The winemaker Virgílio Loureiro made a tasting of the Vale da Estrela Mature PDO cheese with Dão wine and published it in his Facebook page,  which read as follows:

Today I was surprised, at home, by a Serra da Estrela Mature PDO Cheese.

Needless to say, I was ready to test it right away, as I had already been surprised, a few months ago, by its younger brother – the Serra da Estrela PDO – of exceptional quality.

The bar was, therefore, very high, and I was careful to ensure that the test was the most adequate.

As I still had half a bottle of the old white from Dão that I had opened yesterday, I thought it was appropriate to keep the cheese company.

And I’ll explain why, given that at this time there will already be people smiling with the choice, because in the cheese and wine region it has to be red, especially when the cheese is strong and spicy like the “old”.

I think that to accompany the mature cheese, characterized by strong flavors, where the salt and the spicy stand out from the set, a white wine should be served, whose very mild flavors are not reinforced by the cheese’s salt (a flavor enhancer).

If it were a red wine – with stronger flavors and lots of tannins – it would leave a bitter taste in the mouth, such is the intensification of flavors that the salt in the cheese would cause in the taste of the wine. The astringency of the tannins would also collide with the proteins of the cheese causing an unpleasant sensation in the mouth (let’s not forget that to treat skin proteins, tannins are used in large quantities, in a reaction similar to that of cheese with wine red in our mouth).

I would choose an old white for obvious reasons. For an matured cheese, with a complex flavor, nothing better than an old wine with equally complex flavors.

The dialogue that both have in our mouths is surprising and deserves our best attention, so that we can realize the perfect harmony that exists between them.

I would choose a wine from the Dão, also for obvious reasons, as a region that produces two masterpieces of Portuguese gastronomy and culture, which on top of that perfectly complement each other, doesn’t need anyone’s help.

Faced with such justifications, I would make this feast for the senses at the end of the afternoon or at dinner, before a conventual sweet.

If you wanted to serve cheese as your only dessert, then you would have to opt for a 20-year-old or older tawny port, so you can dream when you go to bed.

FINAL NOTE

I recognize that when the cheese is good and the company is great, even red wine can go well, but in this case we should not pay too much attention to the dialogue between cheese and wine in the mouth, which should be exchanged for lively conversation between friends, as they usually do in my country, so that the bitter mouth is not noticed!