Raclette and fondue

Raclette and fondue

Assuming melted Alpine cheese, either scraped over potatoes with pickles and ham or melted with white wine in a pot for dipping bread.

Melted Alpine cheese is rich, salty and nutty, and the whole meal is heavy. The wine must be a dry white with high acidity and low alcohol to cut the cheese and keep the palate fresh. Red wine tannin turns metallic against cheese, and oak or high alcohol makes the meal feel heavier still.

Pairs Perfectly. Riesling, Alsace, France, dry. Lemon, green apple and a mineral streak on high acidity, sharp enough to cut through molten cheese and fresh against the pickles.

Pairs Well. Chasselas from the Valais, Switzerland. Soft, gently nutty and low in alcohol, the wine the Swiss pour with fondue and raclette.

Pairs Well. Pinot Blanc, Alsace, France, dry. Apple and pear with gentle acidity and a round texture, an everyday bottle that sits easily beside cheese.

Worth Seeking Out

Jacquère from Savoie, France. A light, crisp mountain white with citrus and a flinty finish, from the other side of the Alps.

Avoid

Red wines, oaked whites and anything high in alcohol. Tannin turns metallic against melted cheese, and oak and alcohol weigh down a heavy meal.

Failing That

A Grüner Veltliner, Austria, dry.

If All Else Fails

Riesling, Rheingau, dry.

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