Cheese wines at their best, the wines of Yves Cuilleron

While all wines of quality and balance can be paired with cheese, some wines are more versatile in this respect and the pairings, thusly, are spectacular. We at 109 Wine particularly enjoy the wines of Yves Cuilleron, an immensely skilled winemaker who traces his roots in the area back nearly 100 years to 1920; Yves himself has been steering the domaine since 1987. His whites from the northern Rhone are utterly stunning: delicate, highly perfumed, with excellent mineral and floral components. Some of our favorites include: 

Saint-Peray 2015 – a very floral wine, with lots of lilac, cherry blossom, and jazmine; a blend of Roussanne and Marsanne done in both steel and barrel and aged for 9 months, this wine works great with Alpine-style cheese like Hornbacher, Alpha Tolman or Schweizer Gold. 

Viognier 2016- one of my very favorite varietals, viognier reminds me of a rainy spring morning, damp white flowers and just a hint of honey and peach. This wine is soft, elegant, and maintains great acidity due to the steep incline of the hills and the granitic soils the vines grow out of. I put this with slightler softer cheeses, like Grand-Mere or Truf Tres Lattes. 

Roussanne 2016 – The leanest of the wines featured, this wine is essentially pure flowers and minerals – complex, elegant, just soft enough to work with delicate cheeses, just racy enough to hold up to bolder, aged cheeses like Gruyére, Comté, and even Emmanthaler.