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+--- Thread: Wine and Cheese (/thread-669.html)
- umdidily - 09-07-2006
I am new to wine. I don't like a strong alcohol taste. I would like to have a very small wine and cheese party and I don't know where to begin. What are some mild wines and what cheeses can I pair them with? Please help!
- wondersofwine - 09-08-2006
Sauvignon Blanc (a white wine)goes nicely with blue cheese cutting the saltiness of the cheese. You might try a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand or Sancerre, France or a California entry such as St. Supery, Honig, or Joel Gott.
A Beaujolais-Villages or Beaujolais Cru (Moulin a Vent, Brouilly, Morgon, Julienas, etc.) or a Pinot Noir or red Burgundy may be a good match for a hard cheese such as Gouda, sharp cheddar, or tomme de savoie. Look for regional matches such as a goat cheese from the Loire region of France with a Loire wine or an Italian cheese such as
Parmigiano-Reggiano (called the king of cheese) from the region of Emilia-Romagna with a wine from that region such as Lambrusco or a Romagna Sangiovese wine. A good wine and cheese shop should be able to help with pairings using the cheeses they have available. I love Laura Chenel goat cheese (chevre) produced in California.
- Innkeeper - 09-08-2006
Hi Umdidily, and welcome to the Wine Board. WOW is spot on with her recommendations. When you have more time you might visit a book store or library and look up a book by Andrea Immer (Robinson) entitled "Great Tastes Made Simple."
In it she has a full thirty five page chapter on wine and cheese matching. This includes eighteen pages of matrixes for matching every style of wine with cheeses ranging from Fresh/Young, to Semisoft/Semifirm, to Gooey/Creamy/ to Blue, to Firm/Hard. It is a very valuable resource.
- Thraz - 09-11-2006
I would add the following sites as suggestions:
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cpairing.htm and http://www.winesquire.com/articles/2003/kk0305.htm
These sites have plenty of proposed pairings, but they do not always agree. For example, look at both entries for camembert - very different. It's not that one is wrong - it's that it's all a matter of taste, there are no hard and fast rules (or there are too many, which in my case means the same thing). If you tend towards whites for most cheeses that are young (i.e. softer and creamier - that means most cheeses, period) and reserve reds for harder, aged cheeses I find that it is difficult to find a really offensive pairing. There are some pairings that are really great (I hear St. Emilion and St. Nectaire is a classic, and I personally love dry savennieres with a young goat cheese), but missing them will usually not mean that your pairing is bad, just that it's merely good. Just avoid a hearty cabernet with young, fresh goat cheese, or a flinty sauvignon blanc with tomme (the other way round would be fine). The middle should be OK. Well, anyway, if I was your guest, it would be.
[This message has been edited by Thraz (edited 09-11-2006).]