Inspiration

Cheese is the star of French gastronomy. And its ideal partner during the meal is of course wine. But it is sometimes difficult to associate the right wine with the right cheese because there is a very large variety of these two products.

That's why we are going to identify the different agreements between these two flagship products.

Fresh Cheese:

Made from goat, cow or sheep milk, they are soft and without rind, like Mozzarella, Burrata, Ricotta and Fresh Goat.

These cheeses pair well with dry, young white wines such as sauvignon blanc, young chardonnay and pinot blanc.

Sweet wines such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer will also go well with these cheeses.

More traditionally, fresh cheeses can also be accompanied by rather young red wines.

Fleuraison cheeses:

These cheeses are creamier. Their white rind gives them the name "fromage de fleuraison". They are rich cheeses with a soft texture and a stronger flavor on the outside than on the inside.

These cheeses, such as Brie, Camembert and Robiola, are best enjoyed with sparkling and dry wines such as champagne.

They can also be enjoyed with white varietals such as chardonnay, sauvignon, riesling and chenin.

If you choose to pair these cheeses with red wines, light, young and fruity wines are preferred.

Washed-rind cheeses:

These cheeses are easily recognized by their orange rind. Their color is due to the fact that they are immersed in a bath of brine, beer or wine and then rubbed to avoid the formation of a hard rind. They are rich and creamy, sometimes soft or semi-soft. Epoisse and Reblochon belong to this category of cheeses with strong character.

They go perfectly with sparkling wines and white wines such as gewurztaminer, pinot gris d'alsace, roussane or riesling.

For the more mature and spicy cheeses in this category, it is best paired with fruity red wines from the Pinot Noir, Poulsard or Trousseau du Jura grape varieties.

Demi-mou or semi-soft cheeses:

These cheeses, softer and creamier like Gruyere and Gouda can be both sliced and melted.

This type of cheese is ideal with dry white wines such as Condrieu and strong red wines.

Hard cheeses:

These are older cheeses that are quite firm and crumble. Some like parmesan can be quite pungent and salty.

They go well with white wines, vintage sparkling wines, Champagne and Franciacorta.

To accompany them with red wine, choose bold wines with a certain age and presence in the mouth, such as a wine from the Bordeaux or Provence regions.

Blue cheeses:

A variety of textures can be found in this category of characterful cheeses. They can be soft and creamy or semi-soft and crumbly, like Gorgonzola or Roquefort.

To accompany the sharp and salty cheeses in this category, one should choose soft and noble white wines such as Sauternes or Monbazillac or sweeter dessert wines that will accompany cheeses that are not too sharp.

The ideal way to match them with red wines would be to take sweet and fortified wines like Vintage Port, LBV Port, Maury or Banyuls.

Vinification is the process that allows the transformation of grapes into wine.

The maturity of the grapes is reached at different times. This stage depends on the wine that we want to make. When the grapes reach the ripeness that the winemaker wants, they are picked up and then crushed.

This technique crushes the grapes to extract the pulp and the juice that is called must. In the grapes, we find the skin and the pulp. These two elements are present in the tannins.

Then, the must is treated. This step is essential, because it allows to fight against the development of micro-organisms before the setting in vat.

Then comes the maceration. Here, the elements contained in the must are diffused. The alcoholic fermentation takes place; it is the moment when the sugars of the grapes are transformed into alcohol.

Finally, the winemaking process ends with the phases of draining and pressing, where the marc is removed from the wine.

The vinification of white wines is different: the crushed grapes are directly pressed, so the must is separated from the solid parts before being put to ferment.

For the vinification of rosé wines: they are obtained from red grapes with little colored juice.

Two categories of rosé can be obtained : the pressing rosé, when the grapes are directly pressed as for white wines, or the maceration rosé, where the must is pressed and separated from the solid parts after a few hours of cooking and then it will go to fermentation.

There are different types of white wines. These are made from white grapes but also from black grapes with white juice. There is a large number of white wine varieties such as: sauvignon, riesling, chardonnay, viognier, rolle, gewurztraminer..

o As soon as the grapes arrive in the cellar (place of vinification), they are pressed. In order to separate the grape berries from the stems (the skeleton) and to obtain only the juice.

All this is done at low temperature, which must remain below 12°C to avoid an early start of the alcoholic fermentation.

o After pressing, the juice obtained (the must) is put into tanks.

At this stage, it is still loaded with solid particles in suspension, the "bourbes". The settling consists in removing them. There are two techniques:

• Centrifugation: the juice is placed in a centrifuge which separates the sludge from the bourbes quickly and efficiently.
• Stabilization: the temperature of the juice is lowered to almost 0°C to protect it. Then, the sludge is allowed to fall slowly by gravity to the bottom of the tank. Finally, the juice is drawn off to separate it from the must.

The alcoholic fermentation, during which the sugars are transformed into alcohol under the action of yeasts, can then begin. This fermentation lasts 10 days on average.

The breeding of yeasts, is done in two ways, a malolactic fermentation, which is usually done in barrels, or in breeding.

After that, the wine is racked to another tank where it is left to stabilize and rest for a few weeks.

Before bottling, the producer can blend several vintages or further treat the wine to make it clearer with protein glues and filtration, before finishing with the final bottling step.

The Grand Cru appellation is one of the appellations of the AOC.

The AOC defines a geographical origin. It is completed by a strict specification with rules of cultivation, vine pruning, harvesting methods, means of breeding, up to storage and marketing. Its purpose is to protect the product given its geographical origin and its manufacturing methods.

AOCs are made up of appellations: regional, sub-regional, departmental, communal zone,^1er Cru and Grand Cru.

The Grand Cru appellation was established in Bordeaux in 1855. It is a sub-category of the AOC, which is the highest appellation in the AOC classification scale. It is an appellation defined by decree based on precise criteria: the cru designates the terroir where the vineyard is located. This area is qualified as the best of the parcels.

The AOC Grand Cru represents 1.12% of the production of AOC (excluding vin de pays and vin de table).

To obtain the title, the wine must be made in a harmonious way.

AOC Grand Cru can be found in only 5 regions:

• In Burgundy, the AOC Grand Cru are names of climates like Chablis, which represents 7.9% of the production of Grand Cru.
• In Alsace, the appellation is authorized for 51 climats and only the grape varieties: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris, with 30.63% of the production of Grand Cru.
• In Bordeaux, the appellation is only present in the commune of St-Emilion
• In the Loire, the only Grand Cru AOC is Quarts-de-Chaume
• In Languedoc-Roussillon, there is only one Grand Cru, the Banyuls Grand Cru. It is a sweet and natural red wine.

In Champagne, only 17 communes are classified as Grand Cru.