The best wine - and other drinks - to pair with macaroni cheese

The best wine to pair with macaroni cheese, or mac’n’cheese as our friends across the pond have it, depends how fancy - and how cheesy - your mac and cheese is.

With a homely old-fashioned recipe you might just want a simple glass of white wine (in general I prefer white to red) whereas with one made with a fine strong artisan cheddar or with lashings of cream and lobster you might go for something more extravagant.

Here are my top seven picks.

Chardonnay
Probably the safest bet whichever recipe you’re looking at. A light unoaked chardonnay for a simple creamy macaroni cheese, a posh white burgundy if you’re eating a more extravagant one with lobster or crab. Smooth dry Chenin Blanc works on a similar basis.

Dry riesling
Counter-intuitive but good - like crunching into a refreshing apple with your cheese. Here’s why.

St Emilion or one of the St Emilion satellites
Merlot works surprisingly well with macaroni cheese, I’ve found, especially if it contains bacon. It needn’t be Bordeaux, obviously but a young(ish) St Emilion does work well

Dry cider
Particularly good with macaroni cheese and leeks

Beer
A classic English ale like Timothy Taylor Landlord or an American-style brown ale is perfect with a very cheesy macaroni cheese.

Champagne
Really? Yes, especially if there’s truffle involved. (I tried it the other day with Heston Blumenthal’s cauliflower and macaroni cheese with truffle and it was spot on.)

Sancerre or a similar Loire Sauvignon Blanc

Not my usual go-to but great with this crab macaroni cheese from my friend Fiona Sims Boat cookbook.

Macaroni cheese is also often served as a side in a steakhouse but I’d still match the steak rather than the mac’n’cheese

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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 to pair with Camembert: 5 great drink matches

Although it seems similar in style to Brie, Camembert is a trickier cheese to pair with a slightly funky edge that can clash with many wines, particularly reds.

Fortunately, coming from Normandy there is another option and that is cider and other apple based drinks such as Pommeau and Calvados, depending on how well-matured your Camembert is. If you don’t drink and the cheese is mild apple juice is actually a very good pairing.

Here are my top picks:

Cider

The obvious ‘terroir’-based match. The slight bitterness of cider apples suits Camembert perfectly particularly if you’re eating the rind. Sparkling cider is possibly even better . . .

Pommeau

Stronger than cider, this blend of cider and calvados is ideal when your cheese has reached the oozy stage.

Champagne

Maybe that’s a surprise but the bubbles really work with a gooey Camembert, especially if it’s been baked

Chenin Blanc

Has a touch of apple itself and generally the weight and smoothness to partner the cheese provided it’s not got too mature. Loire chenins such as Montlouis and Vouvray are relatively local anyway or try a Chenin Blanc from South Africa

A soft fruity red

If you want to drink red go for one with a good whack of bright berry fruit like a New Zealand Pinot Noir, a Chilean Merlot or a Carmenère. I’d aim for one of 13-13.5% ABV. You don’t want too big and tannic a wine - or one that’s too light, acidic or weedy.

Tip: Camembert is a cheese to eat when it's fully matured. Keep it too long though and it will become bitter

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

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