Wine & spirits: Matching wine and cheese

Gorgonzola, an ultracreamy blue cheese, is too opulent for a regular sweet wine but marries well with a sweet bubbly such as Italian Asti or Canadian sparkling icewine. Cooler weather calls for cheese fondue. Swiss cooks mix several cheeses in secret proportions. I like to blend half Gruyère, and then equal amounts of Emmenthal, Appenzeller and Vacherin. The flavour of my fondue needs a wine with good acidity and a strong mineral taste. The Swiss would serve Fendant, their national grape, but I like an Austrian Grüner Veltliner as much.

Much loved is Beaujolais with a spreadable-but-crumbly goat's milk cheese. Beaujolais is made from the red-fleshed Gamay grape, which has adapted well in the Niagara region, so serve well-priced examples from the province with Snow Goat or other tasty brands. An alternative to try with goat's, sheep's or ewe's milk cheese is Baronnes Sancerre from France's Loire district or a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

An aromatic Gewürztraminer, with its spicy, honeyed, lychee aromas and rich broiled grapefruit taste, is perfection with a round of Muenster. The best of both wine and cheese hail from France's Alsace region, but they're hard to find. Look for a good Canadian Gewürztraminer from the Mount Boucherie winery in British Columbia.

Wine and cheese matches you'll love

STILTON & 10-Year-Old Tawny Port, W&J Graham (Portugal), $28

ROQUEFORT & Sparkling Riesling Icewine VQA, Pillitteri Winery (Ontario), $70

GOAT'S MILK CHEESE & Beaujolais-Villages, Mommessin (France), $13, or Gamay VQA, Henry of Pelham (Ontario), $14

GORGONZOLA & Asti, Martini & Rossi (Italy), $12

MUENSTER & Gewürztraminer, Dopff & Irion (France), $16, or Gewürztraminer,
Mount Boucherie (British Columbia), $14

CHEDDAR (MEDIUM/OLD) & Mission Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, Mission Hill (British Columbia), $21

GOAT'S, SHEEP'S OR EWE'S MILK CHEESE & Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Delegat's (New Zealand), $18, or Baronnes Sancerre, Henri Bourgeois & Fils (France), $24

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