The best wine pairings with Roquefort cheese

Roquefort cheese is unusual in having such a frequently recommended wine match (Sauternes) that you may wonder if it’s worth drinking anything else but depending how you serve it there are a number of other options.

It’s actually used as often as part of a recipe as it is on its own, particularly in salads which may well mean you don’t want to start your meal with a sweet wine.

It’s also unusually salty which can have the effect of making red wines taste thin and mean.

On its own

Sauternes is king but you could also try similar sweet wines from Bordeaux or the surrounding regions such as Barsac, Saussignac, Loupiac or Monbazillac. Late harvest sauvignon blancs from elsewhere would also work. It’s also fantastic with peaty Islay whiskies like Lagavulin as you can see in this match of the week

As part of a cheeseboard

Here there are other cheeses to counterbalance its sharpness but I’d still go for something sweet rather than a dry red. A Banyuls*, Maury or Rivesaltes if you’re want to stick to French wine; an oloroso sherry or a late bottled vintage or vintage port if you want to stray further afield.

If you do want to drink red, Bordeaux is traditional though full-bodied reds from the Languedoc would be the local choice (Roquefort is made up in the plateau de Larzac). Blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot such as Meritage blends and mature Cabernet would also work.

In a salad

The most usual combination is with bitter leaves, pears and walnuts** and maybe a dressing made out of nut oil. I’d be inclined to keep your wine quite dry and even a touch oxidised if the dressing is nutty too: Savignin from the Jura would be great, or try an aged Muscadet or even a crisp fino sherry. If the dressing is lighter try an Alsace riesling.

With a steak or a burger

Cabernet is great with beef and blue cheese.

*I also discovered a Languedoc red called Palais Royal from Domaine de L’Arjolle which worked really well as you can see from this post

** You might also want to try this recipe for hot pears with Roquefort and Walnuts from TV chef Michel Roux Jr which he pairs with a Bonnezeaux, old oloroso sherry or a tawny port.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch

What to eat with your favourite wines this Christmas

Although we wine writers like to think we might be able to encourage you to be more adventurous in your wine choices this Christmas the truth is you’re probably going to stick to the wines you're familiar with.

But how to get the most out of them?

Of course there’s nothing stopping you drinking Saint-Emilion with the smoked salmon or Sauvignon Blanc with the turkey if you fancy it but your friends and family might be more impressed if you went for a less random pairing.

Here’s what I’d match with some traditional and current Christmas favourites:

Chablis
Often touted as a favourite Christmas buy but unless it’s an older vintage or a grand cru it’s going to be better with seafood than turkey. Perfect with shellfish like oysters and prawns, poached salmon or a good fish pie. For other suggestions see here

Meursault
Meursault on the other hand has the weight to handle the turkey and trimmings provided you don’t make your gravy too dark and sticky. Would be lovely with seared scallops or lobster too.

Sauvignon Blanc
Good party drinking - mostly everyone likes it - and a surprisingly good pairing with smoked salmon. Also a great match with goats cheese if you’re thinking dips or canapés. See here for other ideas .

Pinot Grigio
Another good party option. Lighter than the whites above so might struggle with the turkey. Good when it gets to the 27th and you feel like lighter, fresher food like a tomato, mozzarella and avocado salad or a seafood pasta. Or simply a glass of something cold and refreshing. (Popular Picpoul de Pinet will do a similar job) Check out my other favourite pairings here

Rioja
Better with roast beef or lamb than turkey IMHO but don’t let that stop you. It certainly has the weight to carry the stuffing and sides. Also good to have inexpensive rioja around to go with hearty stews (especially spicy ones with chorizo) or a big family-sized shepherd’s pie. And it’s a great all-rounder with a cheeseboard. Find other rioja pairings here.

Malbec
Everyone’s current favourite it seems and yes, you could drink it with The Bird. Why not, although steak or steak and mushroom pie would be better. You’ll find other Malbec pairings here.

Nuits Saint Georges
My initial reaction is don’t - it’s rarely worth the money and even if you have a good one it’ll struggle with the turkey. But red burgundy IS good with other birds like duck, pheasant and partridge so if you’re having Christmas à deux it could be the perfect bottle. Or a cold game pie. Don’t subject it to the Stilton, though.

Saint Emilion
Modern Saint Emilion is so full-bodied it can easily stand up to the turkey. Ideal for a rib of beef too. (And have you tried it with macaroni cheese/mac and cheese? You should!)

Châteauneuf-du-Pape
With its handsome packaging, surely the quintessential Christmas wine - perfect with the turkey, roast pork - or even wild boar should you come across one. (But a good Côtes du Rhône like a Vacqueyras will do the same job at a cheaper price.)

Prosecco
Probably everyone’s party favourite but because it’s generally sweeter than other sparkling wines. also very good with light cakes and biscuits. Try it with panettone

Champagne
Most likely on your shopping list for a festive toast but you can drink it with more than canapés. If it’s a vintage or full-bodied style it would even work with the turkey and would be lovely if you’re having lobster. Less good, it might surprise you, with smoked salmon, oysters and (mock) caviar unless it’s a no- or low-dosage (very dry) style. Brilliant with anything fried - including fish & chips!

Sauternes
The sweet wine that everyone’s familiar with but it’s not ideal with Christmas pudding or a chocolate bûche de Noël (Christmas log). Better with light fruit puddings or a rhubarb trifle. The French would drink it with foie gras and Roquefort over Christmas.

Sweet sherry
Underrated and just brilliant with traditional Christmas food such as mince pies, Christmas cake and even stollen. And surprisingly good with the Stilton. See here for more sweet sherry pairings.

Image © Boggy @fotolia.com

What wine - and other drinks - to pair with cheesecake

The most useful clue to the kind of wine that works with cheesecake is to think of the toppings and flavourings that are used in cheesecake recipes rather than the base.

You also need to take into consideration what type of cheesecake you’re dealing with - a classic New York cheesecake or a light, ricotta-based one (I’ll leave savoury cheesecakes for the moment)

Beer and spirits or liqueurs may be as good as wine. Nigella for example has an apple cheesecake with butterscotch sauce in her book Feast that is made with apple schnapps and suggests drinking the same liqueur with it. Here are some other ideas:

Plain cheesecake

Sweet riesling or a late harvest sauvignon blanc are pretty reliable choices

Honey cheesecake

A great discovery last year at Honey & Co - a marvellous pairing of Canadian Vidal ice wine and honey and feta cheesecake I made my match of the week.

Lemon or orange cheesecake

Lemon is always a bit tricky because it tends to knock the lemony flavour out of any accompanying wine. If the lemon’s not too pronounced - say in an Italian-style ricotta cheesecake - try a moscato d’Asti or an 'extra dry' (ironically medium-sweet) prosecco. If it’s more powerful try an icewine again shot of well chilled limoncello. With orange-flavoured cheesecake an orange muscat like Andrew Quady's Essensia would be better.

Berry - and cherry - topped cheesecake

Again late harvest riesling will probably cope but to be honest I prefer Belgian-style raspberry or cherry beers. I suspect also that the Cabernet Franc ice wine I found such a good match a couple of years ago for a rhubarb cheesecake would work with a raspberry or strawberry-topped cheesecake too.

Toffee, caramel or maple-flavoured cheesecake

If you like this style of cheesecake you almost certainly have a sweet tooth so a Australian-style ‘sticky’ liqueur muscat would probably suit you down to the ground. A glass of tawny port would be a slightly drier option. For a pumpkin cheesecake I’d go for something a bit lighter - a muscat or moscatel like Torres’ Floralis Moscatel Oro, for example.

Chocolate cheesecake

Sweet red wines generally work with chocolate and cheesecake is no exception though you might be able to get away with a lush dry red as I did in this surprising match. I suspect one of the new wave of sweet reds like Apothik would work too. Having less of a sweet tooth I’d personally go for a madeira or an oloroso sherry - also a good match, I reckon, for a Nutella cheesecake.

The best wine matches for Comté

After a recent visit to the Jura I've rethought my ideas about which wines make the best wine pairings for Comté cheese.

We were guided through a tasting by flavour analyst Claire Perrot who suggested a couple of matches I wouldn’t have thought of - Champagne and Alsace Pinot Noir. And since then I've been back and tried a couple more (see my update below)

Comté is France’s most popular AOP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) cheese by a significant margin selling about twice as much as its nearest rival Roquefort.

It’s a cooked pressed Gruyère style cheese which in fact used to be referred to as Gruyère de Comté. Individual wheels vary hugely though I found them in general more caramelly, nuttier and slightly less salty than Gruyère but less fruity than Beaufort though there will obviously be differences between winter and summer cheeses - summer cheeses being fuller-flavoured than winter ones.

The French tend to eat Comté fairly young which makes it an unchallenging partner to a wide range of wines including reds. Once it’s older, nuttier and more intense you may want to veer towards whites or some of the other suggestions below:

Local dry Arbois whites
The classic local terroir-based match. Most of the ones I tasted were a blend of Chardonnay and the local Savagnin grape which gives the wines a nutty, slightly earthy, mineral character which chimes in perfectly with the cheese. I suspect old Muscadet, which I've been tasting recently, would work well too.

Vin Jaune
Arbois’ distinctive sherry-style white is a fantastic match for 12-18 month Comtés. And on that basis so is ...

Dry(ish) sherry
Amontillado and palo cortado being the two wines recommended by the Comté website although since I’ve successfully paired dry oloroso with Gruyère I suspect it would work well with Comté too. (Sherry is more sympathetic to Comté than port, I think.)

Champagne
The big surprise. I tasted a biodynamic Champagne from Lassaigne, les Vignes de Montgueux, which was just delicious with a 15 month old winter Comté. Vintage Champagne I suspect would be fantastic with older Comtés still.

Aged or minerally Chardonnays
On the basis that Arbois wines containing Chardonnay work well others should too, particularly mature Chablis and other mature Chardonnays such as this one from Kistler that struck gold with a 56 month Comté. You wouldn’t want the oak influence to be too pronounced though.

Old white Bordeaux - an 18 year old Domaine de Chevalier Pessac-Léognan was stunning with both 2 and 4 year old Comtés at a tasting I did with affineur Bernard Antony a few years ago.

Alsace Pinot Noir
I really liked a 5 year old 2006 Schueller Pinot Noir with a fresh, milky six month old Comté but the local Poulsard grape works well too

Mature - and immature but not overoaked - Languedoc reds . . .
A surprise perhaps but I’ve drunk Languedoc Syrah - young and old - successfully with youngish Comté.

. . . and mature Spanish reds
I've had striking success with a 9 month old Comté and an 8 year old Navarra red from Chivite. Mature Rioja reservas and gran reservas of course, should work too.

So a number of different possibilities which indicates that Comté is a pretty easy-going cheese which earns its place on a cheeseboard. The common factor in the most successful pairings however seems to be age. Mature wines seem to work particularly well. The wines I’d hesitate to pair with it are high alcohol new world reds with a lot of jammy fruit and intensely herbaceous whites like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which I don’t think would work as well. I don’t think rosé does Comté many favours either.

September 2015. On my latest visit to Fort des Rousses I discovered two other really good pairings for a full-flavoured 3 year old Comté Juraflore: a 2002 vin de paille and a MacVin du Jura, a curious blend of savagnin juice and must and brandy which tastes like a cross between a dessert wine, a grappa and a whisky!

Image © bluesky6867