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Cheese and Wine, A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying
From the best-selling author of The Cheese Course comes a new guide to enjoying one of the most basic yet sophisticated culinary delights: cheese and wine. Janet Fletcher leads readers on an international tour of 70 cheeses, exploring the best wine pairings and serving suggestions. From Oregon's autumnal Rogue River Blue to aromatic Brin d'Amour evocative of the Corsican countryside, cheese lovers will savor the range of textures, flavors, and colors. Featuring mouth-watering color photography and detailed, informative text, this collection of cheeses and the wines that go with them will inspire perfect pairings.
143 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
56 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Janet Fletcher
61 books8 followersJanet Fletcher, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, is the author of numerous books on food and wine. She lives in Napa Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 1, 2020
A delicious book that you'll want to eat the pages. I only gave 4 stars because they could have included more photos. Also I think it felt more heavy on the cheese explanation side vs a wine book. That said...
There is a great introduction, two-page spread on cheeses most with a photo, history, tasting notes, examples of a cheese plate, etc. Each pages gives a complimenting wine and why it works. The end has a wine list with the accompanying cheeses.
You can tell the difference in the European vs. American way of making cheeses and which are felt true and natural because of import reasons. So it seems that some of these cheeses are little hard to come by unless you'd order or have a import cheese source. Also the difference in the place of the meal that Americans and Europeans might enjoy a cheese plate.
So much cheese for your taste buds to water.
There is a great introduction, two-page spread on cheeses most with a photo, history, tasting notes, examples of a cheese plate, etc. Each pages gives a complimenting wine and why it works. The end has a wine list with the accompanying cheeses.
You can tell the difference in the European vs. American way of making cheeses and which are felt true and natural because of import reasons. So it seems that some of these cheeses are little hard to come by unless you'd order or have a import cheese source. Also the difference in the place of the meal that Americans and Europeans might enjoy a cheese plate.
So much cheese for your taste buds to water.
December 26, 2019
Janet Fetcher is so knowledgeable about cheese and great wine pairings. In this book she keeps it simple with descriptions of some of the greatest domestic and imported cheeses and what to pair with them. The perfect reference source for someone just getting into cheese.
December 17, 2023
This is a great cheese resource, and one worth keeping on my shelves. This coffee table-sized quality hardcover book with color photographs uses single pages to highlight each cheese, describing their origins, how they are best served, and what wines to use for pairing. The very back of the book allows readers to do search the other way around, guiding people who've already chosen a wine in finding the right cheese. Though the book is now dated, as it was published in 2006, the information is still largely accurate. I should note that the book is largely intended for an American audience that is seeking cheeses available within the country, but there are a few exceptions for recommendations abroad.
August 20, 2024
It seems to be just cheese from France while they list a bunch from elsewhere
August 21, 2011
I have found this very helpful when coming io with ideas for a cheese plate.
March 9, 2014
I liked the history and tradition explanations. Would be cool if it had some more flavor descriptions though. Nice chart included for pairing
March 11, 2020
Fucking pretentious twaddle.
September 9, 2021
Great book about cheese, but wanted more about wine. Very colorful pictures, and great details about the cheeses. Recommended for cheese lovers, or those wanting to know more about cheese.
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January 15, 2024Kind of out of date by a long shot. Contemporary heese and wine have come so far since this was published.
June 24, 2013
Devotees of craft beers will undoubtedly love this well organized, succinctly written and lavishly illustrated guide since it focuses on the subject of beer and cheese pairings, but anyone who enjoys the challenges of experimenting with taste will find it rewarding.
Wine and cheese are often erroneously thought of as natural companions. In fact, only a limited number of the myriad possible wine and cheese combinations make great pairings. They're simply such outstanding exceptions to the rule they obscure the fact that, in general, the vibrant flavors and creamy consistency of most cheeses interfere with the ability to taste the subtle flavors in a great wine. (They can also mask the flaws in lesser wines, however, which can make them useful in another way.) Beer and cheese, on the other hand, are more natural companions because the carbonation in the beer helps to refresh a palate by scrubbing away the creamy residue of the cheese and prepare it for the next bite.
Craft beers, with their pronounced flavors, provide more opportunities for outstanding matches than their blander mass market counterparts. But there is also more risk of a jarring mismatch, so it’s helpful to understand the factors that make some combinations work and others fail. Janet Fletcher, cheese columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a prolific author and coauthor of many books on food, wine and sustainable living (including a companion book on pairing cheeses with wine), is an ideal guide. In this lively and eminently readable book, she gives us the tools to make good everyday pairings and find the surprising and extraordinary matches that make experimenting worthwhile.
Fletcher describes many proven pairings, but her objective is not simply to catalog these consensus match-ups. Rather, as she states in the introduction, it is to “equip you to continue the journey on your own” so that everyday brings the possibility of a new discovery. The benefit of this is underscored by sound advice she passes on from Adam Dulye, the proprietor of several popular San Fransisco gastropubs: “Do not miss your own taste experience by trying to find someone else’s…what you taste, smell and feel is unique to you.”
In making the effort to help her readers learn how to discover great tastes for themselves, Fletcher moves beyond the typical pairing guides that simply consist of a list of recommendations by the author or from experts that the author has reached out to. To enable her readers to find their own pairing experiences, she makes a special effort to familiarize them with the characteristic tastes of various styles of beer, so that (to the extent possible in a dynamic and creative environment) they will be able to predict what they’ll taste like. As a preliminary step, she identifies seven taste characteristics common to beers and provides four “guidelines” for beer and cheese pairings, described as “suggestions, not rules”. She acknowledges that there are many happy marriages that defy expectations, but understands that her readers will be more likely to discover these happy marriages if they are looking in the right places and understand the dynamics at play than if they simply try combinations at random.
She also recognizes that it’s important to understand how to store and serve cheeses and beers, so a perfectly good match isn’t ruined by an easily avoided mistake. In this regard, she is not obsessive. Her advice is pragmatic and succinct and explains her suggestions with the kind of good sense that makes them easy to remember.
She follows this brief introduction with detailed descriptions of sixteen styles of ales and five styles of lagers. Together with the lavish photographs that fill the pages, her evocative descriptions make it difficult to sit still long enough to read them. It’s definitely a good idea to plan ahead and stock some examples of the beers and cheeses you’ll be reading about so that you’ll have them on hand.
At the end of the book she provides a handy two page summary chart that gives specific suggestions for cheese and wine pairings according to the style of cheeses. Copying these two pages will save you the trouble of carrying the book with you as you begin your forays into cheese and beer pairings, but as you become more and more familiar with the experience of making good matches, the need for this will disappear and Fletcher will have achieved her primary goal in writing the book, giving you the tools to think before you drink, so you can enjoy it better.
Wine and cheese are often erroneously thought of as natural companions. In fact, only a limited number of the myriad possible wine and cheese combinations make great pairings. They're simply such outstanding exceptions to the rule they obscure the fact that, in general, the vibrant flavors and creamy consistency of most cheeses interfere with the ability to taste the subtle flavors in a great wine. (They can also mask the flaws in lesser wines, however, which can make them useful in another way.) Beer and cheese, on the other hand, are more natural companions because the carbonation in the beer helps to refresh a palate by scrubbing away the creamy residue of the cheese and prepare it for the next bite.
Craft beers, with their pronounced flavors, provide more opportunities for outstanding matches than their blander mass market counterparts. But there is also more risk of a jarring mismatch, so it’s helpful to understand the factors that make some combinations work and others fail. Janet Fletcher, cheese columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a prolific author and coauthor of many books on food, wine and sustainable living (including a companion book on pairing cheeses with wine), is an ideal guide. In this lively and eminently readable book, she gives us the tools to make good everyday pairings and find the surprising and extraordinary matches that make experimenting worthwhile.
Fletcher describes many proven pairings, but her objective is not simply to catalog these consensus match-ups. Rather, as she states in the introduction, it is to “equip you to continue the journey on your own” so that everyday brings the possibility of a new discovery. The benefit of this is underscored by sound advice she passes on from Adam Dulye, the proprietor of several popular San Fransisco gastropubs: “Do not miss your own taste experience by trying to find someone else’s…what you taste, smell and feel is unique to you.”
In making the effort to help her readers learn how to discover great tastes for themselves, Fletcher moves beyond the typical pairing guides that simply consist of a list of recommendations by the author or from experts that the author has reached out to. To enable her readers to find their own pairing experiences, she makes a special effort to familiarize them with the characteristic tastes of various styles of beer, so that (to the extent possible in a dynamic and creative environment) they will be able to predict what they’ll taste like. As a preliminary step, she identifies seven taste characteristics common to beers and provides four “guidelines” for beer and cheese pairings, described as “suggestions, not rules”. She acknowledges that there are many happy marriages that defy expectations, but understands that her readers will be more likely to discover these happy marriages if they are looking in the right places and understand the dynamics at play than if they simply try combinations at random.
She also recognizes that it’s important to understand how to store and serve cheeses and beers, so a perfectly good match isn’t ruined by an easily avoided mistake. In this regard, she is not obsessive. Her advice is pragmatic and succinct and explains her suggestions with the kind of good sense that makes them easy to remember.
She follows this brief introduction with detailed descriptions of sixteen styles of ales and five styles of lagers. Together with the lavish photographs that fill the pages, her evocative descriptions make it difficult to sit still long enough to read them. It’s definitely a good idea to plan ahead and stock some examples of the beers and cheeses you’ll be reading about so that you’ll have them on hand.
At the end of the book she provides a handy two page summary chart that gives specific suggestions for cheese and wine pairings according to the style of cheeses. Copying these two pages will save you the trouble of carrying the book with you as you begin your forays into cheese and beer pairings, but as you become more and more familiar with the experience of making good matches, the need for this will disappear and Fletcher will have achieved her primary goal in writing the book, giving you the tools to think before you drink, so you can enjoy it better.
July 19, 2011
What a beautiful book! Mouth watering photographs of delicious cheeses from around the world and a wealth of information on the best pairing of specific wines with specific cheeses. I was surprised to learn that fresh parmesan cheese should be enjoyed on your cheese board as well as in your favorite dishes. (I grate it often into my homemade meatballs, but never considered serving it with other cheeses on my cheeseboard.) I enjoy offering a variety of cheeses, fruit, and olives before our weekly family meals and Janet Fletcher gave me more ideas to add to the board. I gleaned some great ideas. I also enjoyed reading about the cheese makers and their origins and their passion for cheese making. Learning some of the process was also very interesting. Love the names of some of the cheeses as well. Let's have a party!!
September 23, 2008
Oh how I love cheese.
January 12, 2010
This is a good reference book and it has great pictures. I wish it had several more pages of general discussion.
June 26, 2012
Mmmmm...cheese and wine. Two of my favorite things in a reference book filled with beautiful photos.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews