Taleggio and Grappa

A man who knows about these things suggested to me that Taleggio ought to go well with Grappa. By a handy coincidence, I happened to have both these items to hand.

Now, Taleggio, (which I believe must be the Italian word for Athlete's Foot), is a washed rind cheese made in the region of Milan, and as is typical of such cheeses, the aroma is pretty powerful, sharp, and sweaty, while the taste is mild, very creamy, and nutty. With this particular sample I also noticed a wee fresh green note in the nose, celery or cucumber.

The Grappa, Brotto Grappa di Moscato d'Asti nelle Dolci Colline Astigiane, is made from grapes from hills rather to the West of Milan, but Brotto are based over to the East, in the Veneto. It's a lovely sweet Grappa, not aged, and thus perfectly clear and full of a fine blend of grapey perfume (from the Moscato), quintessence of bitter cloves, a new make spirit character (solvents, nail polish), and a generous dose of what I take to be tannins, from the grape skins and pips, finishing with a touch of camphor. An excellent 4.

Taken together, the sharpness of the cheese's aroma is balanced by the solvent character in the Grappa, and in turn the Grappa is softened by the cheese, so the combined taste is fantastic. But texturally they don't meet at all, remaining completely separate in the mouth. So for flavour, Grappa and Taleggio do very well, but texture lets them down: fairly good, 3+.

Cut Stick Sherry

Palo Cortado is a bit of a rarity in sherry. Generally, once the solera master has set each wine on its course, towards fino or oloroso, that's it.

But occasionally a fino will up and change in some mysterious fashion. The layer of flor which keeps oxygen out and allows the fino to retain all of its initial fresh delicacy dies, and the wine begins to age oxidatively, like an oloroso. If all goes well, you end up with a wine which shows aspects of both fino and oloroso character.

I am happy to report that all has gone well, and the Lustau Dry Old Palo Cortado NV (Marks & Spencer) offers flavours and aromas across the dry sherry spectrum.

It has the intense pungency of a fresh fino - the aldehydic note, not the apples - but at the same time, and in a tidy fashion, the contrasting aromas not fighting each other, it also smells very nutty, with even a little dried fruit character.

Absolutely dry, and light in body, with a clear nutty character giving way to a strong mushroom streak, and finishing slightly salty. And there's a definite edge of aldehyde, too.

The wine really didn't agree with a piece of rocquefort, but nut cake (from Delizique, I think) was a beautiful match. An excellent wine, 4+.