This Bizarre & Unexpected Way To Combine Wine & Cheese Gives Drunk A New Meaning
Alcohol isn't the answer to everything, but it is the answer to the question of how cheese can be even more decadent. Across the larger cheesemaking cultures — American, French, and Italian — Italians are known for their willingness to experiment with their aged dairy products. Thanks to an ingenious scheme during World War I, this tradition includes cheese soaked in alcohol.
The formaggio ubriaco, or l'ubriaco as it's called in Italian, is multitasking at its finest, combining wine and cheese for a stunning collaboration. The name literally translates to "drunken cheese." What began as a marriage of convenience — this drunken meet-cute — was a response to fears of Austro-Hungarian soldiers raiding the food supplies of Italian villages.
In the town of Treviso, residents stashed their cheese in and under wine vats and barrels containing the grape remnants from the winemaking process, known as pomace. Once the cheese coast was clear of hungry soldiers, townsfolk were pleasantly surprised to find that, while immersed in the vats of pomace, the cheese had developed a dark purple rind, with a resulting flavor that combined the richness of the wine with the earthiness of the cheese.
Types of drunken cheeses and wine pairing options
Since the creation of l'ubriaco, many cheesemakers have experimented with the types of cheese and wine used. These variables influence the length of time the cheese spends getting drunk — caciocavallo ubriaco spends up to 30 days soaking in the wine, though the duration varies case by case. The cheese needs to be aged long enough to develop its initial rind, but not so long that it won't absorb the flavors.
Caciocavallo is steeped in the pomace of local primitivo grapes, giving the cheese a deep burgundy color. Other ubriacos, like Basajo, feature blue cheese made from raw sheep's milk that is soaked in sweet passito pomace, imparting notes of honeysuckle and a heady sweetness to balance the usually pungent flavors of blue cheese.
In Italian four-course dining, the cheese course serves as a palate cleanser between the secondi (main course) and the dolci (dessert course), if not as the dessert itself. You know the saying: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." You can create your own drunken cheese course by enjoying l'ubriaco along with a glass of port. It's cheese, it's drunk, it's dessert — all in one. If you're new to port, this is a fantastic way to experience wine pairing, whether as part of the formaggio course at dinner or alongside a charcuterie board at home. This fabulous style of cheese is best sourced from specialty cheese shops, as large-format grocery stores are less likely to carry such a niche product.