Caerphilly completes the line-up of great British crumblies and is a relatively recent invention, having first been made for Welsh miners in the 19th century. Designed as a cheese to be eaten young, it is a cheese with easy appeal but the best, such as Gorwydd, can also be aged a few months with good results. They become, in effect, totally different cheeses with more complex flavours. Because it matured quickly, Caerphilly was of great interest to cheddar makers and thus it was that Somerset became the main area for the production of Caerphilly. One happy result of this was the emergence in the 1980’s of Chris Duckett as the prime maker of fine Caerphilly.
Alongside his Caerphilly he produces a similar cheese with a thin sprinkling of chives in the middle, which he calls Wedmore after his local village.
One of the earliest cheeses to emerge in the renaissance of British cheesemaking in the 1980’s was Yarg, which was the makers name – Gray – spelled backwards. Covered in nettle leaves, it has a distinctive appearance and although the flavour is mild, it is nonetheless a very pleasant cheese with easy appeal.
A cheese similar to Cheshire, but made in West Wales, is Llangloffan, made by Leon Downey. He is an interesting man who used to be Lead Viola with the Hallé Orchestra. His cheese is superb; often giving Appleby’s Cheshire a run for its money.
Meursault Clos du Cromin 2003: Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur
The 15th century church of St Nicholas dominates the village of Meursault, just south of Beaune in Burgundy, but it is the vineyards that surround it which have given Meursault its everlasting fame and made it one of my favourite white Burgundies. Although a little red wine is produced in the village, the vignerons long ago decided that Chardonnay was the grape to grow, because the white marl soil amidst chalk is particularly favourable for Chardonnay. The gently undulating vineyards, which extend to some 420 hectares, entitled to the Meursault name, are mainly east facing giving them good exposure to the sun, and vary in height between 230 and 360 metres above sea level.
The wines produced in this small area can be amongst the finest known to man; reaching sublime perfection. They can also be disappointing, either because they are too young or because a grower has more interest in capitalising on Meursault’s reputation than living up to it.
Meursault, like most fine White Burgundies, is a delight with many dishes; in my view particularly with smoked salmon. Although it can be tricky with cheese, as the cheese may overpower the wine, with a good Cheshire, such as Appleby’s, it can be an admirable partner but; as everywhere in Burgundy, buying from the right grower is essential.
Fortunately there are quite a few, ranging in excellence and price. My favourite, for a good balance of price and excellence, is Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur. In a number of tastings it has come out consistently well. A little more expensive than the cheapest, it is also considerably cheaper, and often better, than the most expensive.
Vincent Bitouzet is the current generation of this family of vine growers; overseeing the production from 12 hectares of vines in Meursault and the next village of Volnay, where barrels and bottles of wine gently mature in ancient cellars underneath his house. Vincent’s family have tended the vines and made wine here for over 200 years and, from the start, were keen to bottle their own wines rather than sell in bulk to a wine merchant. This proved a wise move, with Vincent’s grandfather winning awards for his wines as long ago as 1860.
Vincent is married to Annie Prieur, whose family are also respected vignerons and part of their vineyards are now looked after by Vincent and their son, Francois.
When I tasted Vincent’s 2003 vintage Clos du Cromin, from a one hectare walled parcel of vines to the north east of the village, in 2006 it was a delight with Appleby’s Cheshire. Pale gold with flashes of green. A fine floral, slightly smokey, honeysuckle bouquet. On the palate it was very elegant with soft fruit somewhere between white peach and citrus, some vanilla, slightly toasty, hazelnuts and honey playing second fiddle behind a certain richness, balanced by just the right acidity. Delicious now, but hinting at even greater things to come. Classic Meursault. Probably not as long a keeper as some vintages, and at its best in another 4 or 5 years.
2003 was noted for a heat-wave during the summer and Vincent had completed the harvest, exceptionally early, by the end of August. He picks entirely by hand to get the best results and immediately presses the grapes. Vincent believes it is important to ferment the must in small barrels at a cool temperature, which allows extensive contact between wine and lees, resulting in greater richness and complexity in the wine. He allows the wines at least 15 months in cask before bottling.
For a less expensive match, you could try Jean-Luc Terrier’s St Veran Domaine des Deux Roches 2003. The domaine is in the village of Davaye, some 8kms west of Macon, and Jean-Luc runs it with Christian Collovray. The two were at school together, became firm friends and even married two sisters, before deciding to work together and establish the domaine in 1985. The wine is fresh and quite appley and is outstanding value for money.
Patrick Javillier, widely regarded as one of Meursault’s best growers, is a fan of Meursault with goats’ cheeses and blue cheeses but I don’t share this passion. His wines can be quite austere, especially when young, with highish acidity indicating that they need considerable time to mature. Rather than complementing the Cheshire, the acidity tends to fight against the cheese and it was not an ideal match. Faiveley’s Meursault on the other hand was a good match but lacked the real character and wow factor of Vincent’s wine.
Seasonal Cheeseboards
Many cheeses used only to be made in certain seasons, following the breeding cycles of the animals. Some still are but most cheeses are now available all year round. Nevertheless it still makes sense to eat certain cheeses at certain times of the year, either because they are actually better at that time of year, or they are suited to a particular season for other reasons. Here are my suggestions:
Spring
Goats’ milk cheeses are made from roughly January to October and so it is generally late spring (March/April) before the new season’s goats’ cheeses are available. When they arrive, I always get a lift to my sprits as winter clears away, the days get longer and brighter and I tuck into the lighter, more delicate flavours of fresh goats’ cheeses. Sometimes I like to have a cheeseboard composed entirely of goats’ cheeses – such as Banon, Valençay, Ticklemore and Golden Cross. Other cheeses to enjoy in the spring are the lighter-flavoured hard cheeses such as Single Gloucester and such delights as Daylesford Organic, a simply superb cheddar-style cheese bursting with the herby flavours of the pastures. Excellent too are the small soft cheeses, such as St Marcellin, made in the foothills of the alps.
Summer
With the warmer days of summer, again I am looking for lighter flavours but perhaps something with a little more of the roundness and creaminess one gets from cows’ cheeses. This is the season for crumbly cheeses such as Cheshire, Caerphilly and Lancashire. Salads feature prominently in my summer diet and cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano, Feta and Mozzarella di Bufala are perfect ingredients. Also, goats’ cheeses can still be lovely at this time of year and are especially suitable for picnics, due to their predominantly small size. e.g. Crottin de Chavignol, Ste Maure
Autumn
As the nights draw in and there’s a chill in the air, I find I am looking for stronger flavours and more substantial cheeses. Mimolette is a star at this time of the year, nibbled with a glass of sherry or Madeira as a mid morning snack. Other favourites at this time of year are Berkswell, Double Gloucester (preferably from Jonathan Crump), Brie de Meaux and other soft cheeses such as Waterloo. Some French blue cheeses like Fourme d’Ambert and, of course, Roquefort also eat well in Autumn.
Winter
With the prospect of some crisp, clear, bright days, a whole new dimension is brought to cheese enjoyment. Such days require cheeses with plenty of flavour and strength - full and robust. Stilton is, of course, a favourite in the winter and a good extra mature Ched
dar is also delicious. For the really crisp days there is nothing like some alpine cheeses such as Beaufort, Comté, Raclette and the sublime Mont d’Or, to bring on a feeling of well-being which I normally associate with alpine skiing villages. Washed rind cheeses also seem to come into their own at this time of year; e.g. Livarot, Pont L’Evêque and Epoisses and their English counterparts, Tornegus and Stinking Bishop.
A CHALET IN HIGH ALPINE PASTURES
Beaufort d’Alpage: Jean Poccard
Few cheeses demonstrate better than Beaufort the pure and natural simplicity that is at the heart of all cheeses. High in the French Alps, cows graze pastures rich with wild flowers and myriad species of grass, to provide the wonderful summer milk. The breeds are local: Tarine, with their beautiful, chestnut colour and almond eyes and Abondance, easily identifiable with their white faces and rich brown-red bodies. In mountain chalets, alpagistes, such as Jean Poccard, turn their milk into sublime cheeses with immensely complex flavours. Jean’s chalet d’alpage is at the end of a 5 km dirt track, which winds its way precariously up the steep gradient of the alp above Peisey-Nancroix, to an altitude of 2,100 metres. The track is made more for animals than modern cars and it was an exciting adventure to approach his chalet in a Citroen C3! The peaks of the Alps ahead, still covered with the remains of last winter’s snow, even in September, were a reminder that, in winter, these slopes are a skiers paradise. These same peaks were our guiding star through the first part of the trail where trees encroached on all sides and there were no signs of any grazing. Then the terrain opened out, and we were surrounded by pastures and the gentle tinkle of bells round the necks of cows grazing contentedly in the pure mountain air. And there we came across Jean’s chalet, Les Rossets.
In the traditional manner known as ‘transhumance’, Jean keeps his 160 cows in the valley over winter and makes cheese at his dairy in Peisey-Nancroix but, as summer arrives, he starts moving them up the mountain, grazing adjacent pastures day by day, eventually reaching the foot of the glaciers at 2,600 metres in late July; then returning down the mountain by mid-October. This allows him to make hay from the lower pastures with which to feed his cows in the winter and the cows enjoy the wonderful high alpine pastures during summer. He has two chalets d’alpage where he not only makes the summer cheeses but lives in basic yet cosy accommodation. Other alpagistes will winter their cows in a valley some distance from the summer alpine grazing. I visited one such farmer in the Swiss Jura who moves his cows ‘on the hoof’ 25 km; taking him seven hours.
Generally Jean has sufficient milk to make two cheeses every morning and two cheeses every evening. Part of the alpage regulations is that Beaufort must be made with milk unpasteurised and fresh from the cows. So they are milked with mobile milking machines in the pastures, and the milk is poured into a simple copper vat which is heated with a naked flame. Jean adds rennet and the curds form. These are ladled into moulds and pressed overnight. The fresh wheels emerge, glistening ivory in colour, from the press and are immersed in brine for a few days and then taken down the mountain to maturing cellars at Aime for affinage.
Quietly nestling in the serenity of the affinage cellars are 9,000 wheels of Beaufort from independent cheesemakers throughout the Tarentaise valley. Each huge cheese, weighing as much as 40kgs, sits in row upon row of wooden shelves, proudly bearing its green Beaufort identification markings, with an additional, special, red marking for alpage cheeses. For the first five months of their lives at Aime, the cheeses are brushed with dry salt twice every week. Thereafter brine replaces the dry salt until the cheeses are ready for sale.
Cheeses made in the valley dairies are turned by machine but the alpage cheeses are turned by hand with loving care, better to cope with their individual characters. Here, Patrice guided me through last summer’s cheeses and I was able finally to taste Jean’s cheeses. Over a year old, they were simply delicious; rounded, rich, savoury and fruity with hints of hazelnuts; sweetly floral with higher notes of flavour and a lightness and elegance rarely found in other alpine cheeses. Great cheeses indeed.
From time immemorial until the 1960’s, the Savoie region was extremely remote and alpage cheesemaking was the norm. Nowadays the valleys of Beaufortain, Tarentaise and Maurienne are better known for their ski resorts: Courchevel, Val d’Isère, Les Arcs, La Plagne. The building of these resorts opened access to the higher mountain slopes and enabled the milk to be brought down daily into the valleys, where cooperative dairies were built. Jean Poccard is one of only some 15 cheesemakers who still make Beaufort in the traditional alpage way. He fears that his craft is dying out and that soon all cheese will be made in the valleys at dairies like the Cooperative at Beaufort-sur-Doron, which turns out 25,000 cheeses every year and employs 40 people. The milk from 150 farms scattered over the hills arrives here in churns throughout the year and they make some excellent cheese. The Beaufort d’Eté, made with summer milk between June and September, is generally the best with nice high notes but lacking the real complexity of alpage cheeses.
If you want to make a cheese fondue, there is no better cheese than Beaufort mixed with Emmental, but when visiting the region I really enjoy their ‘Assiettes Savoyardes’, which consist of thinly sliced Beaufort with some Savoyarde charcuterie, bread and a little salad. The Savoie region produces some delicious charcuterie: its own air-dried ham, saucissons made from pork, goat, ass or wild boar; some of which are smoked or have herbs added.
In the modern world, it is easy to forget the essential simplicity of the idea that first motivated man to make cheese; but visiting an alpine chalet like Jean’s vividly demonstrates that cheese is essentially a simple means of preserving wonderful summer milk to see one through the harsh winter months. The process need not be complicated and, with milk so pure and rich as that from these high, clear pastures, the resulting cheeses are as stunning as any you will find.
Some Other Special Mountain Cheeses
Throughout the Alps, each separate valley seems to produce its own version of what is pretty much the same style of cheese; large cheeses of 40 to 80kgs, hard and dense with an ivory to yellow paste, and a rind reminiscent of leather. To eat them, even in mid-winter, with their floral bouquet and fruity, nutty flavour, is to transport me to the beautiful open spaces and flower-strewn grazing of the high mountain pastures on a warm summer’s day.
Comté ranks as the most popular AOC cheese in France because it is widely used in so many types of dishes. Much is of average to good quality but the best cheeses are stunning and are really wasted in recipes. Comté is made in the Jura Mountains of France, close to the Swiss border. One of the most amazing cheese stores I have visited is the Fort des Rousses, which is an old military fort, built in 1882, that has been home to 65,000 wheels of Comté cheese belonging to Marcel Petite since he moved there in 1965. The cool, dark and damp fort is just perfect for maturing cheeses. To me a good Comté is fruity and nutty at the same time, with really complex flavours.
The ubiquitous ‘Swiss Cheese’ is of course Emmental. So much is this cheese associated with Switzerland that, in the States, they refer to all cheese with holes as ‘Swiss Cheese’; so you get Norwegian Swiss, German Swiss and even Swiss Swiss! The holes result from propionic acid gas given off during fermentation, which becomes trapped in the curd. The flavour is nutty and slightly tannic. Look out for ‘Cave Aged’ Emmental which are the best cheeses but overall it is not one of my favourite cheeses. The flavour is pleasant but I find the texture almost rubbery. These are some of the largest mountain cheeses, weighing in at about 80 kg. 90 cm diameter, 25 cm high.
Good Gruyères, especially those entitled to the ‘reserve’ label, can be tremendous but all too often I find Gruyère undistinguished, though seldom bad. They have a tantalising herbaceousness overlying a deep nutty flavour. The small, hill-top town of Gruyère is a special place to visit. It is quite touristy, with souvenir shops every few metres, but nonetheless maintains a certain medieval charm.
A Champagne moment: Pol
Roger 1998
I don’t think I have ever refused a glass of Champagne. But that is as nothing compared to Madame Bollinger who famously said:
“I drink my Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I’m not hungry, and drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it ‑ unless I’m thirsty.”
She might have added that it is a mighty fine accompaniment to Beaufort, but the moment and the Champagne has to be right, as I have discovered at a number of tastings. Of course alpine cheeses like Beaufort go well with the local wines, especially whites such as Apremont from Savoie and Fendant from Switzerland (Aigle Les Murailles is a good example). However, I prefer a full-bodied Champagne and this was admirably borne out at a very special tasting which I conducted with Remi Krug, the energetic man behind the Champagne which bears his name. I have to say I was somewhat apprehensive about doing the tasting because I felt that the Champagne might, all too easily, be overpowered by the cheeses and that the tasting would be a disaster. I need not have worried. Although some of the combinations did not work, the sense of adventure and the discovery of some truly superb combinations kept everyone enthralled and we all learned some interesting lessons. It was surprising, for instance, to find that some powerful, mature cheeses were perfect partners for Champagnes.
The best match of all was a Beaufort d’Eté, which went superbly with all the Krug Champagnes. Other good matches were Maroilles with Krug Grande Cuvée, Berkswell with Krug 1989 Vintage and Chaource with Krug Clos du Mesnil 1989.
The Cheesemonger's Tales Page 4