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Nigel Legg enjoys a night of wine and cheese tasting at Goldbrick House in Bristol

Last Wednesday evening I trickled along to Goldbrick House for a Cheese and Wine tasting. Goldbrick is a place I don’t often frequent, but tonight was a special occasion; a cheese and wine pairing evening, organised by Great Western Wines and Trethowan’s Dairy.

On arrival I was directed through the restaurant and up some stairs into the loft. This is one of the great things about Goldbrick – it is a large building, with many rooms that can accommodate functions like this.

Long tables had been laid out, and each place was set ready. We took our seats, and it rapidly became apparent that while I was there primarily for the cheese, those around me were regular attendees of the popular Goldbrick Wine club. Together we were presented with six cheeses and six wines. A lot to get through!

The first pairing was Todd Trethowan’s own Gorwydd Caerphilly, a soft cheese, which was breaking down from proteolysis and coming to ripeness. From the rind in, this had a good range of flavour and a sweet and salty after taste. With this we had Roero Arneis 2007, from Negro Angelo e Figli, in Piemonte, Italy. This white wine was dry to start but fruity after, with a slight acidity. Made the same way as Chablis, it could be considered a fruitier version of the French wine, and made a fine complement to the cheese.

The second cheese was Charlie Westhead’s Ragstone, a rolled, soft, rich goat’s cheese, creamy and slightly peppery. This is matured using the Geotrichum mould on the surface, which leads to the variable appearance of the surface, but a richer flavour from the proteolysis. While explaining this, both Todd and Alex became very animated and excited about the importance of the integrity of the cheesemaker in producing good products; their enthusiasm for their product shows through every time I meet them. With this we had Carrasviñas Verdejo 2008 (Rueda, Spain), a softer wine than the first, it has a fruity smell but is a fairly dry, slightly acid wine.

On to the third cheese; the only artisanal, traditional cloth-wrapped Red Leicester, Sparkenhoe is a rich, slightly acid tasting cheese, a million miles from the similarly coloured stuff sold as Red Leicester in supermarkets. Started in 2005, the Sparkenhoe dairy use Annato, the traditional natural dye, to give the cheese its distinctive colour. This was paired with the Unravelled Pinot Noir 2008 from the Carrick Winery (New Zealand). This rich, solid wine is younger and less complicated than the standard for this winery, hence the name, though I’m not sure it stood up to the richness of the cheese.

As we got onto the fourth cheese, Keen’s Cheddar from Wincanton, Todd and Alex talked about the importance of treating the milk correctly, and not pasteurising it, as the bacteria in the milk give the cheese its depth and length of flavour. This hard cheese has a rich, grassy flavour and a lovely creamy texture, which went well with the Argentinian 2006 Corte C Malbec Merlot, a rich flavourful wine that held its own against the cheese.

Stichelton is a mainstay of the Trethowan’s dairy shop. This is a Stilton made from unpasteurised milk, and so prevented from using the name stilton. Its subtle blueing produces a well balanced creamy taste and soft texture, which was balanced here by the sweetness of the Jurancon Cuvee Privilege 2007 (Domaine Castera, France) which accompanied it.

Trethowan’s like to give you something hot to round off a tasting, and this evening was no exception. We were served with “brains in a box” – Mont d’Or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, a cow’s milk cheese from the Jura, which had been baked. As you broke the crusted skin, your spoon went into this rich soft buttery goodness. On dark bread, and accompanied by a 2007 Chardonnay from the Bogle Vineyards in California, this made a perfect end to the evening.

All the cheeses are available from Trethowan’s Dairy, currently running a shop in Harvey Nicks (Cabot Circus), as well as their regular stall in St Nicholas Market. The wines are available from Great Western Wines in Bath.

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