iPhone App Review: What the Cheese?

I love finding great apps for the iPhone, particularly apps that have to do with wine and food. Even more specifically, I love apps that are all about wine and cheese – two of my favorite things in the world. Golden Age Cheese, a cheese factory located in upstate New York, created an app called What the Cheese? that pairs over 400 cheeses with nearly 150 varietals or types of white and red wine. From Gruner Veltliners and Champagne to Barberas and Pinot Noirs, this app lists the cheese, or cheeses, that would pair best with each wine listed.

Super user friendly, I first used the app to discover which cheeses would pair best with the King Estate Signature Pinot Gris I had chilling in my fridge. I simply clicked on Wine Pairing Guru which brought me to a screen with three selections: White Wine, Red Wine and Beer. I was instantly elated to see the beer pairings bonus – beer pairs incredibly well with cheese. I clicked on White Wine which brought me to an extensive list of over 50 varietals of white wines.

Listed from A to Z, finding Pinot Gris was a snap (there’s also an option to search). I clicked on Pinot Gris which brought me to six different cheeses that would pair well with this crisp, refreshing white wine: Asiago, Crottin de Chavignol, Dutch Mimolette, Ricotta, Saint-Marcellin and Saint-Nectaire.

After reading through the descriptions of each of the suggested cheese pairings, the Saint-Nectare had caught my attention. A semi-soft cow’s milk cheese from France with earthy pastoral aromas sounded like it would be a perfect match for the King Estate Pinot Gris, so I headed to a local market known for having an excellent selection of cheeses, and there it was. Indeed, the Wine Pairing Guru was absolutely correct – the Saint-Nectaire was an excellent match with the King Estate Pinot Gris.

After a successful pairing from the Wine Pairing Guru, I soon discovered this app is far more than a simple wine and cheese pairing go-to. Options on the main menu include Cheese Directory, Cheesy Recipes, including a featured recipe with video, Wine Pairing Guru, Cheesy FAQs and Cheesy Savings. The super expansive Cheese Directory has cheeses from around the world listed from A to Z. Clicking on any of the suggested cheese pairings pulls up detailed information on the cheese; including, country of origin, description, a photo and a wine and beer pairing.

Clicking on the Cheesy Recipes tab brings up another simple to use, A to Z directory of cheesy recipes like Bacon Cheddar Puffs, Baked Macaroni and Cheese and Classic Cheese Fondue – just three of the over 100 recipes included in the app. The CheesyFAQs tab answers some basic cheese questions along with including fun facts about cheese like whether or not cheese can be frozen and what cheeses are good for those with high blood pressure. Under Cheesy Savings, there’s a $100 wine credit from Naked Wines, and specials on cheeses from Golden Age Cheese, which if you haven’t had their cheese yet, you will want to give them a try. Their cheese curds and cheeses are positively ambrosial.

The What the Cheese? iPhone app comes highly recommended. I paid $1.99 for the download, which is well worth the price. They have a scaled down free version as well, just search What the Cheese or Golden Age Cheese in the iPhone’s app store and enjoy!