Ideal Cheese & Wine Pairings Articles | Wine

By: Darren Williger

One thing that almost everyone will concur with is that no food combination can possibly outdo a cheese and wine pairing. It seems as though they were meant for each other. It’s a wonderful idea to serve cheese and wine jointly at dinner gatherings, as it is sure to bowl over all your guests, including the fastidious and difficult ones. During wine sampling events cheese is also served to add to this special and fantastic experience.

Cheese tends to improve the wine flavor in a manner that cannot be matched by any other food. But, you must remember that certain cheese and wine combinations will jar while others will augment the taste of wine as well as that of cheese. Keeping this in mind, the following lists wine & cheese combinations that go well together.

• Champagne as well as other sparkling wines must be served with rich creamy cheeses like Explorateur, Camembert, Brillat-Savarin, Brie, or Saint-Andre, as the acidity of such wines will slice through the luscious creaminess of these kinds of cheeses.
• The Desert wines like Port and Sauternes are served best with blue cheeses such as Roquefort and Stilton. Although this may appear to be a strange combination, they really pair excellently.
• Red Burgundy wines must be served with a sharp luscious pungent cheese like Epoisse, Bandol, or Crottin di Chavignol.
• New full-bodied wine like Sauternes, Merlot, or Reislings must be served with highly flavored sharp chesses like Pont l’Eveque or Taleggio.
• Beaujolais and Sauvignon Blanc are fine fruity wines that are served best with a tender bland milky cheese like Chevre.
• Piedmontese wines must be had with cheeses like Boschetto al Tartufo – a wonderful combination that is greatly relished.
• Very new and strong red wines such as Chianti and Syrah are served best with highly seasoned cheeses such as Provolone.

Usually, you ought to pair sweet wines together with salty cheeses and acidic wines together with creamy cheeses. You will also discover that when you serve delicate older wines, a spongy luscious cheese minus strong flavors will go very well.

There are countless possibilities in pairing wine & cheeses together and therefore it is advisable to experiment but the above tips will assist you to make a start. Once you have some of these amazing combinations, you’ll never want anything else. You will wish to keep on experimenting with some more excellent combinations.