Food - Wine & Cheese (Part I)

Michael Palin as Mr. Wensleydale and
John Cleese as the Customer in the
Cheese Shop Sketch from Monty Python

I listen to NPR.  I'm a member and full fledged supporter.

Having said that, I've never really understood the stereotype of the NPR listener as a "wine & cheese snob".

I've always been more of a beer and sausage or whiskey and steak kinda guy.

But, I do like good food, as does the Lady of the Manor, so tonight, we decided to have a little "wine & cheese" tasting.

After a little research courtesy of the Wine Bible and the internet, we came across a couple of good combinations.

Wensleydale is (according to Wikipedia) a medium textured cheese and is (according to "The Cheese Book") similar to cheddar.

The wensleydale we found at our local chain grocer had cranberries in it.

It pairs up nicely with a good Merlot or with a with Rias Braxas (the Martin Codax Rias goes great with just about anything, though).

In my opinion, the merlot really brought out the flavor of the cranberries and was better.

Next, we had a brie with mushrooms called "Champignon", a double cream cheese from Germany.

It pairs up with Beaujolais Nouveau, which helps bring the creaminess of the brie and the earthiness of the mushroom to the forefront, without overpowering them.