"J" is for Jenson Cheese for New Year's Eve

If you're interested in hosting a unique New Year's Eve, consider an elegant, but simple wine and cheese tasting. I'm talking about your hosting an event that is not 'cliche' or predicatable, like pairing red wine and Ermite blue cheese.

Consider pairing one style of cheese, such as Cheddar and its various strengths with different wines. Keep it simple.

When you pair one cheese with several wines you experience a deeper personal connection with your own senses -- your sense of smell, taste and feel. Said another way, you begin to notice more about our own sense of taste than focusing on the cheese and wine.

Pairing one style of cheese of different strengths with several wines also allows you to experience how different strengths of the same cheese create wonderful taste and flavour reactions in and around various parts of your mouth.

I hosted this kind of event a while back. I choose Jensen Cheese because this company specializes in different strengths of Cheddar and Cheddar related cheeses. It's trendy to celebrate the local angle, too.

Jensen produces fabulous Cheddars. The company has a long history of cheese making in Ontario, opening in Simcoe in 1925 by master Denmark cheesemaker, Arne Jensen. Since its inception, Jensen has won many awards for their products.

The goal of our tasting was to determine if any specific guidelines exist that can be applied to wine and cheese.

The first discovered guideline is this: You can successfully pair wines and cheeses of the same weight, even if their strengths differ. My guests and I found that different strengths of Cheddar -- mild, medium or extra strong -- can all harmonzie with high alcohol reds. They just harmonize in a variety of ways.

What do I mean by equal weight? (Fattiness is mouth feel, also known as texture. Cheddar is high in fat. Austere reds, such as Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec are generally high in alcohol (14% to 15%). High alcohol gives wine more viscosity (thickness). This thickness is experience on the palate as 'fatty.' So the fattiness in all Cheddars (despite mild, medium, strong and extra strong) match the weight and fattiness of high alcohol reds.

The second guideline is that strong Cheddars can soften the bitterness (tannin) in austere red wines.

We sampled ten cheeses and seven austere red wines. Of this group, two pairings stood out. The Pari Estate Pangkarra Grenache 2005 (CSPC 127335), $18.95, from Australia is a delicious red with classic ripe blackberry fruit and licorice flavours, full body and a long, enjoyable finish. When paired with Jensen’s old Cheddar, the combination was pleasant with the cheese’s flavour softening some of the wine’s bitterness (tannin.) If this wine is not available at your local LCBO, choose any Australian Grenache with forward fruit character.

The third guideline reveals that a strong red wine partnered with mild Cheddar (but of equal weight) allows the wine to shine.

When we paired an Australian Grenache with Jensen’s Marble cheese the combination reacted differently. In this partnership, the cheese allowed the wine's full character to dominate.

This specific guideline is important if you're planning on wowing your New Year's Eve guests with a fabulous vintage you've been cellaring for a while. Choose a Cheddar with equal weight, but of softer flavour.

We also enjoyed a Duval-Leroy La Fleur Leroy 2004 (CSPC 17228), $19.15, from France. It offers lots of earthy, barnyard flavours on the nose with a palate that is medium bodied, earthy and spicy.

This red with an extra old cheddar created perfect harmony on the palate.

The fourth guideline then? Strong reds obviously work with extra old Cheddars.

Yet, when paired with Monterey Jack, the wine provided up front flavours; the cheese providing intensity of flavour on the back palate.

If this wine is unavailable, choose a 2007 Ontario Cabernet Sauvignon to partner to an old Cheddar and Monterey Jack.

If you decide to undertake this wine and cheese tasting at home this New Year's Eve, contact Jensen Cheese at 1-866-625-0615 or go to http://www.jensencheese.ca/, to find out where the products are available in your neighbourhood. An LCBO wine consultant can help you choose a variety of fruit forward and austere red wines.

"I" is for Incredible Stuffing

Also referred to as the ‘dressing,’ stuffing is a mixture of ingredients used to stuff poultry, fish, meat, some vegetables and casseroles. It can be cooked separately from the main ingredient, such as vegetarian stuffing cooked separately from the Thanksgiving turkey, or the stuffing can be stuffed into the main ingredient, as done with turkey and chicken. While the stuffing list is endless, they all have two elements in common – all stuffings are usually well seasoned and based on breadcrumbs or cubes. However, cornbread, rice, potatoes and other ingredients can be used as the base, as well.

An old European wine rule states that red wine is best served with red meat, and white wine works with white meat. The person who came up with this rule was obviously more wino than stuffing gourmand. Stuffing – if its made to do its job – will add plenty of big flavours to most dishes and must certainly be considered as the primary ingredient when choosing a wine partner. So, the new pairing guideline, if there is one, might be: pair white wine with the biggest flavours in the dish, and pair red wine with the biggest flavours in the dish.
Here’s a few stuffing and wine partner choices:

Fruit and Nut-Based Stuffings:
Fruit and nut-based stuffings, such as those including half a cup each of dried plums, chopped apple and cranberries as well as almonds are best to be matched to a white wine with a hint of sweetness, such as an off-dry Riesling. The wine’s sweetness will marry well to the fruit’s sweetness in the stuffing.

Italian Style Stuffing:
An Italian style stuffing can consist of one jar (14-3/4 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, (undrained), one package frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry), one teaspoon of finely chopped fresh oregano and basil, half a cup of grated Parmesan, and one cup of white wine. Artichokes, spinach, fresh oregano and fresh basil all possess a wonderful ‘bitterness’ that works well with the bitterness in tannin found in heavier red wines like Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon.

East-Indian Stuffing:
An East Indian stuffing can include one cup of pineapple juice, one cup of pineapple chunks, one cup of shredded coconut, one cup of raisins, one cup of almonds and one tablespoon of curry powder. The pineapple and coconut in the stuffing is best matched to a wine with a hint of sweetness. Off-dry Gewurztraminer offers enough sweetness, as well as a hint of spiciness to match the curry.

Mexican-Style Stuffing:
Adding one cup of oil, one cup of spicy tomato juice, half a cup of green salsa, one cup of olives (chopped), and one cup of celery (chopped), can make a wonderful Mexican-style stuffing. For this recipe you will want a white wine with good acidity to decrease the heat associated with the spicy tomato juice and green salsa. A full-bodied Chardonnay would do the trick, also able to hold its own against the big flavours of salsa and olives.

"H" is for Holiday Appetizer

When it comes to entertaining family and friends over the holiday season, it’s sometimes difficult to choose between the idea of creating extravagant appetizers that are sure to WOW the crowd or appetizers that are fast, simple and inexpensive. Obviously, it depends on one’s budget and time.

Being a food and wine lover, I have often gone for exotic and extravagant with the intention of impressing my guests. But, on a few occasions the results did not meet my expectations, especially when I attempted a new recipe for the first time. There’s always that chance of failing to create the masterpiece that is celebrated in the cookbook.
Also, I’ve learned that, beyond my wine and food companions, many family members and friends do not like exotic tasting foods.

An old adage claims that, “If you listen to your mother, you’ll never go wrong.” This is certainly true for me in almost all areas of my life, but especially when it comes to cooking. Some of my mom’s most incredible tasting dishes are brilliantly simple and come from the darndest places – like the sides of butter containers and cereal boxes.

She tries out a recipe herself, and if it’s good, she’ll then serve it to the family. If family members enjoy the recipe, it is dubbed “worthy” and then is placed into her crafted, homemade cookbook. My mom will then serve the dish to friends and at family gatherings for years to come, knowing well that the results are predictable and that the majority of guests will love it.

Here’s a deliciously simple and inexpensive appetizer from my mother’s cookbook. (Note: she did not CREATE this recipe herself. In fact, if you recognize the dish, no doubt you also noticed it on the side of some container.)

Cold, Veggie Pizza
Two packs of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
One cup of mayonnaise
One envelope of original ranch dressing (dry)
One package of cream cheese
Three stalks of fresh broccoli, chop into small pieces
One head of cauliflower, chop into small pieces
Four carrots, chop into small pieces
One small box fresh mushrooms, chop into small pieces
Cheddar cheese (to taste)

Spread crescent rolls over jelly role pan. Press together seams to seal into one whole crust. Bake at 350 F for ten minutes. Let cool. Mix together mayonnaise, dry ranch seasoning, cream cheese and chopped vegetables. Spread mixture over crust. Sprinkle with desired amount of cheddar cheese. To serve, cut pizza into desired size squares.

This simple and tasty appetizer is a crowd pleaser. It requires a brut (bone dry) bubbly or crisp, dry white wine that complements the tanginess of cream cheese without overpowering the delicate taste of fresh vegetables. Sauvignon Blanc, with its inherent refreshing citrus and grassy character is ideal. Dry Riesling or Pinot Blanc will also do the trick.

"G" is for Garlic

Garlic is a staple in my kitchen. The way in which one cooks with garlic will determine the best wine accompaniment for the resulting dish. While many varieties exist, soft-necked white skinned garlic is the most popular, readily available in supermarkets.

The kind of taster you are obviously determines the amount of garlic you enjoy in any given dish. Supertasters (with many taste buds) can survive with a clove or two in an entree or sauce, whereas a non taster (with fewer taste buds) demands the entire bulb.

I'm a non taster and so use heavy garlic when cooking for myself. So, I must take the dominant taste of garlic and its cooking method into consideration when choosing an appropriate accompanying wine for the finished dish.

The way in which you cook garlic will determine its most suitable wine partner.

Chopped and sliced garlic do not dissolve in hot oil. As a result the chunks or slices leave a mild bitter sensation in the aftertaste of the dish. The best wine matches are ones with well-balanced flavours. You don’t want any one taste sensation predominating in the wine, such as sourness, sweetness or bitterness. White wines such as pinot blanc and unoaked chardonnay and reds like merlot are good partners. Wines produced from these grape varieties generally have no overbearing sensations and therefore support without overpowering the subtle flavour of garlic.

Pressed and crushed garlic dissolves in heat during the cooking process and adds slightly more aromatics and bitterness. This level of garlic calls for a wine with more bitterness to match. White and red wines that undergo oak aging have soft, pleasant bitterness and so are great partners. Look for oak aged chardonnay and merlot from both cold and warm climates, such as Ontario, Oregon, California, Chile, Australia and South Africa.

Browned garlic adds nutty notes to a dish. Orvieto is a lesser-known Italian white grape variety grown in Umbria, central Italy. Its wines are clean and crisp with nutty tones that complement garlic prepared in this fashion.

Garlic grilled over hot coals adds more earthy, toasty and smoky tones. Many countries around the world, such as Australia, Chile and France produce barrel fermented and barrel aged chardonnay with earthy, toasty and smoky tones that harmonize with dishes celebrating grilled garlic. Australia’s semillon can also show toasty, smoky and nutty flavours, along with its deep, rich pineapple and honey notes. This earthy character can also be found in some aged reds. Rioja reserva is a Spanish red wine renowned for undergoing aging in cask and bottle before release. Rioja is known for its spicy, earthy character.

Raw garlic offers the strongest flavour, adding forward bitterness and a zesty bite to dishes. Dishes highlighting raw garlic demand whites and reds with similar bitterness. White wines, such as sauvignon blanc can offer a pleasant bitterness on the finish, complementing the flavour of raw garlic. Cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon are reds with lots of astringency and tannin that also bring bitterness and dryness to the palate. These characteristics work nicely with raw garlic, as well.

Slow roasted garlic becomes caramelized and sweet. This sweetness requires a white or red wine with a hint of sweetness to match. An off dry riesling, off dry gewürztraminer or off dry rose works well with an oil based pasta highlighting caramelized, slow roasted garlic.

So consider how you are preparing the garlic in your dish before choosing the appropriate wine partner.

"F" is for Fusion Cuisine

For some time now professional chefs and home cooks have been delving into the world of fusion cooking. Fusion cuisine is primarily defined as "a style of cooking or the innovation of contemporary chefs who fuse or meld together and experiment with the elements -- a variety of ingredients, techniques, and presentations from diverse cultures and traditions to create tasty sensations. One of the primary disciplines of fusion cuisine is the chef’s reliance on fresh ingredients. The freshest, local fish and quality, organic meats and local produce (vegetables and fruits) are essential ingredients to have the dish be ‘authentically fusion.’ Everything from Asian staples, like Jasmine Rice and Udon Noodles to rare spices, such as Szechwan peppercorns and Galangal are celebrated and welcomed ingredients.

Fusion has become popular for many reasons, primarily because baby boomers, more than 78 million strong, are considered the most culinary-literate and food-active generation in history. Due to the technology age, baby boomers are educated about cultural affairs and are more likely to be in communication with people from around the world. So, they are more ‘open’ to accept and celebrate our world’s wonderful variety of cultures and traditions.

Some folks claim that if a dish is a regional specialty, a wine from the region is more likely to be the most compatible choice. This is certainly a safe bet. Others feel one should drink, in general, Italian wines with Italian foods, French wines with French food, and Canadian wines with Canadian food. But what exactly IS Canadian food? Do we have a culinary style? From my perspective New Canadian cuisine can best be describes as FUSION! Our Canadian chefs come from around the world. They celebrate cultural diversity, use traditional preparations and cooking methods and implement fresh, local produce and proteins.

What are the best wines to marry to Canadian fusion fare? ‘Anything you like!’ When searching for a vintage for fusion foods, look at marrying similar textures and flavours than in worrying about regional matches. Cooking methods and the source of ingredients (local or imported) are less important. What’s more important is choosing a wine that complements the primary building blocks in the dish.

For pairing success, look at choosing the following matches:

· If the dish is sweet in nature; choose a wine that offers sweetness. Make sure the wine is SWEETER than the dish.
· If the dish is hot and spicy; choose a wine with sweetness to soften the heat between bites. Acidic and tannic wines will clash. Tannin increases the perception of heat on your palate.

· If the dish has good acidity (tomato-based sauce), then choose a wine with more acidity.
· If the dish is fatty (cream-based sauces); choose a wine that is fatty too, that is one high in alcohol (14% to 15%). Alcohol creates thickness or viscosity on the palate that feels creamy and oily, thus matching the same mouth feel in fatty foods.
· If the dish is bitter; choose a wine with good tannin and astringency. Tannin and astringency are experienced on the palate as bitterness and dryness.
· Heavily textured dishes (meats) deserve wines with plenty of texture – big, bold reds.

"E" is for Excellent Reds, South African Pinotage to be exact!

Pinotage is South African’s most exciting grape and signature wine. What is interesting is that this particular grape is vinified in many styles. Pinotage can be velvety like merlot or rough and tumble like cabernet sauvignon. As a wine lover your task is to do much research, buying and sipping that is, to find the ones you enjoy the most. Be sure to make wine notes, as well. This will allow you to pair different pinotage with a variety of dishes. One may complement baked salmon seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper. Yet, another pinotage could to stand up to cedar planked salmon or lamb.

A quality pinotage, despite its style, will offer a balance of fruitiness, acidity and sufficient tannin. Pinotage flavours include black berry liqueur, violet, pepper, cherry, plum, smoke, earth, roobis tea, fruit cake, and bananas, to name a few. Remember, however, that your interpretation of flavours is subjective. Five people can smell and taste the same wine and describe it differently.

It’s a fabulous red generally sold at a reasonable price, ranging from $10 to $25. If you purchase a more expensive vintage, add a little flair to your dinner party. Pair your pinotage with ‘bobtie’, a classic South African beef or lamb meatloaf with a custard topping. You can find dozens of bobtie recipes on line. Sosaties is a South African version of a kabob, specifically lamb on a skewer marinated in a Malay curry sauce. Experiment with pinotage before pairing with this curried dish. A pinotage with velvety texture and soft tannin would work best. The heat and spice of curry can clash with any red offering too much bitterness and astringency.

Pinotage also partners with grilled chicken or steak, hamburgers, roast beef and lamb. A variety of pasta sauces will also harmonize with this wine, such as pesto, roasted tomato, olive oil and garlic, brie and mushroom or creamy blue cheese and rosemary. It’s a tasty wine to drink in all seasons.

Professor of Viticulture, Abraham Izak Peroldt, of Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa, bred pinotage in 1925. He crossed the two vitis vinifera varieties of pinot noir and cinsault. Peroldt used pinot noir for its finesse, taste and flavours and cinsault for its hardiness and disease resistance.

The variety went unnoticed until 1991. Winemaker Beyers Truter of Kanonkop Estate took his pinotage to England’s International Wine and Spirit Competition. Here the judges were so impressed that Truter was awarded the Robert Mondavi Trophy of International Winemaker of the Year. Truter was the first South African to win this prestigious award. Truter has now left, but Kanonkop still reaps a fabulous reputation for producing quality pinotage. Today, pinotage accounts for 50% of the winery’s plantings.

This award put pinotage into the minds and hearts of wine lovers around the world. By 1995 its price escalated by approximately five hundred percent. The LCBO does not carry any Kanonkop Estate pinotage at this time. However, they do have a variety that are reasonably priced and worth researching.

"D" is for Decanting Wines

People often ask me about the art of decanting wine. First wine whites do not need to be decanted. Whites are generally meant to be consumed within the first two years of purchase. However, some people prefer to decant big, white wines. The added aeration opens up the wine’s aromas.

Decanting is the process of transferring wine from its bottle into a decanter. A decanter can be a glass pitcher or a carafe. Its purpose is to three fold. Decanting is necessary when a young wine needs aeration, an old vintage has deposited some sediment in the bottom of the bottle, and cork parts have slipped into the bottle.

The best decanters for young wines look similar to a science beaker. This decanter is narrow at the top with a wide, almost flat base. The wider base allows for more surface of the wine to be exposed to air and therefore aerates more readily. Adding air to a young wine helps to open up the aromas and helps to softens some of the bitter bite from the youthful tannins.

(Schott Zweizel Decanters available in fine china shops)

Putting an opened bottle of wine on the table is not a form of breathing or decanting. The only wine that is exposed to air and can therefore breath is the small surface inside the bottleneck. The point is to allow as much wine as possible to be exposed to air.

When decanting young wines, remove the foil from the bottleneck and pull the cork. Tip the bottle into the decanter at a ninety-degree angle. The angle allows the wine to tumble aggressively into the decanter. This tumbling action pulls in air, thus helping to aerate the wine. Let the wine sit in a cool place for a couple of hours before serving.

Narrow decanters are ideal for extremely old reds. Old reds don’t necessarily need to have their tannins softened. Decanting is primarily used to remove the wine from its sediment. The sediment in the bottle accumulates over time. This takes place when the wine is sleeping in the wine cellar. Sediment is dead yeast, colour pigments and tannin that slowly precipitate to the bottle of the bottle. Sediment can be displeasing to the eyes and taste buds.

To decant older wines, remove the foil from the bottleneck. Gently remove the cork from the wine. In old vintages, the cork may be brittle or dry, causing it to split or break off into pieces. Cork the wine. Clean the neck and inside lip of the bottle with a damp clothe. The idea is to not allow any dirt to fall into the bottle.

Light a candle and sit it into a candleholder. Hold the wine bottle in one hand and the decanter in the other. Position the bottle well above and just in front of the flame; do not let the candle heat the wine. Tilt the decanter slightly. While pouring, you’ll notice sediment climbing toward the bottleneck. Continue to steadily pour the wine into the decanter until the sediment reaches the neck of the bottle. Discard the bottle, and serve from the decanter.

Decanting old wines can be done in advance or at the table as you dine. It’s a beautiful ritual that adds to the experience of celebrating with loved ones and friends.

Countless decanters are available today in all shapes and sizes. You’ll find them in quality china shops and inexpensive supermarkets like Wal-Mart and HomeSense.