Cheese and Wine: In Search of the Perfect Pairing

I love cheese and I love wine. Pairing the two together is an age old custom that seems simple enough on the surface. But when it comes down to finding the perfect pairing partners, the art of blending soured milk and fermented grapes can be exasperatingly tricky. Believe me: I have tried probably close to a thousand different pairings of wine and cheese together all with the goal of attaining that perfect balance of a wine’s essence with that of the cheese.

You know when you’ve hit the right note. A small bite of your favorite artisanal cheese, say Comte, for example, blended in your mouth with a sip of an Alsatian Riesling sends your taste buds a twitter. You notice that the wine and cheese together have coalesced into something new, something better and more magnificent than if you had tasted them alone. That is the moment when you know you have found a perfect pairing. The proof is in the finish. By that, I mean after the initial attack of the two hitting your tongue, to the middle point where the two begin to tango and then finally, when the blend has since past your lips…you still find harmony and balance. That’s when you’ve found perfect pairing of wine and cheese.

I’d like to share a few of my favorites. For red wine lovers, nothing imparts the essence of Spain like a spicy Tempranillo from Rioja paired with a sturdy sheep’s milk cheese like Zamorano or a longer-aged Manchego such as El Trigal. 

Pinot Noir, that finicky grape of which wine legends are made is a very complementary pairing partner to a wide variety of cheeses, especially more mature cow and sheep milk cheeses such a Fiscalini Bandaged Cheddar from California or the rustic sheep milk cheese from the Basque region, Abbaye de Bel’loc.

If Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley is your thing, you can’t go wrong with cave-aged goat cheeses such as Selles Sur Cher or Chabichou du Poitou. American originals such as Coupole from Vermont or Humboldt Fog from California, also find harmony with these white wonders of the wine world.

If you’re a big, burly red wine lover like me, Cabernet Sauvignon meets its soul mate with big cheeses such as a three- or four-year aged Gouda and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Even some of the more pungent washed-rind curds such as French Munster can stand up to a big red like Cabernet.   

Finally, the fortified wines such as Sauternes, Port or Muscat pair beautifully with the blue-veined cheeses such as Berkshire Blue, Stilton and Fourme d’Ambert.

Feel free to share some of your favorite pairings or ask me questions about the subject. Cheers!