387: The Cheese Cure: How Comté and Camembert Fed My Soul With Michael Finnerty

Why do some wine and cheese pairings taste better together than either one alone? Why do some wines collapse when paired with certain cheeses? What will surprise you about cheese that's similar to wine? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Michael Finnerty, author of the terrific new book The Cheese Cure: How Comté and Camembert Fed My Soul. You can find the wines we discussed at https://www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks.

Giveaway Three of you are going to win a copy of Michael Finnerty's new book, The Cheese Cure: How Comté and Camembert Fed My Soul. To qualify, all you have to do is email me at [email protected] and let me know that you've posted a review of the podcast. I'll choose three people randomly from those who contact me. Good luck!

Highlights Why do some wine and cheese pairings taste better together than alone? Why did a natural red wine collapse when paired with Camembert? How do acidity and bubbles transform rich cheese? How does cheese age differently from wine? Why do tyrosine crystals in aged cheese create both crunch and pleasure? Why can older cheeses develop surprising flavors like rum and raisin rather than simply becoming sharper or saltier? How do cheese appellations work, and why are names like Roquefort or Parmigiano legally tied to place? What is the difference between a cheesemonger and an affineur? How did Michael Finnerty's midlife pivot from journalism to selling cheese begin? Why did selling cheese feel more meaningful to Michael than covering wars, elections, and other major news events? What makes Borough Market special beyond the food itself?

Key Takeaways Why do some wine and cheese pairings taste better together than either one alone? I had tasted a medium bodied wine with some nice minerality that also had some savoury notes and some citrusy notes. When you paired it up with the Ossau-Iraty, which is a higher fat cheese, the two of them paired together, one lifted the other. It was just that perfect example of how when you hit a pairing right, when you're spot on, the wine is improved and the cheese improved. Both are lifted. Why do some wines collapse when paired with certain cheeses? So we were tasting a red, it was bright and fruity. And then we had some Camembert. And Camembert is a big cheese and it's a hard cheese to pair. It's more pungent than Brie. For me, it has a real garlicky side to it. It's always going to depend on where it is on its little journey in life. which is much shorter, obviously, than a bottle of wine's. But when you get a Camembert that starts to get riper, it is going to have a quite a punch and quite a garlicky taste. With this natural red and Camembert, both started to taste not very nice to be honest. What else do you think wine and cheese share that might surprise us? First of all, if people didn't realize that cheeses have appellations as well, which are granted based on applications that are made to a central authority. That comes with what the French call a cahier des charges, so kind of a manual on how to make the cheese. The first one having been in 1925, now there's loads of appellations. And they're not just French cheeses. Of course, things like Parmigiano are appellations as are raclette in Switzerland. You'll get some cheeses that like, for instance, Brie. Those are going to be loads of Brie, but there's only one Brie de Meaux, which is the appellation.

About Michael Finnerty Michael Finnerty is a cheesemonger, journalist, and author based in both London, UK, and Montreal. After almost 30 years of success and acclaim working for the CBC, BBC, and The Guardian, he found joy and a new life selling cheese at London's iconic Borough Market. Mike has a weekly column on Pénélope on Radio-Canada, works part-time at Global Montreal, but for most of the year, you can find him slinging cheese with the other mongers. Critically acclaimed, The Cheese Cure is his first book.

To learn more,