On the one hand, the first thought – what to serve wine with, is immediately associated with a noble, tasty cheese. On the other hand, not even every restaurant owns the culture of combining these products, let alone the layman.
Cheese and wine are classics. It has successful combinations, where each ingredient emphasizes the taste of the other. First, let’s figure out the general principles of this incomparable duo:
- White wine goes better with cheese than red wine. Especially if the cheese itself has a bright taste, it will simply overshadow the bouquet of red wine.
- Hence the following rule – the more unusual the cheese tastes, the more unusual the taste the wine should be.
- If the wine is in barrel, cheese will not work with it, since its combination with wood is not the best.
- Young sour wines are served with sweet cheese, which will seem even more sour from this combination.
- For mature cheese – aged wine.
- White wines accentuate the piquancy of the cheesy taste, while reds go well with soft types.
Red Wines, rich in taste and aroma, are combined with cheeses to match them: hard, slightly salty.
Combination 1: Garnacha’s fruity bouquet plus Spanish Manchego.
Combination 2: Cabernet Sauvignon plus spicy Cheddar.
Combination 3: Tobacco Shiraz plus smoked Gouda.
Rich red wines suitable: aged or smoked Gouda and Cheddar, sheep’s milk cheese, Manchego, Pecorino, Grana Padano, Fiore Sardo.
Light red wine goes well with hard flavored cheese or mature soft.
Combination 4: Pinot Noir plus nutty Gruyere.
Combination 5: Beaujolais plus unusually fragrant Taleggio.
What cheeses are suitable light red wines: Conte Extra, Swiss cheese, Osso Irati, Brie, Rasker, Cachocavallo, Nocerino, Camembert, Provolone, Coulomier, Taleggio, Fontina, Saint-Necter, Pont-l’Eveque.
В white wines there are no tannins, they are less aromatic and rich and can emphasize more cheeses.
Combination 6: Sauvignon blanc plus spicy goat cheese.
Combination 7: Almond Prosecco plus young Asiago.
Combination 8: Semi-dry sweet Riesling plus Abondance.
Combination 9: Sharp Chardonnay plus Bree and Camembert ..
What cheeses are suitable white wines: Crotten de Chavignol, Delis de Bourgogne, Brie, Saint-Marselen, Beaufort, Conte, Munster, Roquefort.
Combining cheese with dessert wine – traditional practice. Sweet aromatic wines and no less aromatic cheeses change the taste depending on the duet, making up unthinkable aftertastes.
Combination 10: Port wine plus Stilton.
What cheeses are suitable white dessert wines: Bree, Roquefort, Dor Blue.