The smellier the cheese...

Last friday, Victor and I hosted a wine and cheese dégustation among close friends. After living in Paris for four years, I have never taken real advantage of the over 400 different types of beautiful cheese and the many lovely regions of wine. (Actually, maybe this last bit isn't true... I think I've travelled all over France through its wine bottles...)
We were eight in total: Victor and I, le grand chef Aaron, les belles mademoiselles Stacey, Rachel and Angela, the somewhat adopted pinoy, Thomas and our surprise guest, Charles. Charles who happens to be Angela's friend and a very adamant bacchanale worshipper.









Everyone brought a bottle from different regions of France and I made sure to provide the right cheeses to match. With a little research, lots of baguettes, figs, grapes, green prunes, walnuts and raisins here's what was sur la carte:

Chèvre frais, la Bonde de Gatine et Chèvre aux échalotes et baies roses

We drank a light and fresh bottle of Sancerre 2006, very young, very crisp. I love goat cheese. You can really taste the difference between supermarket chèvre and the ones bought at the cremerie. Young goat cheese is very light, a bit tangy and crumbly. The Bonde de Gatine is an older chèvre, harder in consistence and woodier. Extremely delicious! In french, we call older cheeses, cheese that are "done". Les fromages un peu faits. It's all about personal taste.

Pont l'évêque, Brie de Meaux, Camembert et Etorki

The first three cheeses, les grandes classique! are made from cow's milk. The textures are creamier and the aroma more or less woody depending on its age. Etorki is made from ewe's cheese. It comes from the basque regions of france and has a harder texture not too far from that of parmesan but not as nutty.

We had a bottle of Santenay Pinot Noir 2005 and finished off with two fantastic Bordeaux: Domaine de Courteillac 2000 et Château la Vieille Forge-Lalande de Pomerol 2000
The pinot noir was excellent. A cristalline cherry color that didn't indicate the richness of its flavor. And of course the two bottles of bordeaux... What more can I say? 2000 is still considered to be the most exceptional year in history!

Saint Nectaire, Munster et Epoisse

Aaron insisted we try his new cheese obsession: le Saint Nectaire. A hardish cheese but with a very strong and musky flavor. He brought a great Chardonnay Maranges 2006. I am a big fan of white wine... and chardonnay must be one of the best grape varieties on earth. One of the few white wines that age well.

We had a nice Rossfelder Riesling 2005, the slight sweetness typical of the region complimented the munster. Naturally they come from the same region in eastern France, near the German border - Alsace.

This was the very first time I tried l'époisse. We accompanied it with a Bourgogne Aligoté 2006. One of my favorite wines! It's perfect for an afternoon cocktail on a sunny parisian terrace.

Bleu d'Auvergne

This blue cheese from the central mountain region of France was best accompanied by some Porto. We each had a small glass of porto to finish off the dégustation before we attacked the aged tequila and aged rum...


The french have figured one thing out: the simplest pleasures in life are the best ones. Good cheese, good bread, good wine and good friends.