Fruit, Cheese and Wine
The season for comic pears is short. If you can find these pears at the grocery store – buy them.They are wonderful – sweet and very juicy! They bruise easily though, so be careful when you’re handling them. Choose fruit that is still firm and after a few days they will be perfect for eating. Mmmm.

Sliced Comice, Stilton Cheese & Ruby Port
Comice is a heavenly sweet pear that is custard-like in texture when ripe. It’s an especially good dessert pear with full-bodied flavor.

Stilton is a very strong blue cheese with a salty, slightly chalky or grainy texture. This cheese will contrast nicely with the sweet and strong Comice pear flavor.

Ruby Port is a rich wine with ripe berry flavors that partner wonderfully with the sweeter pear. The Port’s rich body contrasts with the strong forward texture of the blue cheese.

We recommend:
Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Port
Deep garnet color. Aromas of ripe plums and cherries with a hint of chocolate. Flavors of ripe berries and cocoa with a hint of tobacco and earth. complex, good structure and a long, smooth finish. This wine is always a crowd pleaser – even with those who think port is too sweet. $20 from wine.com.

Comice, Roquefort Cheese & Sauternes
Comice pears are smooth and sweet with full flavors.  Roquefort cheese is sharp, rich, musty and has a mellow finish. The wine is bold and tannic with a rich body and smooth finish.

We recommend:
2007 Petit-Vedrines, Sauternes
Straw color. Aromas of pear, honey, stone fruit and a hint of citrus. Flavors of burnt sugar, marmalade and lemon with slight hint of spice. Full fruit finish.

Second label from Doisy-Vedrines. Its first label wine got 94-96 points from Robert Parker for the 2007. This is a great value! Previously $25 at K & L, now $20.

Serving suggestions from pearsusa.com

Wine & Chocolate
Wine and chocolate pairing has become popular – especially for Valentine’s Day. Many wineries will serve truffles from local chocolatiers that seem to match up perfectly with their port or late-harvest zinfandel or merlot. Restaurants and wine bars across the country have begun special wine and chocolate tastings. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have an upscale wine and chocolate experience.

Here in San Diego, the Hotel Del has an Eno wine bar – an upscale wine tasting room that offers affordable wine flights, as well as wines by the glass. They also have a ‘cheese and chocolate sensations’ menu. A great way to sample artisan cheeses and gourmet truffles from local chocolatiers to go with the wine.

For those of us want to have the ‘wine and chocolate experience’ at home, make a night of it with different truffles and a couple of different wines to taste.

If you don’t have a chocolatier nearby, you can order truffles online. Belgian chocolate is at the top of my list of favorites. Years ago I was in Belgium and bought my mom a pound of chocolates. Alas, she didn’t have the opportunity to taste them. I ate them all on the flight home.

With the internet, you don’t have to go to Belgium to enjoy their chocolates. You can order them online. Leonidas Belgian Chocolates are great, not only for special occasions but for wine pairings as well.

A few guidelines for your own pairings:
Wine should generally be as sweet or sweeter than the dessert.

Match elements in the wine and the chocolate, such as nuttiness or fruitiness.

Match lighter flavored chocolates with lighter-bodied wines and stronger flavored chocolates with more full-bodied the wines. For example, a bittersweet chocolate pairs well with an intense California zinfandel.

As in any tasting, if you’re trying several varieties of chocolate, work from light to dark. Start with white chocolate and end with dark or bittersweet chocolate.

Pairing Suggestions:
White Chocolate
White chocolate is buttery in flavor, and has no tannins from chocolate. This makes a good pairing with Sherry, a Moscato d’Asti, or an Orange Muscat. The Sherry and Moscato d’Asti will pick up the creaminess of the chocolates and the Orange Muscat will pick up any fruit tones present.

Milk Chocolate
A wine with low tannins, such as a Pinot Noir or a light-bodied Merlot will complement milk chocolate, a creamy chocolate mousse or chocolate accented cheesecake. Muscats or dessert wines usually work well with milk chocolates.

Dark Chocolate
Because of the high tannins in dark or bittersweet chocolates, ports, zinfandels, and some cabernet sauvignons are a good match for the darker chocolates. I find the higher the cocoa content, the more difficult it is to match the chocolate with wine – even a good port. Anything over 65% cocoa will be too bitter.

Valentines Day is a great excuse to buy some decadent chocolates, a few bottles of wine, and an evening to find your own favorite pairings.

Chocolate, Cheese and Wine
Okay, so you think it sounds weird, but it’s a great combination. We already know that wine and cheese are wonderful together. Chocolate and dessert wines are great together. What could be better than all three at the same time?

If you have a Port or a nice Sherry that you enjoy sipping, try it with a bitter-sweet dark chocolate. Then add a piece of salty Stilton blue cheese or Chèvre (goat) and your taste buds will go wild.

The Chocolate
Gourmet chocolate bars will cost more than a Hershey’s. Expect to pay anywhere from $2 – $5 per bar. Because the darker chocolate is dry and less sweet, you won’t be scarfing it down and a little goes a long way.
Suggestion:
Valrhona 71% Cacao Dark Bittersweet Chocolate
Find it at Cost Plus or Trader Joe’s.

The Cheese
Two suggesions:
- Point Reyes blue cheese
- Humboldt Fog
Soft, creamy ripened goat’s milk cheese. Has a mild tangy flavor. This cheese goes with so many different foods. If you didn’t like it with chocolate and sherry, you can enjoy it with pears or spinach drizzled with balsamic vinegar or a little honey, paired with a nice Sancerre or Chenin blanc. Mmm, mmm.
Find it at a cheese shop or Whole Foods. Not cheap, but you don’t need a lot. $20 per lb.

The Wine
2006 Banyuls Rimage Les Clos de Paulilles
Rimage is a Catalan word which means vintage. Therefore a rimage Banyuls is a fortified wine in which all grapes come from a certain vintage, much like a Colheita or vintage Port. Made of 100% black grenache, this Banyuls exhibits a dark black-purple robe, with intense blackberry jam and succulent rich flavors. This is France’s answer to Port, and the absolute best wine to pair with chocolate! $18 at K & L.

Other pairing suggestions:
- Gorgonzola with shaved bitter-sweet chocolate and marmalade
- Blue Cheese with dark chocolate truffles

Dessert Wine
For a little moment of luxury, there’s nothing better after dinner then a little glass of port with dessert or all by itself. You don’t have to spend a small fortune for one of life’s little pleasures.

Two favorites:

Taylor Fladgate 10 Year-old Tawny
From Portugal. An exceptionally fine old tawny blend, aged for 10 years in oak casks. Elegant and smooth, combining delicate wood notes and rich mellow fruit, it is bottled for immediate drinking. A superb dessert wine best served at the end of the meal in the same way as Vintage Port.
Serve with chocolate truffles or Stilton blue cheese & unsalted almonds. At Costco $27

EOS Zinfandel Port 2006
From Paso Robles. Intense aromas of prunes, molasses, roasted walnuts and maple syrup fill the nose. Nutty characters glide across the palate with essence of plums and espresso. Spiciness of dry earth, cedar, and cinnamon linger on the palate for an extended finish. serve with chocolates cake or sip it by itself by the fireplace. Will age nicely for 15 years. Excellent wine for this price point. Costco $20

Blue cheese is a general classification of cow’s milk, sheep’s milk, or goat’s milk cheeses that have had Penicillium cultures added – producing the blue, blue-gray or blue-green veins or spots of mold in the cheese. The 3 classic blue cheeses are Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Stilton. The saltiness of the cheese is perfectly balanced with the sweetness of fortified wines such as Sauterne, Port and Sherry.

Roquefort – from the south of France and is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune, Manech and Basco-Béarnaise breeds of sheep. Fabulous with a great Sauterne.

Gorgonzola – an Italian blue cheese from the regions of Piedmont and Lombardy made from whole cow’s milk.
Serve with sliced pears and prosciutto and enjoy with a glass of good Italian vin santo.

Stilton – made from cow’s milk, is produced in England according to a strict code. There are only 8 dairies licensed to make Stilton at this time. Tawny Port is a perfect match.

Serving ideas

Crostini with Stilton & fig preserves
Slice baguette into 1/2 to 1 inch slices. Brush with olive oil and lightly toast. Top each with  fig preserves, a pear slice or caramelized onions. Top with a slice of gorgonzola and put in 400  degree oven until cheese is melted – about 3 minutes.

Serve with a glass of Tawney Port.

Pecan Halves Stuffed with Roquefort and Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
20 large pecan
Cream cheese – 1/2 pkg.
Roquefort cheese equal to cream cheese
Mayonnaise – just enough to blend the cheeses
Dash cayenne pepper
Directions:
In large bowl, beat softened cream cheese, Roquefort cheese, and a little mayonnaise until creamy
Mix in dash of cayenne
Take two halves and stuff with filling (like a sandwich)
Refrigerate until ready to serve
Serve with a glasss of French Sauterne.