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	Mark's Winter Cheese, Wine, and Beer Pairings: Aged Gouda Cheese and Belgian Dubbel Beer Fourme d’Ambert and Côtes du Rhone Wine

Cheese Expert
Mark Todd

Winter Pairings to
Warm the Palate

This month we are exploring two of my favorite pairings to enjoy during chilly weather. This time of year always makes me want to hide indoors (except when mushroom hunting, of course!) and watch the amazing storms for which Northern California is famous. It is not unheard of for my 6-inch rain gauge to go from empty to overflowing – overnight!—as the wind howls at more than 100 mph on the ridge above my house.

Both of these pairings are best enjoyed beside a fire with a few close friends -- or maybe just one very close friend. If Mother Nature provides a raging storm to keep you entertained, so much the better.

	Cheese and Beer Pairing #1 Aged Gouda Cheese and Belgian Dubbel Beer The Cheese Gouda and Edam originate in the Netherlands and are named for their towns of origin. Gouda (pronounced KHOW-da or GOW-da) and Edam (pronounces EH-dom) are referred to as “sweet curd cheeses” and ripen somewhat differently than most cheeses. Cheddar becomes more intensely sharp and piquant as it matures, Emmental becomes nuttier. Gouda and Edam, in contrast, develop more pronounced notes of butterscotch and caramel.

	Cheese and Wine Pairing #2 Fourme d’Ambert Cheese and Côtes du Rhone Wine Fourme d’Ambert may be my favorite blue cheese, year in year out. If you are lucky enough to find a pristine raw-milk example, its clean ivory paste studded with many small pockets of vibrant, blueprint-blue mold, you’ll discover flavors and aromas that are positively heavenly! Closer to Stilton than Roquefort, this cheese is both piquant and sweet. It is earthier than Danish blue, but not as gamy as Gorgonzola; creamier than Blue d’Auvergne and less salty, too. It is a mystery to me how a cheese can be intensely sharp and subtly complex at the same time, yet Fourme d’Ambert meets this description.



	Aged Gouda Cheese and Belgian Dubbel Beer



	Fourme d’Ambert Cheese and Côtes du Rhone Wine

Columns to Savor
Mark Todd

Cheeses of the Alps: Allgäuer Bergkäse with Alsatian Pinot Blanc, and Appenzeller Cheese with Bock Beer

Cheeses of the Alps: Chiantino Cheese and Altbier Beer, and Hirtenkäse Cheese and Gewürztraminer Wine

Spanish Wines and Cheeses

History of Beer, Cider, and Mead: Cheese's Other Companion Beverages with two pairings

Read more about
Mark Todd.

Get more information on great Alpine and specialty cheeses at Fond O' Foods.

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