Fruit toast, Bath soft cheese, truffle and Macvin du Jura

One of the things I most enjoy about high-end restaurants is what they offer in the way of cheese.

At one stage it used to be a groaning cheese trolley, now it’s more likely to be a smart little plate like this one from the tasting menu I had in Osip in Somerset the other day.

It was a slab of fruit toast - like a cross between a malt loaf and a French pain d’epice (gingerbread), topped with a melting slice of Bath soft cheese, drizzled with honey then sprinkled with powdered truffle.

Quite intense which is just as well as it was paired with a curious but delicious drink called Macvin du Jura which is basically a sweet wine fortified with grape brandy. Dynamic Vines has one from Domaine Villet that looks similar for £49.

Given the cheese comes from Somerset I wonder if you could create a similar pairing with a good thick slab of toasted malt loaf, the same toppings, maybe minus the truffle and a Pomona or young 3 year old cider brandy from the Somerset Cider Brandy Company or a ginger liqueur like The King’s Ginger.

You can read more about the meal on my Substack Eat This, Drink That, my topical weekly newsletter which catalogues what I’ve been eating and drinking and passes on all my best food and wine tips!

I ate at Osip as a guest of the restaurant.

Mature gruyère and white port

I don’t drink a lot of white port, I must confess. More often in summer with tonic rather than at this time of year.

But now I’ve discovered how well it goes with gruyère, I may.

Port is an obvious pairing with cheese*, I know, but a mature white port like the Kopke White Colheita 2010 my fellow wine writer Kate Hawkings produced the other night adds a different dimension.

At that age it’s showing a degree of oxidation, not unlike a vin jaune but with a sweetness that works well with the deep savouriness of gruyère. There’s a touch of quince and orange peel in there too.

You can buy it, somewhat to my surprise, from Waitrose - though only in a few branches, I imagine - and online from their website and Waitrose Cellar for £42.99 which is obviously not cheap but would make an interesting Christmas present for a winelover.

*I was reminded, going through the archives, that 20 year old tawny port is also a great match for gruyère

See also Christmas pairings with port, sherry and madeira 

The best wine matches for Comté (which is very similar).

Gruyère photo by barmalini at shutterstock.com

Eccles cakes and medium-sweet sherry

It’s a bit early to be thinking about mince pies though I’m sure there are some in the shops somewhere but Booths showed off their very tasty festive eccles cakes with a mince pie filling at their autumn tasting the other day.

What to drink with it though? Sauternes proved too light, port too strong and sweet and 15 year old amontillado too dry, in my opinion at least

I found myself yearning for a sweeter sherry - not as sweet as cream though that would work but a rich medium-sweet sherry which I recalled I had at home in the form of William & Humbert’s As You Like It. As its classified as a VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) the constituent sherries are no less than 30 years old which you might think make it a bit grand for an eccles cake or a mince pie but if it’s a great match, why not?

You could always drink it with a basic off-dry amontillado instead, which I believe Booths stocks in its own label range, or even a cream sherry.

You can buy the As You Like It from Sandhams for £29.99 a 50cl bottle or The Wine Society for £31 - one of the rare occasions when TWS is more expensive than the competition.

For more suggestions as to what to drink with mince pies click here 

And for other amontillado sherry pairings here.

Apricot sorbet and moscato di Pantelleria

There were lots of interesting food and wine matches during my trip to Pantelleria and Etna last week with the Sicilian winery Donnafugata but the most surprising one to me was this pairing of an apricot sorbet and a light moscato, the 2022 Kabir.

Surprising because ice-creams and sorbets are hard to match. In the past I’ve found richer more liquorous wines and even liqueurs work best as you can see from this post.

What wine - if any - goes with ice-cream?

Like their famous Ben Ryé passito di Pantelleria, the Kabir is made from zibibbo but unlike Ben Rye the grapes are not sun-dried resulting in a lighter, more fragrant wine that was just 11.5% but one which worked really well with the sorbet.

What would you pair Ben Ryé with then? Depends a bit on its age. When it’s younger it’s rich and orangey, almost marmaladey so you can pair it with relatively light creamy pastries like cannoli or this ‘bacio Pantesco’, a deep-fried pastry filled with ricotta.

More mature ones develop rich treacley notes that work particularly well with a dark chocolate dessert or dried fruits such as raisins and figs, 

You can buy the Kabir in the UK for £32.95 from Vinum and £39.06 from Shelved Wine. 

(Apologies for the photo but I was a couple of spoonfuls in before I realised what a brilliant match it was!)