixed Alpine, Saanen and Toggenburg goats. Aged only about 4 weeks, this cheese is mold-ripened, like a brie, with a fluffy rind covering a layer of creamy, almost molten cheese near the rind and a firmer, chalky center. The center looks crumbly, like a Crottin or Bucheron, but it will surprise you with a distinct chewiness that belies its visual impact. The flavor is tangy, creamy and slightly vegetal, like cauliflower, and becomes more intense with age. The tartness leaves no doubt that this is a goat’s milk cheese, but the flavor is not “goaty” at all. All told, a superb example of the handmade artisan cheeses available in our own backyard.

Cheese and Beer
Pairing

Pont l’Evêque Cheese
and Hennepin Belgian
Farmhouse Saison Beer

The Cheese
Pont l’Evêque and its smaller Petit version are native to Normandy, a coastal region of France. Like its neighbors Livarot and Camembert, it is among the oldest cheeses in that country, dating to at least the 13th century. These three friends grew up together in the ‘hood and evolved to serve three different needs. If you think of a Goldilocks scenario in which Camembert is too mild and Livarot is too strong, Pont l’Evêque is “just right.” Always made in a square with a vivid salmon-orange rind, this cheese is as distinctive visually as it is aromatically. There is a noticeable grid pattern pressed into the top and bottom of the cheese by the curing rack on which it has matured.

This washed-rind cheese differs from more traditional versions, like Livarot, which is literally “washed” with a solution of salt, whey and other flavorings (red/white wine, beer, herbs etc). Pont l’Evêque is dry salt-brushed when young, drawing out moisture from the cheese itself for the ripening process. Made with whole cow’s milk, this cheese changes through its ripening cycle from mildly earthy, like a farm yard full of horses and fresh mown hay, to more pronouncedly earthy, like cauliflower or broccoli, to downright gamey or barnish. It also softens as it ripens, but only to a point. The optimum degree of ripeness is a personal preference, and hopefully shared by your significant other. The edibility of the rind is also up to you. While it will not hurt you, it can be a bit grainy, salty and QUITE earthy. I personally eat a small bit of rind if the cheese is not too old.

As with most washed-rind cheeses, you should avoid slimy or excessively dry, cracked rinds. The paste should be a rich creamy color, not browning around the edges. I prefer the Petit version, so I can buy a whole cheese and ripen it to my personal specs. The piece I used in this tasting was at most medium ripe, still a bit firm even at room temperature and with a few small, irregular holes in the paste (known as “mechanical opens” also found in Havarti, Colby and young Brie). This is certainly one of my perennial favorite cheeses from France, and I do not feel complete without having a small square in the fridge off and on throughout the year.

Created for Barbara Admas
Beyond Wonderful
by Cheese Expert,
Mark "The Cheese Dude" Todd.

Barbara Adams Beyond Wonderful features large recipe collections of full-proof quick and easy recipes, classic family favorites, global cuisine, and party ideas. Get illustrated cooking tips and techniques,cooking for beginners, food features, and expert advice on baking, cheese, produce, and wine.

Barbara Adams, Recipe Collections, Quick and Easy Recipes, Party Ideas, Global Cuisine, How To Cooking Tips and Techniques.