{"id":1896,"date":"2010-03-03T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2010-03-03T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=1896"},"modified":"2016-04-21T11:10:20","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T15:10:20","slug":"chenin-blanc-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/chenin-blanc-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheese + Wine: Chenin Blanc"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aha moment came over a bowl of pasta carbonara. Egg, bacon, cheese, pasta: so simple, yet so challenging to find a wine that can put up with that level of richness and respect the dish\u2019s comforting blandness. Not that I cared much on this particular night; it was late and I just wanted to eat.<\/p>\n

So I poured a glass of what was open: Champalou Vouvray, a chenin blanc from France, not thinking about it until the combination hit my tongue. It was impossibly good. The wine had the acidity to cut through the richness, but its slight sweetness drew out the salty Parmesan notes.<\/p>\n

Would it be this good with just Parmesan? It was, in fact. The briny cheese picked up the sugars in the wine, and the wine didn\u2019t blink in the face of all that condensed milk fat. I broke out a semi-soft washed rind cheese, and the pairing celebrated its slight funk; with Gruy\u00e8re, it wasn\u2019t perfect, but it wasn\u2019t far off, either.<\/p>\n

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Chenin blanc and cheese: What took me so long?<\/em><\/h4>\n

Oh, right\u2014because for ages the only chenin blanc we knew in the U.S. was the stuff that filled jugs. And the number of great examples that make it outside California\u2019s borders can still be counted on one hand. It\u2019s these light, innocuous chenins that cheese-and-wine-pairing chart writers have in mind when they fill in \u201cchenin\u201d next to cheeses such as mozzarella, Oaxaca, and \u201cbaby\u201d Swiss.<\/p>\n

Move beyond these bottlings, however, and the wine begins to get really interesting. With its naturally high acidity, the grape is capable of producing everything from sparklers to syrupy-sweet stickies\u2014which means there\u2019s a type for every cheese. Here\u2019s a taste of what various styles of chenin can do for your cheese plate.<\/p>\n

SPARKLING<\/h3>\n

Chenin\u2019s high acidity makes it a natural varietal for sparkling wines. Most of the examples we see in the U.S. come from France\u2019s Loire Valley, particularly Vouvray; they may be denoted by the term mousseux<\/i> (sparkling) or, more reassuringly, cr\u00e9mant<\/i>, which signifies a sparkling wine made in the same labor-intensive way as Champagne. The best offer creamy fruitiness, like that of super-ripe pear, with nuances of flowers, hay, and lime, and tiny bubbles\u2014absolutely the sort of characteristics that would play up the hedonistic side of a triple-cr\u00e8me, like Pierre Robert.<\/p>\n