Maison Canard-Duchêne delivers its vision of pairing, original and gourmet. A partnership between the Androuët cheese factories and the 2012 V vintage.
A new culinary cult, the cheese-champagne combination is not, however, a discovery.
In the collective memory, cheese pairing has always been done mainly with red wines, even though white wine and champagne in particular reveal memorable flavors in the mouth.
What then can we say about a vintage champagne?
It is the V 2012 from Maison Canard-Duchêne which was chosen to take up this taste challenge.
A meeting between enthusiasts
From a cheesemaker's point of view, it was essential that the products lived up to the challenge, coming from producers recognized for their know-how and respect for animals. To achieve these tailor-made agreements, Maison Androuët proved to be the ideal partner for this taste collaboration. The meeting between these two enthusiasts, the Master Cheesemaker of Androuët and Laurent Fédou, the Cellar Master, was astonishing, disruptive and ultimately absolutely simple. The language and the appetite for "good" were the same while the flavors continued to respond to each other: sometimes the cheese exalts the V 2012 vintage, sometimes the wine pays tribute to the culinary richness of our French terroirs.
Among the very wide choice of cheeses from Maison Androuët, five provided the perfect pairing, in the order of tasting: Brillat-Savarin, Brie de Melun, Brebis du Lochoix, Persillé de Tignes and Mont Vully.
The first agreement Le Brillat Sabarin
Named by Henri Androuët, Brillat-Savarin is a triple cream cheese. It is the pleasure cheese, the ultimate refuge cheese, like a "Proust madeleine".
On the palate, notes of soft fresh butter accompany and coat the 2012 V vintage, without the taste of one or the other ever taking over.
The second agreement Brie de Melun
The Suzerain house produces a brie with a soft paste and a bloomy rind, giving more concentrated notes of mushroom, undergrowth and cellar aromas.
In association with the 2012 V vintage, the slightly acidic cream and the very fine salinity brought by the rind cause a great length in the mouth with a slightly herbaceous finish.
The third agreement The Sheep of Lochois by Jeanne Galinet
20 days of maturing were necessary to produce this sheep's milk cheese, which is rather round in the mouth. Its slightly buttery side brings a lot of finesse to the tasting.
We cannot speak of an explosion of flavors, but on the contrary of a sensation of something very controlled, which goes perfectly with the V 2012 vintage. This cheese goes perfectly with champagne.
The fourth agreement Mont Vully
Named after a volcano located at an altitude of 800 m in Switzerland, with limestone soil planted with pinots in the canton of Fribourg, there is no wine production in the region.
It is a pressed cheese, made from raw milk, rubbed with Pinot marc, with an extremely thin rind; in the mouth it reveals a quite remarkable “grape must” side as well as notes of hazelnuts and nuts.
With its very aromatic side, it gives the cheese/champagne combination a great deal of finesse.
The fifth agreement The Persillé of Tignes
Change of texture: here is a very rare cheese, made from goat's milk and made in Savoie. It is a tomme made from crushed curds (like Cantal), quite young.
This change in texture adds a lot to the tasting of the V2012 vintage: it helps to "wash the mouth", makes the taster salivate and allows them to start a new tasting.
