Alsace Wine and American Cheese Event

I recently attended a tasting hosted by Alsace Wines at the Cheese School of San Francisco. What an intense and flavorful event! Janet Fletcher, a cheese expert and author of Fresh from the Farmer’s Market and other cookbooks, was our host for the afternoon. We had the opportunity to taste 5 flights of wines (4 of which were white) with 7 cheeses. Of the selections, there were several that Wine Unleashed had offered before in our Wine and Cheese gift sets, and a few others that I tasted for the first time.

photo by the Cheese School of San Francisco

This tasting experience made me think of some highlights and concepts for wine and cheese pairings. Hopefully, they will inspire you the next time you create a cheese platter or break out the fondue set. I’ve included the complete list and order of the cheeses at the end of this post. The wines that worked best with the cheeses were:

Crémant d’Alsace, Domaine Ehrhart, Cuvée Prestige, Chardonnay NV

Pinot Blanc, Lucien Albrecht, “Réserve Balthazar”, 2006

Riesling, Martin Schaetzel, Cuvée Réserve, 2006

Pinot Gris, Cave de Ribeauvillé, Grand Cru Gloeckelberg, 2004

These were some of the all-around favorites of the tasting. My personal picks were the Crémant and the Riesling. Both paired handily with all the cheeses—a very difficult task. Generally, the wines from Alsace, regardless of the varietal, will work with many cheeses. There are 3 main reasons:

Reason 1: The acid level in the wine. Alsace, being a cooler northern climate, produces high-acid wines that stands up to and cuts through the richness and creaminess of the cheese.

Reason 2: The style of wine is clean and crisp. Vintners in this area tend to make their wines with little or no oak, which makes for a clean and crisp style. This allows the personality and finesse of the wine to shine through without getting cluttered. Think Tim Gunn (from Project Runway). He is understated, intelligent, confident, and definitely speaks his mind but without being gauche or brassy.

Reason 3: Residual sugar (RS). Specifically, how RS and the acid level interplay. Residual sugar is the amount of sugar per liter, usually measured in grams (g/L). A sweet dessert-style wine has well over 45g/L. Champagnes (high-acid) have different RS levels based on the style:

Brut Nature (no added sugar): up to 3g/L

Extra Brut: up to 6g/L

Brut: up to 15g/L

Extra Dry, Extra Sec, Extra Seco: between 12–20g/L

Many people don’t notice the RS on these wines because of the high acidity. If you tasted a California wine with a lower acid level and the same RS level, you would notice the sweetness. I would categorize the Crémant as dry (at 6g/L,you wouldn’t notice any sweetness) and the Riesling as being off-dry at 20–30g/L. The thing about the Riesling is that you definitely taste the sweetness, but because the acid is vivid and downplays the sweetness, it finishes dry. Besides the flavor, another reason RS is important is the added texture, a slight glycerol, full feel on the palate. This perceived expansiveness allows the cheese flavors to linger and bloom. Simply divine.

Phew! I hope I didn’t lose anyone here. An easy to remember rule is to reach for those high-acid whites from Alsace, Germany, or Austria when serving cheeses. Easy-peasy!

The Cheese School of San Francisco: Alsace Wine & American Cheese Event

led by Janet Fletcher

Monday, October 20th

1) Andante Dairy, Pianoforte

Provenance: Petaluma, California

Type: Pasteurized cow’s milk

2) Redwood Hill Farm, Crottin

Provenance: Sebastopol, California

Type: Pasteurized goat’s milk

3) Carr Valley Cheese Co., Cave-Aged Marisa

Provenance: La Valle, Wisconsin

Type: Pasteurized sheep’s milk

Angela’s notes: Very few aged sheep’s milk cheeses; high in fat, 2 times of cow’s milk; richness & depth of flavor; aged 3 months

4) Bravo Farms, Silver Mountain

Provenance: Visalia, California

Type: Raw cow’s milk

Angela’s notes: aged 9 months

5) Uplands Cheese, Pleasant Ridge Reserve

Provenance: Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Type: Raw cow’s milk

Angela’s notes: aged 1 year

6) Meadow Creek Dairy, Grayson

Provenance: Galax, Virginia

Type: Raw cow’s milk

Angela’s notes: close to Alsace’s muenster

7) Jasper Hill Farm, Bayley Hazen

Provenance: Greensboro, Vermont

Type: Raw cow’s milk