Don't do cheese and wine

2006-01-19 09:30

Paris - If you are organising a wine-and-cheese party, don't waste your money on a fabulous wine: Chateau Rotgut is as good as Cheval Blanc.

So say scientists, who have found that anyone who eats cheese will then find it impossible to distinguish the subtle tastes which are the hallmarks of a quality wine.

University of California at Davis researchers asked trained wine tasters to try four different varieties of wine, noting each for their flavours and aromas.

The same assessment was carried out again after the tasters nibbled eight different cheeses.

"They found that cheese suppressed just about everything, including berry and oak flavours, sourness and astringency," the British weekly New Scientist reports in next Saturday's issue.

"Strong cheese suppressed flavours more than milder cheeses, but flavours of all wines were suppressed. In other words, there are no magical wine and cheese pairings."

Fat could be to blame

Fat from the cheese may be to blame because it could coat the mouth and tongue, deadening a good's wine subtle bouquet.

Alternatively, certain proteins in the cheese may bind to certain molecules in the wine, preventing these molecules from activating taste buds, the scientists speculate.

Only butter aroma in a wine was enhanced by cheese, and probably because cheese itself contains the same molecule responsible for a buttery wine savour.

The research, carried out by Bernice Madrigal-Galan and Hildegarde Heymann, is published online in the March issue of the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture.

- AFP