Fresh from his hosting duties of last weeks’ St-Rémy Brandy & Cheese virtual event, host extraordinaire and cheese aficionado Dan Belmont has shared some thoughts on the gastronomic pairing of brandy & cheese… find him at @dbcheesenyc and thanks to Dan for the great photos, too!
This event marks the one year anniversary since the launch of the St-Rémy Brandy and Cheese campaign, a global partnership with world-renowned cheesemonger and affineur Rodolphe Le Meunier. They orginally created six unique brandy and cheese pairings, using St-Rémy XO and VSOP, with the desire to export French savior-faire across the world through a partnership that celebrates true French gastronomy.
I was truly honoured to be asked to build on these pairings and put my own spin on this already established campaign. Working with Mons Cheesemongers in the UK, we put together three pairings that complement the flavour profile of St-Rémy XO.
Pairing one: Mistralou
A goats’ milk cheese from Provence in France. This cheese is unique in the fact it comes wrapped in a chestnut leaf – imparting a woody, earthy flavour to the cheese. This was actually my favourite pairing of the three. Texturally, the brandy broke down the cheese really well and loved how the cheese played with the spice notes in the brandy.
Pairing two: Sparkenhoe Red Leicester
The higher level of salt in the Red Leicester does a wonderful job of bringing out the orchard fruit flavours in the brandy – baked apple, baked plums, spiced plums. Another favourite of mine!
Pairing three: 1924
Now, this pairing was actually the favourite of most of the journalists and influencers in attendance – so it must be pretty good! Blue cheese is one of the most diverse categories of cheese, there’s a blue cheese out there for everybody. This particular cheese is packed with salt and spice and really exploded in flavour when paired with the St-Rémy XO.
Have you tried St-Rémy Brandy & Cheese yet? Why not build on the pairings of Rodolphe Le Meunier and find a local cheesemonger to provide a twist on a cheddar, blue and fresh goats cheese.
Thanks again to the St-Rémy team for having me on board, and to the guests for being so receptive and interactive. A great call and I had a tonne of fun!
