We climbed down into her cellar, which smelled like a locker room and was crammed with cheeses of every description. Afterward, we repaired to a secluded table in the caf next door, where she chatted volubly as we sipped cups of strong espresso and smoked black-tobacco Gitanes. We started by discussing the often-perplexing question of what to drink with cheese. Observing that the majority of cheeses tend to be fatty, Cantin submits that they usually overpower subtle red wines, and she shares the growing view that they harmonize better with acidic whites. Hence it is alien to the great wine regions like Bordeaux and Burgundy.
Sommeliers maintain that age is crucial as well.
A mellow Reblochon might be served with a robust Rh ne or Brouilly, while a young P nt l'Eveque nicely complements a flinty Chablis or Sancerre, and a sweet Muscat or Sauternes combines pleasantly with a pungent Roquefort. Normans commonly marry Brie, Camembert and Livarot with fermented cider or high-octane Calvados. Cheese talk with the French frequently drifts onto a thorny subject that irritates them as much as their belief that English is corrupting their language or that American movies contaminate their culture. Stringent U.S. health codes prohibit the importation of cheeses that are derived from raw milk and mature in under two months, on the supposition that the pathogens they may contain could cause chronic diarrhea, endanger pregnant women or increase the risk of contracting listeriosis, a fatal disease, which includes symptoms of fever and paralysis. Besides, if we scrutinized every food we touched, we would starve.