Pairing Wine with Cheese, from the Cheese Perspective

There are many articles online regarding cheese and wine pairings, but I find that most of these are written by wine-lovers and are written primarily so that the cheese can augment and improve the experience of the wine. This is only natural, wine is in general more expensive and is considered more of a luxury foodstuff than cheese. However, as a dedicated cheese website, I wanted to give our take on cheese and wine pairings, but specifically written to maximise enjoyment of the cheese. In doing so I also hope to strip off the veneer of pretention that surrounds the pairing of wine and cheese and just recommend what tastes good.

To ensure the focus remains on the cheese at all times, I shall go through different categories of cheese and recommend wine pairings for each.

Blue Cheeses

For me, blue cheeses fall into two main categories: earthy or astringent. These categories can transcend normal cheese nomenclature – a Marks & Spencer wrapped stilton falls firmly in the earthy category, whereas their potted offering is astringent almost to a fault.

Earthy blue cheeses pair well with sweeter red wines. Port is the absolute best pairing; the sweet and fruity taste is the perfect counterpoint to the stronger, earthier and more pungent Stiltons. If you haven’t tried it, I also recommend eating these cheeses with a hearty stout.

Astringent blue cheeses are often rolled into the same category as the above and paired with Port, and while this isn’t the worst pairing, I personally think that due to the more sour and bitter flavour these are best paired with a sweet white wine such as a Vouvray or a sweet Prosecco.

Cheddars and similar cheeses

Cheddar is one of the most popular cheeses, and for good reason; it pairs well will almost everything. It is very difficult to go wrong when selecting a wine pairing, but I would like to make the following recommendations:

For stronger cheddars which are covered in calcium lactate, I recommend a rich and flavourful red wine. A Cabernet Sauvignon or similar wine, with berry tasting notes and relatively high tannin content, would be perfect. It is worth noting that Cabernet Sauvignons are numerous and varied, so you should always read the tasting notes to ensure it is fruity, rather than savoury or smoky.

For milder cheddars, all wines work wonders, but it becomes increasingly difficult to appreciate the cheese itself, as the wine pairing overwhelms the flavour completely. In this case, the best pairing may not be a wine at all, but a medium-dry strong cider. Any Devonshire scrumpy would work deliciously with the cheese and not completely overpower it.

Smoked and Flavoured Cheeses

Smoked cheeses can often clash with wines and this can make them harder to pair than more generic cheddars. A common trick is to pair the smoked cheese with a red wine with notes of tobacco, such as a Shiraz, although again this is primarily used as a method of augmenting the relatively weak tobacco flavour in the wine. Whilst this pairing is delicious, smoked cheese is often smoky enough on its own and this aspect of the cheese therefore does not need enhancing through the choice of wine. To specifically augment the flavours in the cheese, I therefore recommend a strong white wine with notes of nuts such as hazelnut or almond and fruits such as pear or apricot. This can help bring out the natural nutty flavours of the cheese which are often hidden behind the intense smoky flavours.

Cheeses which are flavoured with herbs are difficult to recommend pairings for as the primary flavours no longer relate to the cheese itself, but relate instead to the specific blend of herbs mixed within. I shall make some specific recommendations based on the main herb or spice within the cheese.

Garlic – Sauvignon Blanc

Onion – Zinfandel

Black Pepper – Shiraz

Anise – Shiraz

Chilli – Riesling

Bries and Similar Soft Cheeses

To augment the flavour of these cheeses I recommend pairing them with a lighter red wine such as Pinot Noir. These wines can help isolate any underlying hints of mushroom or nutty flavours that may be hidden within the fatty cheese.

Alternatively, as Bries, Camemberts and other similar cheeses can often coat your mouth with fat quickly and reduce your sense of taste, the best wine to pair with these cheeses can be a sharp and acidic white wine that can cut through the fat and reset your palette ready to enjoy the cheese again or eat something else. I recommend a Champagne or Cava – both can be sharp and acidic enough, and the sting of the bubbles also helps to refresh in between mouthfuls of creamy cheese.

Goat’s Cheese and Sheep’s Cheese

Goat’s cheese generally has a very distinctive farmyardy flavour and a creamy texture. The perfect wine pairing is therefore a Sauvignon Blanc, which will cut through the cream in your mouth, and contains pleasant lemon and citrus flavours which complement the earthy flavour of the cheese.

For sheep’s cheese I recommend a sweet dessert wine like Madeira. The toffee and raisin flavours bring out the nutty flavours in the cheese and the sweetness is a nice counterpoint to the richness of the cheese.

One Final Point

Taste is of course subjective. You may have found a cheese and wine pairing which you really like that I and many others have specifically advised against. In this case, more power to you! The whole idea is to try different combinations which are interesting and which make you happy. I certainly can’t claim to be the definitive source on flavour combinations; I once spent a whole night drinking Tequila mixed with Irn Bru as I was convinced it tasted like a Cadbury’s Crunchie Bar…