Cheese & Wine Pairing
Cheese and wine pairing is much harder than you may think.
The reason is because there isn’t just one kind of cheese and one kind of wine. Cheeses vary in moisture content, fat content, texture, flavour. Wines, too, vary in acidity, sweetness, body, and structure.
Here are a few basic guidelines…
It’s important to serve the wine and cheese at their proper temperatures, so their flavours can emerge. Serve white wine at 7°C / 45°F, red wine at 15.5°F /60°F and remove the cheese from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes prior to serving.
Choose White - If in doubt the safest choice would be white wine for your cheese. Whites typically match with a much wider array of cheeses than reds. The reason is because white wines have much lower levels of tannin, and they’re often lighter in body, which complements rather than overwhelms the flavours in most cheeses. Blue cheeses are the exception and don’t match with white wine.
If your preference is red wine, choose carefully…
Choose Reds high in acidity - The acidity in wine has the ability to cut through the cloying mouthfeel of the cheese, therefore a red wine with a bright flavour profile can match the body of a rich, fatty cheese.
Choose Red that are lower in tannin - Tannin in wine comes from contact with grape skins, seeds, and stems. (Red wine is red because of the contact of the grape skins with the grape juice). Wines that have been aged in wood barrels will be higher in tannins. White wine typically doesn’t have much tannin because whites don’t macerate with skins and many whites age in stainless steel.
Choose Reds that are fruity in flavour - Fruity reds offer a sensation of sweetness, which can either offset a salty cheese, or complement a creamy cheese. The reds to choose would be described as ‘juicy’ or ‘jammy’.
Choose Reds that are lower in alcohol - Alcohol in wine can electrify the acidity in cheese, making it taste spicy when it’s not. High alcohol wines tend to fight with cheese, leaving an acrid aftertaste and unpleasant finish. Look for wines that have an alcohol content of less than 13.5%.
Choose Reds that are older - Wines lose their tannic structure over time therefore an older vintage of a full-bodied wine would be a better with cheese. Just five years of age on a wine can soften the tannins.
The best pairings can often happen when you least expect to find the perfect match. Don’t overthink your wine choice with your cheese; it needn’t be complicated.
ENJOY!
Coombe Castle Cheese and Wine Tasting
Earlier this year a team from Coombe Castle had a master class in wine tasting and cheese pairings, hosted by Tristan Darby of Bristol Wine School. Tristan is a wine educator who has experience spanning over 20 years in the catering, hospitality and wine trade. He is the drinks columnist for The Bath Magazine and The Bristol Magazine.
We asked Tristan to suggest wine pairings for 8 of our much loved cheeses.
2013 Fowles Wine 'Are you Game' Chardonnay, Victoria, Australia
This white wine has a youthful straw colour. Aromas of peach and papaya play with subtle oak and yeasty notes. It is full bodied and fruity, the palate has a sweet creaminess that enhances our Cheshire cheese.
Alcohol Percentage: 13%
Cheese: Cheshire
Yealands Single Vineyard P.G.R. Aromatic Blend Awatere Valley, Marlborough 2016
This wine is made from 3 varieties Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewürztraminer. It has a wonderful balance between texture, fruit weight and acidity, with a bright citrus finish. It is filled with intense notes of lychee and pear, underlying flavours of lime and mandarin and a touch of spice and ginger, the perfect match for our new Gaelic Gold.
Alcohol Percentage: 13%
2015 Humberto Canale Estate, Pinot Noir, Patagonia, Argentina
This wine is elegant, delicate and is an attractive crimson color. When smelling the wine you pick up notes of spice and candied fruit and hints of fresh red berries which complements perfectly the cherries in the cheese. On tasting, it is sweet and complex wine, but with a light body and well-rounded. Best served chilled.
Alcohol percentage: 14 % vol.
Cheese: Wensleydale with Cranberries
2015 Chateau Sainte-Marie Bordeaux Superieur Vieilles Vignes, Bordeaux, France
This French wine is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. A beautiful concentration of blackcurrant and plum on the nose, with similar lovely fruit intensity on the palate. Tannin is very well-textured and the finish is long, clean, refreshing and with fruity complexity.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Cheese: Dorset Drum
2013 Teuzzo Chianti Riserva, Cecchi, Italy
This Tuscan wine has an intense, red ruby colour and is smooth and medium bodied. The aromas are of red fruits bound to notes of vanilla, violets and spices. It could be described a quite earthy and makes for a great combination with the Olive Grove Cheddar.
Alcohol Percentage: 12.5%
Cheese: Olive Grove
2014 Chateau du Vieux Parc La Selection Corbieres
Made in French oak barrels from Carignan, Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre. Pepper and redcurrant show on the nose. This red wine has a beautiful balance of red berry fruit and oak on the palate, a robust, full bodied wine which complements Colliers powerful cheddar extremely well.
Alcohol Percentage: 13.5%
Cheese: Colliers Powerful Welsh Cheddar
2014 Trapiche 'Estacion 1883' Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina
Charbono (Bonarda) is a widely traveled red-wine grape variety with a complicated history. Originally from the alpine vineyards of Savoie in eastern France, it is now mostly planted in Napa Valley, where it is known as Charbono, and in Argentina, where it goes by the name Bonarda.
This Bonarda is a fabulous choice for Belton Red Fox, the red and black cherry flavours, along with savoury notes, wild herbs and spice complemented the salty character of the cheese. A sweet, fruity jammy wine with smokey characteristics …perfect.
Alcohol Content: 14%
Cheese: Belton Farm Red Fox
2003 Cantine Florio Targa Riserva 1840 Marsala Superiore Semisecco, Sicily, Italy
Usually Stilton would be partnered with a Port but at this tasting it was paired with Marsala. Marsala is one of the world's great fortified wines, made exclusively in and around the town of that name, in the far west of Sicily, southern Italy.
The Marsala with hints of raisins, walnuts and candied peel was a fabulous pairing for the king of cheese, Stilton, loved by everyone who tasted it.
Alcohol Content: 19%
Cheese: Stilton
Our brief introduction to wine tasting gave us 5 steps to follow whilst tasting;
Colour, Swirl, Smell, Taste, Savour
Grapes with your Cheese?
Grapes are probably the most common fruit that are served on a cheese board. They can look beautiful, fill up a space, they’re easy to break off and eat, and all of us have almost certainly eaten cheese and grapes together and enjoyed the experience. Why do some cheese mongers and fromagers advise against eating cheese and grapes together?
Answer: Tannins.
Tannins are naturally occurring, astringent compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems.
Tannins are usually associated with wine and can play a role in whether or not a particular cheese and wine pair well together. Tannins are also in the skins of regular table grapes and can affect the flavour of the cheese you are eating.
Sometimes grapes can make cheese taste bitter. This usually happens when grapes are paired with a washed rind or bloomy rind cheese. It happens less often when grapes are paired with hard cheeses.
Grapes might not make the cheese taste bad, but they might not enhance the flavour of the cheese either. Other fruits such as figs, dates, apples, melons, and pears are very good choices when pairing fruit and cheese.
The safest bet is to pair cheese with dried fruit. Dried fruit is often sweeter than fresh fruit, and you don’t have to worry about dried fruit being ripe and in season. Dried figs, dates, cherries and apricots pair really well with cheese.
Fruit spreads also pair really well with cheese, quince paste, fig jam, and peach or apricot preserves to pair with cheese. The sweetness of fruit and saltiness of cheese are the main reason they pair well together.
