wine and food matching "thesis"

Here's a tip of the hat back to my first days in the "Advanced Sommelier" program at Algonquin College - the paper I wrote to go along with my final project for the Wine and Food Pairing course. I hope you will find it amusing, if not somewhat informative.
Carmen
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Students of the Advanced Sommelier program at Algonquin College have a total of seven courses to complete. Most of us did them in different order, but all with the same aim: our certification! One of the first courses I took dealt with wine and food pairing.

When we were first told about the final project for this class, I knew that I was in trouble. My first instinct was to bring in a home-made dessert of some sort - probably either my homemade rhubarb pie or apple pie (my mother's recipes, with slight modifications of my own, of course) - but I had never tried to match either of them with wine, much less thought that I would ever be presenting my pairing to a panel of experts.

Nonetheless, I chose my apple pie, mostly because of the fall season and fresh rhubarb being hard to come by at that time of year. But to make things worse, I decided to serve the pie with old white cheddar cheese from my grandfather’s cheese factory, which has the pungency of really old white cheddar but is also creamier than the usual old white cheddar. What was I thinking?

My anxiety went through the roof when we learned that cheese can be very difficult to match with wine. Never one to back down from a challenge, I stuck with my decision. Besides, time was moving on and I had to get started on my research.

Things just kept getting complicated; I could not find my recipe for the pie! Thankfully the brown sugar, flour and seasoning mixture was easy enough to replicate; but this also created another complication as the pie is very sweet and creamy. Pairing that with a powerful and slightly creamy cheese had me thinking sparkling wine – to cleanse the palate and counter the mouth-coating creaminess.

I compiled a panel of my own – a few friends who admit to knowing very little about wine, and three who know what they like, but don’t often stray from their comfort zone. We tried three sparkling wines – a Château des Charmes “Sec” from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, a Mariandl Austrian Sparkling Apricot Wine from Austria, and an Asti (which, it turns out, we met in class the week before our projects were due), from Italy, naturally.

The Sec had a light yellow gold colour and was almost bland; not much on the nose aside from a bit of fruit – apple and pear were the most prevalent – and acid, mineral and metal. The palate brought out the same and I knew right off that it wouldn’t work with the dessert. Indeed, it was the worst of all as it was too dry and the acid taste went through the roof when it came up against the pie.

The Mariandl was the one that I had hoped would win out because of the apricot/apple element. It had a lemony golden colour and a good dose of fruit on the nose – mostly apricot, as its name suggests, and some green apple – and honey, with a nice hint of nuttiness, with a slightly bitter acidic edge. The palate was not as rich as I had expected, as the apricot was almost overpowered by the nutty taste. This, too, fell short when confronted with the sweetness of the pie, although (surprisingly) the nutty flavour was enhanced when it was paired with the cheese alone.

The Asti had a pale yellow colour and was sparkling – literally – on the nose and palate. Bright, fruity and sweet on the nose with a sweet, fruity palate that I had hoped would linger. This was the best of the three – wonderful with the cheese alone – but still fell short on sweetness, and spiked in acidity against the pie.

We also tried a 2000 Château des Charmes Estate Bottled Late Harvest Riesling, again from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and La Face Cachée de la Pomme – Neige – Ice Cider from Québec; I knew that I had to kick up the sweetness in the wine to balance the pie. Unfortunately, while we all agreed that the Ice Cider – an “explosion of taste” was the best descriptor – with a bright yellow gold colour and lots of apple and ripe fruit and a bit of acid on both the nose and palate with a crisp yet medium finish, was the best match for the pie, it did not stand up to the cheese. As for the Riesling, which was great on its own – a rich yet light golden colour and a pleasant blend of fruit and acid, sweet without being syrupy, the pie and cheese reduced the sweetness of the wine and the combination left an unpleasant acidic after-taste.

A number of people recommended that I try a port, and while I do have a few bottles in my cellar, I wanted to stay away from the traditional “port and cheese” pairing. Still others recommended another ice cider from Québec – as there are many of them – or Calvados, but after the Face Cachée experience, I decided to stay away from the apple/apple pairing.

For the next week’s test, I brought out what I thought were the big guns in terms sweetness: a sherry – an Apostoles Palo Cortado Muy Viejo Jerez 30-year-old, nonetheless, from Spain; a 2004 Wolf Blass Gold Label Riverina Botrytis Semillon from Australia, which we also met in class the week before the final project was due; a 2004 Lenz Moser Prestige Trockenbeerenauslese (now there’s a mouthful) from Austria; and a 2003 Château Haut-Mayne Sauternes from France.

The Palo Cortado had a comforting dark amber/toffee colour and was wonderfully luscious with a nutty and caramel nose and a very syrupy, full-bodied palate with lots of fruit and woody/herbal notes. This had such a long finish I was wondering if it would ever stop. It was very pleasant on its own, but no match for either the pie or the cheese, either independently or together. The sweetness of the pie simply overpowered it and the cheese totally masked its taste.

The Wolf Blass Semillon had a rich, medium gold colour and was delightfully sweet and very fruity on both the nose and the palate. It proved to be a great match for the pie alone, but was overpowered by the zing of the cheese.

The Trockenbeerenauslese had a slightly darker colour than the Wolf Blass Semillon, almost a medium-to-dark golden colour and was very similar in aroma and taste to the Semillon, but a good bit sweeter and turned out to be a perfect match for the pie. Surprisingly, it was also the best contender yet against the cheese; acidic enough to slightly – but not entirely – counter the mouth-coating creaminess of the cheddar, which made for a wonderful combination.

Finally, the Sauternes had a fresh medium golden colour with notes of tropical fruit, which surprised me, and honey on the nose with a rich, somewhat mouth-coating texture and lots of sweet fruit on the palate. This was also a great match for the pie, but not quite as good with the cheddar as the Lenz Moser; although it had a mouth-coating quality as well, it did not stand up to the kick of the cheddar.
Therefore, I am pleased to conclude that the winning combination with my apple pie and old white cheddar cheese is the 2004 Lenz Moser Prestige Trockenbeerenauslese – a mouthful to pronounce and delightful in the mouth.