The Cheesemonger's Tales
Page 14
Today the village of Stilton seems an unprepossessing birthplace for what is, arguably, England’s finest cheese. The wide High Street has a somewhat down-at-heel feel to it, with few shops or other signs of activity. However Liam McGivern, the present proprietor of The Bell Inn, keeps alive the spirit of its past with a warm welcome for travellers and locals alike.
Other piquant blue cheeses
Bleu d’Auvergne is a reliable cheese from the Auvergne region of central France. Generally more moist than Stilton and slightly less creamy in taste, it has an appealing fresh acidity.
Also from the Auvergne, more mellow but otherwise quite similar is Fourme d’Ambert, which is produced in a distinctive tall cylinder shape.
A similar style cheese from Ireland is Cashel Blue. Named after the lovely town of Cashel where St Patrick made his speech about the three leaf clover being like the Holy Trinity, Cashel Blue was first made in 1984 by a husband and wife team, Jane and Louis Grubb, using the milk from their herd on a single farm in County Tipperary. The cheese has a certain sweetness to it and becomes increasingly soft and creamy with age.
Gorgonzola comes in two distinct styles, Piccante and Dolce. Piccante is considered the more serious cheese, and has a buttery texture with an appealing flavour neatly balanced between sweet and savoury. Dolce is much softer, almost runny, and is difficult to serve on a cheeseboard. It is an ‘easy eating’ cheese, great in sandwiches, as well as being useful as an ingredient in other dishes.
Cabrales is a cheese which evokes strong opinions because it is a powerful cheese with a persistent, intense flavour. It has a slightly granular, crumbly texture and is made in the Picos de Europa mountains of north-west Spain, traditionally from a mixture of cows’, sheep and goats’ milks.
Harbourne Blue is a relative rarity in that it is a blue cheese made from goats’ milk. It has been made by Robin Congdon, in the supremely beautiful area of the Dart river estuary in south Devon, since the 1980’s. It can be quite sharp and has a dry feeling texture in the mouth.
One of Robin’s other cheeses is Beenleigh Blue which is, in effect, an English version of Roquefort, although it is less salty, perhaps more herbaceous and slightly sweeter.
Roquefort itself is impressive on a number of counts. Firstly for its sheer renown, throughout almost all the world; and every ounce, every kilo of Roquefort has passed through the small town of Roquefort in south-west France. To be precise, it has passed through and been matured in an area within the town some 300 metres by 2000 metres. It can be made throughout the Aveyron department, but it must mature for a minimum of 14 days in the natural caves of Combalou, Roquefort. Secondly, it is perhaps the original blue cheese. Certainly it has given its name to the strain of penicillium mould which creates the blue veining in nearly all blue cheeses - even Stilton. Allegedly some 2,000 years ago a local shepherd left his lunch of bread and cheese in a cave and returned some days later to find the cheese had turned blue, the action of natural moulds found in the cave. Thirdly, the site of the town itself is impressive. Perched precariously on the side of a steep rock face, it has grown up to give access to these natural caves which, with their specific geological structure, provide perfect conditions for maturing these cheeses to perfection. The cheese itself is only made from 1st December to 1st June each year. This is followed by a minimum of 14 days maturation in the caves at 6˚-8˚c and then a further minimum of 3 months at a temperature of -3˚c, which may take place elsewhere in Aveyron. There are some 12 makers of which my three favourites are Carles, Vernieres Frères and Yves Combes. Roquefort has an ivory-coloured paste with many small holes coated in blue/green mould. Its flavour is herbaceous, sometimes slightly sweet and with an appealing tang. Too often it is over-salted. It is delicious with walnuts, perhaps in a salad.
Taylor’s 1977 Vintage Port
Stilton and a glass of Vintage Port is as fine a repast as one could wish for. It is a combination which has been enjoyed by generations ever since both were first made at around about the same time in the early part of the 18th century.
Of the two distinct styles of port, Vintage and Tawny, there is no doubt in my mind that Vintage is the better partner for Stilton. Tawny is simply too light for the task, but is ideally suited to other cheeses (see matching with Berkswell). Described as ‘The quintessential Englishman’s wine’, Vintage Port is only produced in years which are ‘declared’ by particular shippers when they consider the quality of the wines to be particularly good. Vintage Port is matured in vat for two years and then bottled while still young. Most of its maturing takes place in the bottle, which is slow – generally for at least 15 years. The resulting wine is full-bodied and robust, although with time the wines lose some of their initial power.
Vintage Port is the flagship by which many judge a port house and the success of the various houses varies from vintage to vintage. For me, and for many others, about the most consistent producer of top quality vintage ports is Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman. Founded in 1692, for more than three centuries, the firm has been a leader in the port world. It is the last of the original English port houses to remain family owned. It has never been bought, sold or taken over. It is still run by descendents of the founders, with the present chairman being Alistair Robertson, who took over in the 1960’s at the insistence of his aunt.
Alistair is proud of this heritage and keen to point out that family ownership has enabled Taylor’s to be pioneers; they were amongst the first to buy wines in the Douro in the early 1700’s, they were the first to buy a property there in 1744, they were the first to make a dry white port in 1934, the first to commercialise Single Quinta wines in 1958 and the first to introduce a Late Bottled Vintage Port with the 1965 vintage. They produce pretty well every style of port which is authorised but it is their Vintage Port which gives them such an outstanding reputation.
Taylor’s Vintage Port is only made in years which they consider exceptional. The harvest usually takes place towards the end of September. At the Taylor’s estates, pressing the grapes is still done by foot-treading in traditional stone lagares in order to extract the maximum colour and flavour from the grapes in the short fermentation time of three days, after which the addition of brandy stops the fermentation and retains some of the natural sweetness of the grapes. Soon after the harvest Alistair and his fellow partners including his son-in-law Adrian Bridge, Managing Director since 2000, and David Guimaraens, the partner responsible for winemaking, select the best wines from their two properties. These wines are then transferred to Taylor’s maturing lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, where they are left to age for two winters in large oak vats of some 15,000 litres.
In their second spring, they are tasted again and those vats which pass the test will be blended together to create Taylor’s Vintage Port. Wines from Taylor’s two vineyards go into the blend; David says that Quinta de Vargellas provides structure, elegance and complexity; Quinta de Terra Feita gives body, depth and powerful concentrated fruit.
When young, Vintage Port is one of the most inaccessible wines; sweet but austere, tannic, alcoholic, aggressive, massive in structure and very full-flavoured. It is quite an assault on both the mouth and the taste buds. David and his team have to assess these wines and decide which will develop into the great vintage ports on which Taylor’s reputation hangs. Those selected will be bottled towards the end of their second year and laid down to await the judgement of wine merchants and writers, both those of today and those yet to come. Seldom is a vintage port ready for drinking in less than 10 years; usually it takes at least 15 to 20 years. Great vintages may not reach their peak for 30 or even 50 years and may still be enjoyed for years after that.
If Taylor’s two vineyards produce wines of equal stature, there is no doubt that it is Vargellas, situated above a bend in the river, some 170 kms inland from Oporto in the wild and mountainous eastern extremity of the Douro valley, which is the spiritual heart of Taylor’s. To be invited to Quinta de Vargellas is a treat; it is an enchanting mix of
rural isolation and relaxed sophistication. Apart from vintage time, the area is almost deserted, utterly quiet, and if it were not for the neat rows of vines growing along man-made terraces hewn out of the rock, one would scarcely imagine man had ever been anywhere near the place. Walk from the dazzling sun of the vine-covered hillsides into the shade of Vargellas and immediately one is transported into quietly efficient comfort and elegance at odds with the rough, wild surroundings outside. A glass of chilled white or tawny port provides the perfect overture to a lunch or dinner. Fellow guests, drawn from a wide range of countries and backgrounds, appear and conversation flows along with the port; by the end of the meal one wonders why anyone ever leaves this idyllic place.
I drink Vintage Port for special occasions and so I don’t mind the fact that it needs decanting an hour or so before drinking. In fact, the ritual is part of the enjoyment of the wine. Either I stand the bottle upright a day or so before drinking which allows the sediment to settle to the bottom, or I take the bottle straight from the rack and keep it virtually horizontal until I pull the cork. When I open the bottle depends on its age; an old wine need only be opened 30 minutes before drinking; a young wine may benefit from opening 2 or 3 hours before drinking. I have my decanter ready, with a funnel in its neck, to make pouring easier. I pull the cork as gently as possible so as not to disturb the sediment. I try to pour the port, again as gently as possible, with a steady hand, in one smooth single motion, very slowly. As soon as I see any sediment in the neck of the bottle or in the funnel, I stop pouring and the job is complete. Some people filter their port through a muslin cloth or even a coffee filter, but I feel this detracts from the quality of the port and should definitely be avoided.
Taylor’s 1977 Vintage port marks my wedding year so I have always felt an affinity for it, but that apart, it is generally recognised as being a great vintage. Recently some wine critics have questioned its greatness and the price has fallen slightly. Others maintain that the best is yet to come from the wine and recommend keeping it until at least 2010. I regard this as good fortune because at the lower prices it is a cracking buy. In 2006 the wine was superb. It was beginning to turn slightly tawny at the edges but still retained a dark garnet colour at the centre. The nose was elusive but on the palate it was magnificent. Beautifully balanced, nutty but still with enough concentrated fruit. Velvety smooth, with no sign of excess alcohol.
When tasted with Cropwell Bishop and Colston Bassett Stilton, both cheeses tend to mask the port a little, but take another sip of the port and it comes right back in all its glory. I have no hesitation in recommending it.
At the same time I tasted the 1985 vintage. Clearly much younger, with evident berry fruit aromas, it was big and full bodied and initially stood up better to the Stiltons. But with each successive mouthful, my vote edged nearer to the 1977.
Of course, Taylor’s 1977 is an expensive port, generally reserved for pretty special occasions; but there is no need to so restrict the eating of Stilton to special occasions. So what other ports could one enjoy with Stilton? My great favourite is a Single Quinta port. These are produced in exactly the same way as a vintage port but using grapes from just one quinta and in years which are not quite up to the quality demanded for a true vintage port. There are quite a few of these but just about the best is, not surprisingly, Quinta de Vargellas. Bought by Taylor’s in 1893 when it produced 6 pipes of port, the vineyards now extend to 76 hectares and produce 204 pipes. The 1996 vintage is currently available at a fraction of the price of Taylor’s 1985 or 1977. It is clearly still young with tannin still evident and would benefit from more ageing but, with its violety nose and complex concentrated fruity flavours with a hint of liquorice, it goes well with Stilton.
In my view, anyone seriously interested in good port should stick to the two styles I have covered in this book; Vintage (and here I include Single Quinta wines) and Tawnies aged to at least 10 years old. With these two styles of port you are in for many treats – without the hangovers. It is younger lower-quality ports which can cause a hangover. Avoid Late Bottled Vintage Port, which I regard as a bastardised invention to reduce the price of something which has a vintage on the label. Avoid also cheap Ruby ports and Tawny ports which do not have an age specification of at least 10 years. Colheita ports are unusual but can be good. They are Aged Tawny Ports from a single harvest.
For a special occasion the decanting and extra price of a good vintage port such as Taylor’s 1977 are well worthwhile. For other occasions I get great pleasure from Quinta de Vargellas, which still needs decanting but is a fraction of the price, and from old tawnies, which do not need decanting and offer outstanding value for money.
If I have prevaricated over a definitive choice of Stilton and Port it is because all those I have tasted have something to recommend them. But for the very finest I would have little hesitation in choosing to eat a well-matured Colston Bassett Stilton whilst sipping a glass of Taylor’s 1977 Vintage. To do so is to revel in two products which represent the very peak of their respective realms, which are both steeped in history and tradition and yet which, because quality is timeless, are as enjoyable today as ever they were.
THANK YOU
I hope you have enjoyed reading this book; I have certainly had a lot of fun writing it. And I hope you have found some cheeses and wines which you would like to taste. Most are available in Britain, so do go out, buy some and try the combinations yourself. But don’t stop there; there are plenty more cheeses and wines for you to experiment with, and you may find more stunning combinations; even some pairings which you prefer to the ones I have chosen. At the end of the day, it is all down to personal taste.
Thank you also to the cheesemakers and winemakers who welcomed me to their farms, dairies and vineyards; who told their stories and put me straight when I got the wrong end of the stick.
Many people have helped me in writing this book. I am extremely grateful to you all and I certainly could not have done it without you. First and foremost, my wife, Rachel, has given enormous support throughout, helping with tastings, photography and text reading; as well as sharing a life of cheese and wine.
My thanks go to Gerald Donaldson for offering the benefit of his vast literary experience and for introducing me to Philip Dodd who has been described as ‘the Swiss Army knife of writing’ because he can do everything.
Gloria Craven sweated over proof reading and pointed out my errors of grammar, spelling and simply where I failed to make sense.
Apart from the opportunities I have had, over the years, to taste some delicious food and wines, I have derived great pleasure from the people I have met along the way - colleagues, friends, customers, suppliers. Thank you all.
GLOSSARY
Affinage The process of ripening or maturing cheeses
Alpage The high mountain pastures where cows graze in summer
Annatto A natural colouring dye derived from the plant Bixa Orellana
Au Lait Cru French term for unpasteurised
B.Linens A bacterium used to ripen washed rind cheeses, giving a golden colour
Brine A solution of salt in water
Butt The name given to casks in which sherry is stored. Each contains 490 ltrs
Curd The coagulated solids from milk
Degorgement The act of removing the sediment from a Champagne bottle
Dosage The small dose of old sweetened wine which is added to Champagne just before bottling
Flor Yeast which grows in the casks of some sherries and Chateau Chalon
Hastening Rooms Stilton storage rooms where the curds bind together after cheesemaking
Lactose Lactose is naturally present in milk and is converted into lactic acid by the starter culture
Lagares A large shallow stone trough in which grapes are trodden by foot for the production of port wine
Lees Sediment of yeast and solids from grapes
Milling Chopping curd into small pieces or strips
Moule a la louche F
rench term for hand-ladled. The act of transferring the curds into moulds
Must Grape juice
Penicillium A family of moulds responsible for the blue veining in blue cheeses and the white fluffy rind on some soft cheeses. There are many strains
Pipe The name given to casks in which port is stored. Each contains 550 ltrs
Quinta Portuguese for farm
Remuage The process of gently turning, shaking and inverting a bottle of champagne, so that the sediment lies on the cork
Rennet A natural enzyme, found on the lining of calves’ stomachs, which assists coagulation of the curds. Rennet substitutes are now sometimes used to make vegetarian cheeses
Starter Culture A bacteria used to acidify the milk at the start of the cheesemaking process. Traditionally it would have occurred naturally at each farm. Now often freeze dried, although live, liquid ‘pint starters’ are preferred by many cheesemakers
Taille The grape juice which comes from harder pressing of the grapes in Champagne. The first 80% is cuvee, the last 20% is taille
Tannin A bitter chemical compound from grape skins, pips and stems and from oak casks, producing a drying, puckering effect in the mouth
INDEX
Abbaye Notre Dame de Cîteaux 1
Acidity 1, 2, 3
Affinage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Aldridge; James, Pat 1, 2, 3, 4
Almacenista 1
Alsace 1, 2
Annatto 1
Appellation Contrôlée 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Appleby; Edward, Christine, Lance, Lucy 1, 2, 3
Apremont 1
B.Linens 1, 2