Pairing wine and cheese: 6 ways to do it better

Ask most people what the best wine is with cheese and most would choose a full-bodied red. But is it really the best pairing? It depends on the wine, it depends on the cheese and it depends on you. If you LOVE red wine with cheese nothing is going to put you off the experience.

If however you’d like to up your game when it comes to wine and cheese matching here are some top tips (based on YEARS of wine drinking and cheese scoffing!)

Decide which is the hero, the cheese or the wine

Artisan handmade cheeses are harder to pair with wine than mass produced supermarket cheeses. Why? Because they tend to be matured longer and have a more pronounced texture and flavour. If you really enjoy your cheese at the point at which it’s running off the cheese board don’t pair it with your most precious wine.

If you have a special bottle pick a cheese to match

The more cheeses you have the more unlikely it is one wine will go with them all. If you’re putting together a cheeseboard to show off an expensive wine avoid strong blues and powerful, pongy washed rind cheeses. Cutting the rind off the cheese on your plate also helps to avoid bitter notes that can jar with a fine red.

Other ingredients can help

The bread or crackers you choose, the kind of fruit - fresh or dried - nuts, olives, and cold meats can all help a wine pairing along. Think of the classic match of manchego and membrillo (quince paste) or a a crumbly walnut bread with blue cheese. Introducing another ingredient can build a bridge to the wine you’re drinking and make it taste more delicious. (Brie, fresh cherries and Beaujolais which has cherry notes of its own is another example.)

White wine often goes better with cheese than red

Surprised? Well think of the fruits that go with cheese - apples and pears being the obvious example. Their fresh flavours are reflected in white wines rather than red.

Classic white wine matches are goats cheese and sauvignon blanc and comté with the local crisp whites of the Jura region (alpine cheeses generally go better with white wines than red). And next time you’re eating cheddar try a glass of oaky chardonnay. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Respect tried and tested matches but don’t be afraid to take them a step further

Analyze what makes them work. Stillton and port for example is a demonstration of the fact that sweet red wines go with blue cheese. So why not an amarone or Valpolicella ripasso red with gorgonzola? Or sweet white wines with a blue (just as Sauternes goes with Roquefort)

Decide when you’re going to serve the cheese - French-style after the main course or after dessert

If it’s the former, tailor your cheeseboard to the wine you’re drinking with the main course. That’s quite likely to be red so concentrate on harder cheeses. If it’s the latter choose cheeses that pair well with sweet wines (so blues rather than a delicate goats cheese, for example). If you’re buying from an independent cheese shop let them know what else you’re planning for the menu and, if possible, get a taste.

For many more tips and some sensational cheese pairings why don’t you download my ebook 101 Great Ways to Enjoy Cheese & Wine.

Image © Belokoni Dmitri at fotolia.com

What type of wine goes with blue cheese?

There are two wine pairings for blue cheese that are so famous that you may not think beyond them: port and stilton and roquefort and Sauternes. But does that mean that you have to drink sweet wine with blue cheese?

It’s true that wines with a touch of sweetness work well. The veining in blue cheeses has a touch of bitterness that can be deliciously offset by a dessert or fortified wine but there are other occasions on which you eat blue cheese in a savoury dish or with other ingredients when a drier white or a red wine would work better.

For example a blue cheese and fresh fig salad is delicious with a smooth Italian white wine like a Gavi di Gavi, a wine which would also work with pasta or gnocchi with a blue cheese sauce where the cheese is mellowed by the addition of milk or cream. My colleague Victoria Moore suggests Jurancon Sec with roquefort, pear and endive salad in her excellent Wine Dine Dictionary which sounds delicious too.

If you serve a burger or steak with blue cheese you’re going to want a hearty red like a cabernet sauvignon or malbec

While medium-bodied red wines can be tricky with more pungent blue cheeses such as Roquefort or Cabrales they can handle more mellow blue cheeses such as Bleu d’Auvergne or Barkham Blue or a blue cheese-topped pizza. Try a southern Italian red like a negroamaro or nero d’avola or a zinfandel.

And don’t forget that other fortified wines, not just port, go well with blues - try a medium dry amontillado or oloroso sherry or a sweet madeira.

The best wines for Stilton

Traditionally paired with vintage port but tawny port is delicious too as is Hungarian Tokaji

8 great drinks to match with Stilton

The best wines for Roquefort

Sauternes is the classic pairing but there are other sweet wines from within or just outside the Bordeaux region which would work equally well - Monbazillac for example or a late harvest sauvignon or semillon from elsewhere.

The best wine pairings with Roquefort cheese

The best wines for Gorgonzola

It depends if it’s mild (dolce) or stronger (piccante). With a creamy Gorgonzola you could even drink a prosecco or other sparkling wine - though I’ve also successfully paired it with orange wine. With a stronger Gorgonzola try a Vin Santo.

With milder blue cheeses like Cambozola or Cornish Blue

With these cheeses where the blue character is less apparent try a rosé or a light fruity red like a pinot noir.

Top wine matches for Cornish Blue

4 other good drinks to pair with blue cheese

Stouts and porters

Barley wine (which is a strong beer, not a wine)

Sloe or damson gin

Whisky - especially Islay whisky with Roquefort and other salty blues

Pairing wine and cheese: six ways to do it better

Top photo ©barmalini @fotolia.com

Wine and Cheese Pairing for Beginners

Wine and cheese are well known bedfellows but if you’re a beginner it might seem daunting to decide exactly which wine to choose for which cheese. This guide will quickly help you to get started pairing wine and cheese like a pro.

Which wine with which cheese?

You might be wondering, should I start with the wine or the cheese?

Most beginners to wine and cheese pairing will be starting with a particular cheese or looking for wines for a cheeseboard. So I’ve broken things down by cheese type. (For cheeses to pair with your favourite wine see below)

Wine with Hard Cheese

Hard cheeses include cheddar, Comté, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Manchego. They’re the easiest type of cheese to pair with wine - a medium bodied red like a cabernet sauvignon or a rioja is probably going to be the most enjoyable pairing for most people but try the combination of cheddar and chardonnay

• Pairing wine and cheese: 6 ways to do it better

Wine with Soft Cheese

Soft cheeses range from spreadable cheeses like Philadelphia to semi-soft white rinded cheeses like brie and camembert. I like them with a fruity red like a pinot noir or a Beaujolais but rosé works well with this style of cheese too.

Wine with Blue Cheese

Blue cheeses include Stilton, Roquefort and Gorgonzola. Classic wine pairings tend to be sweet, for example Sauternes with Roquefort or port and stilton. For something a bit different, try sloe gin or sweet sherry. And, believe it or not, even stout and blue cheese work well together.

Wine with Goat Cheese

Sauvignon blanc is the classic wine pairing for goat cheese, but you could also try a crisp dry Provençal rosé (particularly for a summer picnic) or a fresh fruity red such as Beaujolais.

Wine with Washed-Rind Cheese

Washed-Rind cheeses - often referred to as ‘stinky cheese’ - include Epoisses, Reblochon, Vacherin Mont d’Or and Taleggio. They tend to be quite pungent especially as they mature so don’t expect anything great in the way of a wine pairing. Oddly a crisp dry white wine - or a strong Belgian-style ale - can work better than a red

Wine with Melted Cheese

It’s not a cheese style in its own right but melted cheese classics such as fondue and raclette deserve a mention. They aren’t the easiest dishes to match, but a good bet is a crisp or aromatic white wine from the region where these dishes are popular. You’ll find some specific suggestions in this post: the best wine pairings with cheese fondue, raclette and tartiflette.

Which cheese to pair with your favourite wine

Most people like to pair red wine with cheese and that’s fine - just bear in mind that there are some cheeses, as I’ve suggested above, that taste better with a white wine or dessert wine so don’t be afraid to experiment.

10 popular wines and the cheeses to pair with them

1. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot and Bordeaux blends - cheddar, gouda and other hard cheeses

2. Pinot noir - brie and camembert

3. Rhône and other southern French reds - a good all-rounder with a French cheeseboard

4. Rioja - particularly good with sheep cheeses like Manchego

5. Chianti - parmigiano reggiano and pecorino

6. Port - blue cheeses like stilton

7. Sauvignon blanc - goat cheese and feta, cheeses with garlic and herbs

8. Chardonnay - cheddar

9. Pinot Grigio - mozzarella and other mild Italian cheeses (good with an antipasti platter)

10. Champagne and other sparkling wine - Vacherin Mont d’or, Chaource

If you enjoyed this post download my cheese book 101 Great Ways to Enjoy Cheese and Wine for loads of (well, over 101!) other pairing ideas

Top photo © George Dolgikh at fotolia.com

The best food pairings for Zinfandel

Like most wines made from red grapes Zinfandel comes in a number of styles from light and juicy to blockbuster ‘killer’ zins but they have a common thread of ripe brambly fruit and in most cases a richness that makes them a good match for red meat and other hearty dishes, especially those with a hit of smoked chilli.

(It’s also used to make an off-dry style of rosé called white zinfandel - check out my post on rosé for that.

Here are my favourite pairings which also apply to Zin’s brother from another mother primitivo which comes from Southern Italy (though I’d probably go more for the Italian dishes with that).

What goes with Zinfandel

Barbecue, especially American barbecue

If it’s charred, sweet or spicy, most zins will work so think back ribs, brisket, spicy sausages - anything smoked or treated to a sweet or spicy marinade or rub. Recipes like this Texas-style BBQ beef brisket.

Turkey, especially Thanksgiving turkey

As you will know Thanksgiving and Christmas is not so much about the bird as the stuffing and the sides and a good zinfandel can take them all in its stride as I discovered a couple of years ago

Braises and stews

If it’s big and beefy and cooked long and slow - it’s one for zin. Think shortribs and ox cheek, even Mexican mole

‘Dirty’ burgers

Y’know, the kind piled up with cheese, bacon, onions, pickles, whatever. Zin can cope

Meaty pasta sauces and pasta bakes

I’m thinking particularly spaghetti (or tagliatelle) and meatballs or a beef shin ragu. Or anything with sausage in the sauce like this recipe for rigatoni with aubergine, sausage and zinfandel sauce (which needs a new picture, yes I know!). And a classic lasagna, obviously. Basically meat sauces with cooked tomato,

Meat-topped pizzas.

Maybe go for a slightly lighter style with these as it’s as much about the crust and the cheese. A bright gluggable zinfandel or primitivo

Baked, roast or stuffed aubergine/eggplant

Loves zin especially with baked dishes like a parmigiana

Portobello mushrooms

A good veggie option for zin (especially baked with garlic butter)

Black beans

Black bean soup, black bean chillis - actually any chilli con - or sin - carne

Cheese, especially blue cheese

Delicate goat cheeses apart zin is a brilliant all-rounder for a cheeseboard, especially with stronger cheeses, smoked cheese and blues. I particularly like it with Gorgonzola

Picture credits: shortribs by Andrei Iakhniuk, tagliatelle and meatballs by Gaus Alex at shutterstock.com