At Meal's End, Try a Sweet Wine with Blue Cheese
Served with blue cheese, dessert wines like Sauternes, Ice wine, and Muscat make memorable desserts
by Amy Albert
The next time you're looking for an unusual, change-of-pace dessert, try a small glass of dessert wine with a sliver of blue cheese. Sauternes, Barsac, Ice wine, Muscat, and late-harvest Riesling are just some of the delicious dessert wines you might run across when browsing in a wine store. So, the next time you see a sweet wine that looks intriguing, go ahead and buy it.
You needn't wait to pair a dessert wine with sweet food: in fact, I think these wines are at their best with blue cheese, whose salty pungency serves as a great counterpoint. This might sound unusual, but trust me. You've probably heard that port is the traditional match for blue cheese, and while the two can be delicious together, I really love the way peachy-sweet dessert wines contrast with blue cheese's pungent, salty quality. Look for Roquefort, Stilton, Cabrales, and domestic blues like Maytag Blue, Hubbardston Blue, and Great Hill Blue. (For more on blue cheese, see Aliza Green's great story in the February/March 2002 issue of Fine Cooking.)
Dessert wines are usually sold in half bottles, which are a manageable size since you'll want to pour scantier portions than you would for dry wine. Good ones to look for are Chateâu Doisy-Vedrines (France, $22), Bonny Doon Vin de Glacière (California, $20), Domaine de Coyeaux Muscat de Beaumes de Venise (France, $14), and Lindemans Griffith Botrytis Semillon (Australia, $11).
Amy Albert is Fine Cooking's senior editor.
Fine Cooking
|
