What Wine and Cheese Combinations do I Serve?

While it is, of course, not absolutely vital to follow these guidelines, there will be no wine and cheese police to arrest you for creating your own combinations, certain cheeses do lend themselves quite well to the flavors of specific types of wine. So much of it depends upon your tastes; however, a good rule of thumb is that hard goes with red while soft goes with white. Simply put, this means that if you have a taste for a good cabernet, it may be best to serve Camembert, Brie or Danish Blue cheeses.

You may also combine your cabernet with a strong cheddar cheese, but if that is missing from your wine rack, then try sauvignon blanc. Other red wine and cheese combinations include: bleu with a Madeira, havarti with a Bordeaux and feta with Beaujolais or Zinfandel. Now, the mention of Zinfandel eases us into a discussion of lighter wines, which we already know goes better with softer cheeses.

Should your romantic dinner be a celebration that is to include champagne, then you may want to serve a good Gouda or Colby cheese. However, if the mood is to be a bit lighter, then try these wine and cheese combinations: start by serving chardonnay with gruyere or a mild cheddar, cream cheese with white zinfandel, Cheshire with Riesling or baby swiss with that bottle of asti spumanti you bought on an whim. Since the lighter wines are often served chilled, they may work as a wonderful contrast to a blazing fire, or you may want to save these colder varieties for warmer months and picnics in the park.

Whether you choose to serve a white or a red wine, it is a good idea to have a good wine and cheese pairing to avoid contrasting tastes in the mouth. Again, these are not vital combinations, and you are certainly welcome to mix and match them depending upon your and your lover’s palates; however, these are tried and true combinations that may well give you a good jumping off place.

Why go to a Wine Tasting?

Wine tastings are stuffy and pretentious events that I am just not suited for! While it is true that wine tastings have this reputation, it is a matter of the people who attend and not the fault of the wine. That noted, it may be helpful to bring a number of people so that any pretentiousness from other customers around you will not have any impact on your good time. Remember, it is about having a good time, not about trying to be something you are not.

Along with going to a wine tasting for the good time, it is the perfect opportunity to learn about wines without the expense. This way, you can pay a small fee and taste several wines with minimal risk. If you like a particular flavor, then you can pick up a bottle or two to bring home. If not, one you have tasted it once, you never have to do so again. What better way to determine what wines suit your palate than by tasting a few in one setting and bringing the ones you enjoyed home to sip with friends at a later date.

Can I hold my own Wine Tasting?

Of course, you can hold your own wine tasting event. In fact, that may well be a perfect way to introduce to a small group of friends the wines you found pleasant at wine tastings you have been to in the past. All you will need to remember to have on hand, besides the wine, glasses and corkscrew, is something for your guests to munch on that will keep the wines from blending together on their palates. One optimal choice is cheese and crackers. Keep in mind, though, that soft cheeses go best with whites and hard cheeses with reds.

A wine tasting can be a fun event either at a local beer and wine store or in the privacy of your own home. These events are wonderfully inexpensive ways to either determine what types you like the best or ways to share those types with your friends and family. Just remember, when you encounter that stuffy know-it-all in the expensive suit, it is not about him—it’s about the wine and friends!

The Basics:

To begin to understand food and wine pairings, look no further than your own sense of taste and smell. Of course, your tongue picks up the overall tastes: it tells you what is sweet, bitter, salty or acidic. However, it is the compliment of your nose that will help you to determine whether you like the wine or not. Some wines are more fruity and others more earthy, and all of them can be loved or hated by you dependent solely upon your sense of taste and smell. The reason this is important, is because there can be a stark and unpleasant contrast when combining uncomplimentary flavors and smells.

Food and Wine Pairings:

One general rule of thumb in food and wine pairings is that red goes with red. This means that steak, ribs and even pork are best complimented by a red or heavier wine like port, cabernet or a pinot noir. Even though the pinot noir is lighter in color, it is a heavier wine and can compliment a dish like steak or pork quite well. While many would serve beer with ribs, you can dress up that table by serving a similarly heavier wine or with a chilled white zinfandel.

When, however, you are serving lighter meats, a lighter wine is usually the best compliment for your guests’ palates. So, when the plan is oysters, poultry, or cream sauces on pasta, then reach for the lighter wines: try chardonnay with oysters, chenin blanc with poultry and those lighter pastas with sauvignon blanc. There are other combinations you can try, but these offer a good place to start.

Picking the perfect food and wine pairing for that dinner party should not be the hair-pulling event of the century. Just remember that it is a palate thing that is dependent upon your sense of smell and taste for success. When you get more confident with your choices, feel free to experiment, because there are no food and wine pairing police. Until then, confidently use the tried and true combinations given here, relax and enjoy preparing that party.