Great Cheese! Which Wine?

Text & Photos : Herb Pilles

Bread, wine, and cheese are a classic combination that go way back in time.  I’ll bet there was a generous chunk of goat cheese on the table with the bread and wine at The Last Supper, along with olives and dried figs!

Today, of course, we have a variety of wines and cheeses available to us, and we try to enhance our enjoyment of both by finding just the right combination.

Imagine a platter with a stunning variety of cheeses on it- brie, stilton, a creamy goat, and one or two hard cheeses like grana padano, and well-aged cheddar.  How do you find a wine that matches all of these cheeses?  You don’t.  Consider carefully selecting just one amazing cheese.  Take your time to taste and savour it, then ask, what would go well with this?

Forget about apples, grapes, pears, or other fresh fruit.  They might enhance the cheese, but they destroy the wine.  Dried fruit like figs, dates, and nuts work well if you feel you need something else on the plate.   You can also forget about flavoured crackers like shrimp or seaweed - they get in the way of everything.  Thin slices of good baguette, some unflavoured bread-sticks, or bland crackers such as matza will allow you to enjoy both the cheese and the wine.

Don’t bother with an expensive wine!   It’s hard to enjoy the delicate nuances of a fine wine when you have a mouth full of butterfat or stinky gorgonzola.  An expensive wine might not enhance your cheese, but a rich creamy cheese will make a cheap bottle of red taste fantastic!  (Beware of wine tasting events that serve cheese first!)

To match cheese with wine, start with a fabulous cheese then try to imagine what would complement this taste sensation?  The answer might not be wine.  A strong stinky cheese like munster or limburger might be best with a cold lager.  A fine single malt might be just the thing to honour that wonderful, well-aged cheddar. A young white cheddar with Gewurztraminer, or sauvignon blanc?  A rich dark port with that stilton?  A lovely, delicate goat cheese with a sweet Mosel riesling?

Resist the temptation to google, “What goes with...?”  Taste the cheese and trust your judgement.  Or, offer a number of alternatives and let your guests choose what they like best.  It might lead to some interesting conversation!

Photo caption:
Three Fabulous cheeses meet their match.  The Alps Blossom cheese is rich and earthy, matched with a wonderful flowery French Merlot.  The Chiriboga Blue meets a dreamy late harvest red made from over-matured grapes, and a Spanish Manchego is paired with a Rioja, but would also be set off nicely with a dark Port.  The cheeses come from Toque on Dunhearn Road.