Good Grape Wine Company

Although I like wine, I've never gotten much further than "I know when I like it." Among its other virtues, The All American Cheese and Wine Book has an excellent section with advice about cheese and wine pairings. Not just "emmenthaler with riesling" match-ups (though that's there, for us give-me-the-answer simpletons), but educational guidance about how to *think* about the subject: "...red wine will often seem bitter when sipped with many cheeses, because the tannins in red wine are exacerbated by salt and umami. Many cheeses have a good amount of discernable salt, which brings the tannin to the fore." It certainly helped me a lot.

But if you *still* don't want to think about it, each of the recipes has a wine recommendation.

I've only tried one recipe so far, which was excellent: a carmelized onion, bacon, and gruyere fondue. The instructions are relatively simple and easy to follow; no complaints there. In general, the recipes are expansions on the familiar without being too much of a stretch for relatives who don't like "weird stuff," such as cheddar-parmesan crackers, or cherry tomatoes with herbed goat cheese and shrimp. Unfortunately for me, a seemingly high percentage of the recipes use goat cheese -- and we don't LIKE goat cheese in my household. (There would be much screaming if I even tried to serve it.) There's also a tropism towards appetizers and a "cheese plate" rather than full-blown entrees; not that those are bad, but you should know what to expect.

The cheesemaking and winemaker profiles are interesting, in a read-once sort of way. While I like browsing through the book with the profiles interspersed with the recipes, when I'm actually looking for a recipe they get in the way. But I'll forgive this easily, because the photos (for both profiles and food) are simply gorgeous.

You'll enjoy browsing through this book. You'll probably find a few recipes to make again and again. (There's already a bookmark stuck into that fondue recipe.) But I'm not sure this will land in your dog-eared pile.


Fantastic guide for the uninitiated!   April 17, 2003
 30 out of 30 found this review helpful

Once I made the dreadful mistake of, "This wine's good; this cheese is good, and they'll be good together," and learned that you could ruin a good cheese and a good wine in the time it takes to gag the cheese down your throat. This book is clear and methodical in presenting an actual methodology - not rules - for pairing cheeses and wines. Werlin presents a wonderful framework to start thinking about how to pair cheeses with wines, and then gives you her blessing to go forth and experiment. I think she could make a mint selling poster-sized charts of her suggested combinations to every liquor store and high-end cheese shop in the country. The profiles of cheese makers and wineries will make you want to go on tour of the U.S - and happily, she tells you how to find them (and their goods). However, the book has wonderful photos and descriptions to allow nice armchair traveling too.