From the gooey to the stinky, Laura Werlin is one of the country’s foremost authorities on cheese. She received the James Beard award for “The All American Cheese and Wine Book,” which was the first in the nation to focus entirely on cheese and wine pairing. Her passion has led Werlin to pen five books on the subject and she’s a regular instructor at The Cheese School of San Francisco, where she shares her extensive knowledge with aspiring cheesemongers.
You are the authority on cheese. What are some basics of pairing wine with cheese?
Pay attention to the texture, not just flavors, of your cheese as well as the texture of your wine. A full-bodied wine will demolish a light cheese and vice-versa. Go for lighter wines with whiter cheeses. Why? Because the whiter the cheese, the more likely it is that it’s young and therefore almost always more mild. Pair big red wines with English-style cheddars, which are sometimes referred to as bandage or cloth-wrapped. It’s a mouthful but a memorable one.
What do you eat when no one is watching?
If I told you, then everyone would effectively be watching, wouldn’t they? Just kidding. I’m a huge fan of Brick cheese spread made by Widmer Cellars in Wisconsin. I never thought I’d eat a cheese spread, but that one changed my mind forever. It doesn’t even need a cracker. A spoon or my finger (you said no one was watching, right?) does the trick just fine.
What are the house red and the house white at your house?
I pretty much open whatever suits my mood and what I’m cooking. Lately I’ve found myself opening the K Vintners Kung Fu Girl Riesling a lot. The price point is beyond reasonable and I like the wine equally on its own as I do with food. For red, it’s hard for me to resist a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir almost no matter who the producer is. I absolutely love that region.
What’s the one cookbook (excluding your own) you use most often at home?
I love Suzanne Goin’s “Sunday Suppers at Lucques.” The recipes are total crowd pleasers, which is pretty much the whole idea behind the book. But what I like as much or more is that most of the recipes showcase ingredients in the best possible ways.
What part of your daily work do you love the most?
The icing on the cake for me in what I do is being able to eat different cheeses every day. I absolutely love that and never, ever tire of it. Though not daily, my very favorite thing after eating cheese is teaching about it. There’s nothing better than seeing a person’s face light up when they’ve tasted a great cheese for the first time. When there’s a perfect wine to go with it? It’s almost sinful to watch.
Who would you ask to cook your last meal and why?
I can think of at least a dozen chefs whose food I’d practically intentionally die for because I love it so much, but the truth is I’d want that meal to be cooked by my sister. She’s an amazing cook, and sappy as it sounds, cooks with more love than anyone else I know.
Photo: Maren Caruso
