Mark's October Wine, Beer, and Cheese Pairings:

Fol Epi Cheese and
La Chouffe Ale

Two Rock Valley Cheese and Dashe Zinfandel

Columns to Savor
Mark Todd

Pugs Leap Pavé Cheese and Woodenhead Halfshell White Wine and Pont l’Evêque Cheese
and Hennepin Belgian Farmhouse Saison Beer

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.

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Beyond Wonderful
by Cheese Expert,
Mark "The Cheese Dude" Todd.

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Cheese Expert
Mark
"The Cheese Dude" Todd

Fol Epi Cheese and
La Chouffe Beer

Two Rock Valley Cheese and Dashe
Zinfandel Wine

Fall is in the air here in Redwood Land, and that means two things; crisp evenings and a brief visit from Indian Summer. It is the contrast of these two seasonal occurrences that led me to the pairings this month.

For the crisp evenings, a dessert course that is outstanding at the close of an end-of-season outdoor barbecue. The rich wine and the earthy sweetness of the aged goat’s milk cheese and chestnut honey are perfect following a big meal, so intensely flavored that a small portion satisfies.

For the visit from Indian Summer, a perfect introductory Belgian Ale, La Chouffe, paired with a fun little Alpine cheese from France, Fol Epi. This pair is not about big flavors; it is about the subtle interplay of sweet and tart. The charcuterie is key; it gives the pairing depth to keep it from being too bland. The cheese’s unusual toasted wheat flour rind highlights the natural affinity of Alpine cheeses and wheat products. Plus, the cheese just looks cool on a cheese board.

Have fun, and happy pairings!

Cheese and Beer
Pairing

Fol Epi Cheese and
La Chouffe Ale

The Cheese
Fol Epi translates from the French roughly as “wild wheat stalk,” and refers to both the brown toasted wheat flour rind coating and the heads of wheat embossed in the body of this boule-shaped cheese from Pays de la Loire, France. This relatively mild, uncooked cheese is what I would refer to as a “sweet Swiss” style cheese. There are many brands of “sweet Swiss,” though they won’t say that on the label. The ubiquitous (and in my opinion, universally horrible) Norwegian Jarlsberg is the best known, but there are several from other countries. It is fairly similar to American Baby Swiss.

Made with whole milk, this cheese has smallish eyes, evenly distributed through the body of the cheese. Fol Epi has a surprisingly creamy texture, compared to the much more elastic, part-skimmed milk Emmental. It does, however, share the distinct nuttiness of Swiss Emmental, with a fruitiness more often associated with a young Appenzeller. Whole wheat breads and crackers are a natural accompaniment to Alpine style cheeses, and the toasted wheat flour rind on this cheese adds these aromas and flavors right to the cheese! The approachable flavors and palate-pleasing mouthfeel of this cheese, combined with its distinctive visual impact – be sure to get a piece with the wheat ear embossed on it!—makes this a perfect cheese for the cheese board.

Cheese and Wine
Pairing

Two Rock Valley Cheese and Dashe Zinfandel

The Cheese
Traveling west from Petaluma toward Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, you wind through Two Rock Valley; a lush land with rolling hills and weather with a strong costal influence. The name is derived from a bad pronunciation of an old Indian word and actually has nothing to do with rocks, two or otherwise. From this bucolic wonderland comes a truly obscure little cheese made by the De Bernardi Dairy’s Two Rock Valley Cheese Company.

This is an aged, raw milk goat’s milk cheese simply named Two Rock Valley Cheese. (I should try to talk to them about the importance of Brand Identity, but that is another story.)  It comes in several different ages, from about 90 days up to 2 years or more. It has a dark ivory color, more reminiscent of a cow’s milk cheese than the bright white of a chèvre, and a natural rind that becomes thicker and harder with age.

The sample I used for the tasting was about two years old. Texturally, it is somewhat like mature cheddar, but slightly grainier. But in flavor, it was quite Parmesan-like. It had the tropical fruit flavors of Reggiano overlaid with a distinct, but not strong or unpleasant, goat cheese twang. The acidity in goat’s milk is one of the most distinguishing characteristics in all of the great goat cheeses, young or aged. Yet, in this cheese, there were also aromas of (strange but true) chocolate cherries, citrus and a pleasant kind of earthiness that spoke of the fresh hay and clean farmyard that produced the milk. I have never before tasted some of these flavors in any goat cheese. I do not know much about the dairy or the cheese yet, but I am definitely going to learn more, as I am already a huge fan.