Wine and Cheese Guide

Trying to make a great cheese and wine pairing can be as difficult as getting your cat to hang out amicably with the neighbor’s dog. Never fear — here are some simple guidelines to make you the “go-to” person in your circle of friends for matching great cheesy comestibles with smashing wines! Generally, these guidelines simply match the dominant flavor of the wine to the dominant flavor of the cheese…but you may sometimes find that it is the contrasting flavors that are most memorable!

Keep in mind that what matters most is that the cheese doesn’t overpower the wine and that the wine doesn’t overpower the cheese. A happy, somewhat equal union on the palate is generally most pleasing. The last two guidelines may sound a little strange…but you haven’t lived until you’ve had sautéed mushrooms and Teleme on toasted brioche with Champagne, or broiled figs and Stilton with ruby port!

A general rule for a successful wine and cheese party is that if you are only serving one type of wine, try to purchase up to three cheeses which compliment that wine. If you are serving more than one wine, try to get one or two cheeses to compliment each of those wines.

If you are looking for the classic “every-wine cheese” look no further than an Aged Gouda (such as Old Amsterdam) or a Goat Gouda (the Dutch seem to get it right every time). Either of these Goudas seem to go wonderfully with just about every
wine I have ever tried. They’re even great with beer or sparkling cider!

For an “every-cheese wine”, your best bet is a semi-dry Gewurtztraminer. The spicy semidryness of the Gewurtztraminer seems to make everything from a young goat cheese to an aged, earthy cheese such as Dry Jack just sing on the palate. The fruitness of this wine is what makes it work so well with so many cheeses. This fruitness can help tame strong cheeses by bringing out their own inherent fruitness, balancing the more forward earthiness of these stronger cheeses.

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