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 The topic of pairing wine with food, including cheese, has always been confusing. There are varying opinions when you try to find the perfect answer. In fact, there is no perfect answer. Food/wine pairings are guidelines that have worked for most people most of the time. Subtle variations in the ingredients of a dish, and the specifics of how a dish is prepared all affect which wines would best be paired with it. And that doesn't begin to address personal preferences. The selection of a wine for a certain dish will be influenced by the food and the wine that came before it - if any.
Before you throw up your hands in despair, consider that there are some guidelines that have stood the test of time. They come from various sources. But consider also that they are only suggestions. Don't be a slave to the "experts." Experiment! You may come up with your own personal favorite combinations. Here are some suggestions for pairing wine with cheese.
Wine and Cheese
Which wine goes best with which cheese is very much a question of personal taste. The truth is that there are so many wines and so many cheeses that it would take an encyclopedia to list and pair them all. Wine is often at its best with cheese, but not all wines go with all cheeses. Just as with other foods, certain cheeses are best suited to certain wines. Red wines, for example, are generally considered best with most cheeses, but whites go especially well with goats' milk cheese and cooked cheese dishes. It is not surprising that the wines of a specific region will generally pair extremely well with the cheeses native to that region.
- Full-bodied and powerful red wines - Blue cheeses such as French and Danish blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton; soft goats' milk cheese
- Medium to full-bodied red wines - Asiago, Manchego, Gorgonzola, Parmesan. Some say Brie and Camembert, but I find that these cheeses can make any wine taste odd.
- Medium-bodied reds - Munster, Edam, Port Salut, Emmenthal, Swiss, Jarlsburg, Gruyere
- Fruity and light reds - Cantal, cream cheeses
- Light dry reds and whites - Goats' and sheep's milk cheeses, young Cheddar, cooked cheese dishes, Fontina, Gouda, Bel Paese
- Robust and full-bodied white wines - Gruyere and Cheddar
- Rosé and medium-bodied whites - Gouda, Port Salut, Herbed Cheeses
- Sweet dessert wines - Parmesan, sweet Gorgonzola, Cheddar, hard or soft goats' milk cheeses, Stilton (with Port).
The only time wine should not be accompanied by cheese is at a serious wine tasting. Cheese smoothes the rough edges of certain wines, especially young reds, and tends to overemphasize the value of the wine and gives a false impression of its true quality. Put another way, cheese can hide a wine's defects and make it taste better than it really is.
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