When you enter the world of discovering wine, there is lots to learn. If you’re a new to wine education, but know that you just like your favorite whites and/or reds with dinner, after work, or at parties; it’s a good idea to explore a little further, especially if you want to ramp up your enjoyment with a little something extra. Yes, this extra comes in the category of cheese. We all know that cheese and wine go together, but do you know what makes a great pairing? Sorry, Velveeta does not go with everything! Read below for some tips of how to enjoy your wine with cheese. Even if you don’t plan on going to a sophisticated wine tasting that involves cheese, you have to agree everything is better with a little cheese, so get out a couple favorite bottles and a cheese board with cheese knives, and let’s get to work!
Tannic Reds: Ok.. the first guideline when it comes to enjoying cheese with wine is how to balance the acidity of more tannic red wines with cheese. Your best bet is creamy cheeses with gentle flavors. These creamy and soft cheeses offer a mild taste to compliment the acidic contrast of the red wine. They balance out one another in a great medley of mild and bold flavors-favoring the flavor of the red.
Sweet Dessert Wines- If you like a sweet dessert wine as your wine of choice, a good bet for cheese pairing is a salty cheese, like a blue cheese. Any cheese that has a salty, flavor to it will work great with a sweet wine. It not only downplays the sweetness of the dessert wine to a more tolerable level, but it also gives your taste buds a contrasting duo of salty and sweet that is somehow delectably harmonious. Think about chocolate covered pretzels, and tell me that salty and sweet combinations don’t work!
Champagne and Sparkling Wines: Champagne has a light refreshing flavor for celebrations and mimosas, but what works best in regards to cheese? Choose a cheese that is full flavored, rich to augment the mild tones of your sparkling wine. The tiny bubbles combined with the rich taste will fill your palate with delectable sensations.
Acidic Whites: If a Sauvignon Blanc is your wine of preference? Yummy, who doesn’t? If you are drinking a white wine that leans more towards an acidic taste, choose an equally as acidic cheese. Acidic cheese? What is that? You may wonder. A good example of a cheese with punch is goat cheese. The acidic flavor in both the cheese and wine will successfully complement one another with flavorful delight.
By Region- Lastly, a good tip to remember is just simply pairing cheeses from the same region as the wine. So if you are interested in an Italian wine, choose a cheese from the same region in which it was made. Once you try it you will understand why.