Mark's Wine, Beer, and Cheese Pairings:

Bonifaz Porcini and
Chanterelle Brie Cheese
with Viognier Wine

Vella Dry Jack Cheese and
New Belgium Fat Tire Ale

Columns to Savor
Mark Todd

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

Bonifaz Porcini and
Chanterelle Brie Cheese with Viognier Wine

Vella Dry Jack Cheese and New Belgium
Fat Tire Ale

This month we are going back to my roots in Sonoma County for a trip down memory lane, or more correctly Westside Road, to visit one venerable name in the Russian River Wine community, George Davis of Porter Creek. His Timbervine Ranch Viognier broke my 20-year prejudice against domestic Viognier. What’s more, we’re pairing it with the most outrageous triple-crème cheese made with real porcini and chanterelle mushrooms!

On the suds side, we explore one of the most popular microbrews ever to come from Colorado, paired with one of the most award-winning, all-American cheeses in the entire country (and by American,  I don’t mean Velveeta!). New Belgium Brewing’s Fat Tire Amber Ale is the perfect foil for the creamy, crumbly intensity that is Ig Vella’s Dry Jack. Combine these with two of the latest superstars in the antioxidant/healthy snack marathon, Chinese goji berries and California pistachios, and you have a truly exciting combination of texture and flavor.

All in a day’s work for your hard-chargin,’ mushroom huntin,’ stinky cheese eatin,’ two fisted drinkin,’ food correspondent. Until next month, may your glass be half full and your schedule half empty.

Cheese and Wine
Pairing

Bonifaz Porcini and
Chanterelle Brie Cheese with Viognier Wine

The Cheese
While there are a fair number of truffle cheeses (and I love them all!), there are not many regular mushroom cheeses. The only two I know come from Germany, and only one is made with real wild mushrooms. The Bergarder family produces a spectacular line of triple-crème cheeses called Bonifaz, which translates to “person of good deeds.” These guys also invented the original blue-veined brie, Bavaria blue, but that is another story (move over cambozola!).

I will refer to the Bonifaz cheeses as “brie” because it is easier than writing out “soft-ripened triple-crème cheese” every time. One of their cheeses is called “Steinpilzen & Pfifferlingen,” more commonly known in this country as “porcini and chanterelle.” This mushroom brie is the real deal. It ripens beautifully, naturally, from its firmer, more elastic youth shot through with small irregular openings, transitioning to an almost molten state, where the body of the cheese bulges and almost runs, and the little holes are completely subsumed. The aromas of traditional brie are earthy and mushroomy to begin with. When you add real wild mushrooms to the mix, the aroma and flavor are off the chart!

Porcini is by far the more obvious flavor, producing the beefy, brothy, moist earth flavors Americans associate with mushrooms. The chanterelles are more subtle and show up predominantly on the finish as a slightly ‘apricot meets artichoke heart’ flavor. The cheese itself shows the best characteristics of a triple-crème; unctuous mouthfeel, buttery flavor and yeasty aroma, all robed in a luxurious white velvety rind. Young or old, this cheese never fails to satisfy my hankering for the unmistakable flavors of wild mushrooms. Since I’m a 10+ year mushroom hunter and past president of the Sonoma County Mycological Association (SOMAMushrooms.org), that craving hits with frequency and ferocity!

Cheese and Beer
Pairing

Vella Dry Jack Cheese and New Belgium
Fat Tire Ale

The Cheese
This is truly an American original cheese. In fact it is an American twist on an American original. Traditional Monterey jack cheese was developed in the middle 1800’s in what was then northern Mexico, around Monterey California. David Jacks was one of the largest distributors of the cheese and his crates read “Monterey, Jacks.”

While the Vella Cheese Company in Sonoma did not originate dry jack, this style has certainly become synonymous with them and their current patriarch, Ig Vella. Dry jack was first produced, like many great cheeses, as an accident. Back during World War I, San Francisco cheese merchant D.F DeBernardi had an overstock of traditional Monterey jack cheese and before he could move it all, some had gotten dry, like an Italian grana. The resulting cheese, far from being ruined, was nutty and intensely buttery, with full aroma and flavor, but little or no sharpness. This gave Americans an alternative to Italian cheeses like parmesan and romano, hard to come by during the Great Wars. While similar to those cheeses, dry Jack is more closely akin to aged asiago or piave vecchio, as it is a whole milk cheese. This means the body of the cheese is creamier and less dense than Parmesan, a part-skim milk cheese.

By the time Ig’s father, Robert, and his partner opened the factory in 1931, dry jack had become an accepted cheese. They improved the production method by experimenting with different coatings to help with the aging process. The very best coating they could find was…..diatomaceous earth? Yup, the same stuff you use in your swimming pool filter. It was a sterile medium that absorbed lots of moisture. Worked like a charm, and according to one who knows, made the best dry jack ever produced. But it was too good to last. In the 1950’s the government said, “You’re doing WHAT?” So the cheese makers went back to their research, ultimately developing today’s blend of cocoa, pepper and vegetable oil.

As distinctive in appearance as it is in flavor, this cheese is available in traditional 7-10 month aged as well as a two-year reserve version. It has won more awards than I have room to list, and is truly one of America’s finest creations. It is one of two cheeses currently listed in the Slow Food U.S. Ark of Taste.

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.

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