When your first tasty wine and cheese pairing, the thing you have to know is: If it tastes right, do it! I’m sure you’ve heard all the most knowledgeable chefs giving their two cents about what cheese works with your choice of wine; however, when you make your selection, it’s all about personal taste. You may prefer one cheese with a particular wine while someone else may like an entirely different pairing. My recommendation is for you to be in a mood a fun afternoon. Choose several cheeses and several wines. You will find one pairing that is best for you and another for someone else. There are no wrong combinations. wine and cheese pairing parties will create conversation. It will be interesting. It will be delightful. And it will be lots of fun.
Cheese and wine are kindred foods, and they have been enjoyed together since ancient times. Both result from fermentation. Both may be consumed while fresh, simple, and young or in their more abstuse forms when they are mature.
When put together, wine and cheese do their part to bring out the finest aspects of each other, and even the experts can’t agree on any rules for the wine and cheese pairing game. Now apparently, if you’re researching this subject, you’re a highbrow like the rest of us, and with snobs, there’s no worry about flubs in wine and cheese pairings — say like snacking on american cheese while sipping boxed Blueberry Hill.
There are no hard and fast rules as to which wines should always be served with a precise} cheeses. There is a general guideline that cheeses of a certain geographic country are best enjoyed with wines of the same country. But, just as one bottle of pinot gregio from the France is not like that of another vintage or another producer, neither is one quesco cotija exactly like another. Both are living and constantly changing. This is what makes marriing cheese and wine fascinating as well as delicious.
Even though it comes down to personal taste, certain traditions have been supported by most of enthusiasts. Here are some of those general rules:
• White wines combines well with soft cheeses and stronger flavors.
• Red wines combines well with hard cheeses and milder flavors.
• Fruity and sweet white wines (not dry) and dessert wines combines well with a broader group of cheeses.
• The more odoriferous the cheese you choose, the sweeter the wine should be.
• Harmony should always exist between the cheese and the wine. They should have similar intensities. There should always be a balance - strong and powerful cheeses should be paired with similar wines and fragile cheeses should be paired with lighter wines.
• A complete list of recommended wine and cheese groupings can be found at temecula-wine.net.
When offering several cheese selections in a wine and cheese pairing spread, white wines are recieved better than reds. That’s because several cheeses, particularly soft and creamy ones, leave a after taste of fat on your tongue that interfere with the taste of reds, creating a taste that is monotonous and bland.
Just the opposite, most of those sweeter whites pair with many of cheeses. Additionally, the “sparkle” in a sparkling wine or champagne can help clean the fat in heavier cheeses.Therefore, the spicy zing of a Gewürztraminer or the peachy zip of a Riesling is a good choice if you’re going for the most universal appeal.
If you’re willing to try new things, pick a big wine to back it up. Try a French Bordeaux or a buxom California Cab. Ports and dessert wines are your good choice if you like mold-donned or blue-veined cheeses.
To be safe while serving several wines, choose Parmigiano or Romano cheeses. They go with most wines.
A Wine and Cheese Pairing Party to Remember
Here are a few tips for setting up a well received wine and cheese pairing tet-together for your friends:
• Purchase your cheeses in big chunks for an ideal presentation.
• Cheeses should be served at room temperature. Pull them out of the fridge several hours before your tet-together.
• Serve most wines fairly cool — whites between 50-55 degrees and reds between 60-65 degrees.
• Open your reds 15-20 minutes before you want to serve them as they need to breath.
• Make handwritten name cards for all your cheeses.
• Display cheese on a wood chopping block, a slab of marble or even a cheese tray.
Ultimately, the perfect wine and cheese pairing is not a guideline that professional chefs dictate. It is a match made on the taste buds of each person individually. Start with the basic rules and then try the new pairings. You will be surprised which couple will end up to be your choice pairings.
David Cragg is an SEO guru for the Temecula Valley with over 30 years of experiance. His work started with IBM and then was funded by Microsoft. Today he is retired and offers his suppport to winery managment to support with their SEO to support expand their businesses. You can read more about his work for Temecula wineries at temecula-wineries.net/AboutUs.html.
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