Say Cheese!

Australian Smoked Cheddar
Herbed d'affinois
12/2/07

He Said:

Oh, how I love me some cheeses. Love love love. And last night we had the opportunity to have two cheeses that we had never had before, an Australian Smoked Cheddar (I don't know if it had a proper name, that's just how we ordered it) and an herbed d'affinois. At first blush I liked the Cheddar better, but that was just because I wasn't sure how to pronounce d'affinois (dah-fee-NWAH).

Actually, I really liked this cheddar a lot. It was a hard and very smoky cheese which is really floating my boat lately. You've got some smoky cheese? I'm in! I think that the wine that we had with this cheese, a 1994 Cote Rotie (yeah, I don't know how to pronounce that either) did not help this cheese at all so I eventually stopped drinking the wine until I was done eating. Not a perfect situation but allowed me to enjoy the cheese better.

The herbed d'affinois was VERY herbed. And VERY delicious. This was a much softer cheese and was easily spread on my favorite cracker, Dare Vinta. Mmmm....garlicky and herbish. Fabulous. But not with the wine. So be careful out there.

In summary, I say yes to both cheeses. Yes to the crackers. And no to the wine, which is not really part of this review but gets a little slam anyway. C'est la vie.

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She Said:

Oh, I'm so disgruntled! I did NOT want my first cheese review to include something negative but I have no choice.

At first taste, the Australian smoked Cheddar was really good, and perhaps that's because I had just the barest thin slice. But once I started eating more of it, I found it to be not so much to my liking. I found the cheese to taste sour to me. And I won't be looking for more of it.

However, the herbed d'affinois was superb! It was very tasty and invited seconds and thirds and fourths! I love the herb and garlic combination and the creaminess of this cheese.

I do have to say that neither one of them was a good match for the wine that we were drinking, however. It was a 1994 French Cote Rotie and, while the wine was past its prime, it didn't pair well with the herbs of the d'affinois or the smokiness of the Cheddar and I don't think that was because of the age of the wine. I think both of these cheeses may have been better served with an oaky Chardonnay.