Cheese review and wine pairing: Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

(Last Updated On: 06/22/2010)

This is the first of many cheese and wine pairings brought to you by Raymond Hook, a nationally-recognized restaurant cheese consultant living in New York City. With one wine review each week, we’ll provide an impressive match up.

Raymond has paired up Vermont’s Cabot Clothbound Cheddar with Domaine Le Garrigon Côte du Rhône, a fantastic cask wine that’s housed in a wooden box. This is not your average taste-like-wax cheddar cheese folks.

Hmm…what cheese would pair with wine in a wooden box? Well why not cheese that comes in a wooden box (whose flavors complement each other as well)? The Cabot Clothbound Cheddar from Cabot Creamery in Vermont. Aged at the nearby Cellars at Jasper Hill for almost a year, this is a wonderful example of classic English Farmhouse cheddar. It comes in large-format wheels, weighs about 35 pounds, is linen-wrapped and encased in lard. Cave aging gives it subtle flavors, including a bit of mushroomy-ness, forest floor, wet leaves and a nutty earthiness. It’s not too sharp to overpower the wine, but rich enough to complement the fruitiness. The moderate tannins of Domaine Le Garrigon’s Côte du Rhône and the lush, creamy mouthfeel of the cheese leave you wanting more, and more, and more.

This cheese is available at Whole Foods Markets across the nation.

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