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'Wine Spectator' Tackles Cheese

Posted by Jamie Forrest, September 3, 2008 at 9:30 AM

Cheese lovers everywhere should run to their nearest newsstand to pick up a copy of this month's Wine Spectator magazine, whose oversized cover boldly declares what's to be found inside: 100 Great Cheeses.

A wine magazine covering cheese is a dicey proposition, but I have to say they've done it right. The coverage is spread across several articles, which include a background piece about the recent ascendancy of fine cheese in America, an article that presents four suggested cheese plates along with their respective wine pairings, a bunch of tasty-looking recipes, and, as the cover promises, a detailed description of 100 of the greatest cheeses in the world.

All of this great content is interspersed with very thorough introductions to some of the different types of cheese (alpine, washed rind, blue), as well as tons of spectacular photographs of cheese, each one more beautiful than the next.

One problem I have with the article is the glaring lack of ratings. For a magazine that places such a focus on giving a score to a bottle of wine, it is a bit disingenuous to produce a list of 100 great cheeses without offering ratings for them (or even so much as an explanation for the lack of ratings).

The editors do write, however, that, "These are not the 100 best cheese in the world, nor are they the only ones worth seeking out, but they do offer a broad representation of the cornucopia available to American consumers today." At least they are upfront about it, but this seems to me to be a bit of a cop-out.

I'm not a ratings junkie, mind you, even in the world of wine. Just because someone thinks a certain bottle is an 88 out of 100 doesn't mean I'll like it. But if the magazine is one that approaches wine this way, why not approach other foods or beverages the same way? I think Americans have enough knowledge of cheese by now that they're ready for a system of cheese ratings. If it's good enough for wine it's good enough for cheese.

That said, this is a great set of articles, rivaling some of the introductory cheese books that sell for almost ten times the price. And the wine & cheese pairings in particular are fantastic; they feature detailed tasting notes accompanied by some seriously mouth-watering photographs. Sauternes with Red Hawk, Roquefort, Winnemere and Valdeón? Where do I sign?

About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.

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Tags: cheese, magazines, Wine Spectator