Camembeso cheese and Ribera del Duero

I’m an ardent advocate of pairing cheese with white wine so it came as a bit of a surprise just how well the Spanish cheeses I was eating over the weekend went with the full-bodied Ribera del Duero wines I was tasting, many of which were over 14.5%

The cheese was a new one on me, a Camembeso from Quesos & Besos in the Sierra Morena in Andalucia, a gloriously silky goats cheese which I suspect had been partly coagulated or set with thistle extract as is common among artisanal cheeses in Spain. The distinctive shape is designed to represent lips - ‘Quesos y Besos’ means cheese and kisses!

You can’t find out much about it online because every time you look up Camembeso Google assumes you mean Camembert

It went with most of the wines I paired it with other than the most modern, sweetly fruited ones and was just glorious with them

You can order it, as I did, from specialist importer Mevalco for £6.50 - [a perfect sharing size for 2 cheese fanatics’, as the catalogue puts it). Mevalco stocks other excellent Spanish cheeses and Spanish charcuterie too: the Gomez Moreno Rosemary Manchego is also delicious.

I paid for the cheese and received the Ribera wines as a sample

Cecina (cured beef) and Mencia

Last week I was in Galicia (for three days. Without my suitcase. Thankyou Easyjet) visiting the denominations of Valdeorras and Bierzo where the star red grape is Mencia. (For years I got them confused periodically thinking the grape was Bierzo and the region Mencia but I’ve finally got it straight.)

Anyway Mencia is the most fabulously food-friendly wine, especially when it’s young and vibrant. More full-bodied (though less refined) than burgundy, riper than cabernet franc, to which it’s often likened the most helpful comparison I think is with Beaujolais which has a similar juiciness when young but can also be quite a weighty wine.

It’s particularly good with all things porky - and beefy, as I discovered from this pairing with some wonderful, home-cured, home-smoked thinly sliced beef called cecina* which was just insanely delicious. I now suffer from cecina withdrawal symptoms.

This particular combination was with Pittacum’s fresh, slightly funky (it’s organic) 2014 Petit Pittacum which is stocked by Les Caves de Pyrène at £9.10, L’Art du Vin at £11.40, and by Joseph Barnes at £11.66. A real match made in heaven. It would also be great for a barbecue.

* you can read more about cecina here

Braised short ribs and Monastrell (aka Mourvèdre)

One of the tricky decisions to make when you’re serving a rich, winey stew is whether to go for a wine of equal weight or a lighter medium-bodied wine as a refreshing contrast.

We tried both options last night with a dish of short ribs I’d cooked overnight in the best part of a bottle of a Marquesa de la Cruz GSM (Garnacha Syrah Mazuelo) from Campo de Borja 2010 (6.99 Sainsbury’s) an ultraripe, lush, almost porty red that clocked in at 14.5%. Great for the ribs, not so great with them (too soft and sweet for what had become deep savoury flavours)

The final dish also defeated a Chianti Classico - much too light - but found its soulmate in another Spanish red, a Casa Castillo Monastrell 2009 Jumilla 14% imported by C & D wines, which turns out to retail at only 5.33 from Vinissimus though they have moved on to the 2010 vintage. It too was full-bodied (14%) but had a spiciness and structure that the GSM lacked. A terrific match.

Pairing Comté cheese and Chivite Coleccion 125 Reserva 2001

I spend a lot of my time trying to discourage people from drinking their favourite red wine with a cheeseboard because it's so often a disappointment but every now and again you come across a red wine and cheese combination that really works.

I had in fact picked a cheese for the purpose, a nine month old Comté. It's similar in style to Gruyère but has a richness, roundness and depth of flavour - almost a fruitiness - that you rarely get in Gruyère cheese.

Being a comparatively young cheese it was mellow rather than intense so gave an easy ride to a mature modern Spanish red, a 2001 Coleccion 125 from Bodegas Julian Chivite, a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It's a wine I've consistently enjoyed over the years, a wine that's still very much in its prime but on which the tannins have softened sufficiently not to intrude on the pairing

It also survived a Dorset Blue Vinney, a West Country cheese which is milder and more mellow than many blues.

Those were the only two cheeses on the table by the way - and all you need. The more cheeses you have, the more chance that one of them will get into a fight with your wine.

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