Culinary Corner

The pairing of wine and cheese is timeless for a few reasons: the two are made all over the globe, make for gorgeous presentations at a party, and offer near-endless combinations for both novices and pros alike to explore. As you can see, wine and cheese do go together, but a few rules apply when it comes to different flavors. Of course, like everything else in cuisine, there are no laws. Feel free to follow our guide or freestyle with your favorite cheese and wine. You may find your next favorite combination out of nowhere!

Be it tannic, light, sweet, or dry, there’s a wine out there for every cheese. The question is which cheese pairs best with which wine. Basically, cheeses that have high fat content and more mild, nutty flavors will typically pair best with tannic wines, while stickier cheeses beg for a sweeter wine to counterbalance the pungent aromas and flavors. However, just like wine and food pairing the same holds true for pairing your favorite cheeses with wine. Just as my wine mentor, Robert Lawrence Balzer told me many years ago, at the end of the day, the wine and cheese that you like is unique to your palette.

Nevertheless. Lions Peak has been actively involved in wine and cheese pairings for years, and I have wanted to provide my wine club members and tasters with a few pointers that I have learned over the years. Here are wine and cheese pairings and hopefully you will experiment the next time you’re preparing a charcuterie board for you’re a party- friends — or yourself.

How do we know which cheese is suitable to pair with a red, white, or dessert wine? These are the most common questions and my advice is to not overthink pairings: however, most white wines pair better with cheese than reds, although there are always exceptions. The first piece of advice we have prepared for you is don’t think of red wine. Yes, you read this correctly. White wines are better with cheese than any red (there are some exceptions for sure).

The acidity of white wine is much better at pairing up with high fat and high saltiness content in cheese due to the lactose. Lactose is a sugar, and it is much better with some form of residual sugar that there is more of in white wine. And finally, the milk protein precipitates the tannin in red wine resulting in a kind of disagreeable pairing on the palate so, if you are having cheese go for white wine.

As a rule, for reds, wines over 14.5% alcohol are more intense and taste better with more intensely flavored cheeses. Wines under 12% alcohol are less intense and match nicely with more delicately flavored cheeses.

Another tip is as cheese ages and loses water-content; it becomes richer in flavor with its high-fat content. These two attributes are ideal for matching bold red wines because the fat content in the cheese counteracts the high tannins in the wine.

For sweet reds, they match wonderfully with stinky, washed-rind, and blue-veined cheeses. Why? The wine’s sweetness benefits balance the “funk” in the cheese and make it taste creamier. They cooperate as the “stink” of the cheese will help balance the wine’s sweet taste.

There is no hard-and-fast rule: make your own up and enjoy every minute in the kitchen. I have provided tips for pairings that I have prepared for my wine tasters, but don’t be afraid to make a surprising turn in another direction. I hope that you will venture out to experimenting with some of the pairings that I have found delightful