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How to deliciously match the right wine with the right cheese, in time to make those holiday spreads

Frank Sinatra once sang of love and marriage and that “you can’t have one without the other.” The same can be said about wine and cheese, the classic culinary combination. These two agricultural products create a compatible union, with similarities and differences that serve to heighten the other’s performance.

Cheese is made from almost any type of animal milk, or plant-based derivative, with cow, goat, and sheep being the most common examples. On the wine side, there are a myriad of grapes winemakers can use, from the widely planted chardonnay to off-the-beaten-path varietals like xinomavro. As cheese and wine age, they develop from either from the outside in, or the inside out (more on that below), and transform from soft and fruity to firm and complex.

Human senses, especially smell and taste, are intrinsically linked and respond to both euphoria and discord. To get the most out of pairing wine and cheese, it’s best to understand the complexities of the two, and how they work with your senses of taste and smell.

Making Sense of it All

The point of any food pairing is to create a pleasurable experience. Your sense of taste and smell develop together like your muscles and joints at the gym. The more you use and understand them the stronger the muscle gets.

Salt, sugar, acid, tannin, fat, and spice are the building blocks of a well-suited marriage of wine and cheese. The walls of those building blocks consist of a handful of pairings: what grows together goes together, intense with intense, acid with fat, sugar with spice.

Let’s take acid and fat as an example: Wine’s naturally occurring acids are felt on the back of your tongue, resulting in salivation. This is a natural defense mechanism that your body produces to get your mouth’s pH level back to normal and protect your tooth enamel. Wines with pronounced acid such as Champagne, dry riesling or any other cold-climate wine are a natural fit with fresh cheeses—much like how lemon juice and sugar form stability in lemonade. The striking acid chops its way through the fatty, oily textures of the cheese creating balance, which is the ultimate goal in food and wine pairing.

Pairing a firm cheese like Parmesan Reggiano with Champagne may create some dissonance, rather than an attractive union. Rather, salty, hard cheeses find their match with high tannin wines like cabernet sauvignon or nebbiolo. Tannin (a drying, sometimes bitter sensation coming from grape skins) and salt together form a sensational, silky mouthfeel from the salt restraining the bitter bite of tannin. Balance!

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What rind and oak have in common when it comes to aging

The obvious difference between the two: one is made from milk and one is made from grapes. But, wine and cheese are more alike than you think. Both agricultural products can be consumed young or benefit from aging. Simple, quaffable wines (perhaps a screw-top) and cheeses like ricotta are young and uncomplicated. These are produced with the goal of immediate consumption, yet, not necessarily destined to complement each other in a pairing.

The intention of aging begins with the decision to use oak (for wine) and rinds (for cheese). Oak barrels are storage vessels that create an environment that assists in the maturation of the contained wine—either short or longterm. As a stylistic choice or one required by law, aging wine in new oak (and sometimes old oak) will impart certain flavors, depending on the oak used. French oak, most commonly used in New World chardonnays, lends aromas of cinnamon, vanilla, or nutmeg to the wine. New American oak, frequently used in Spain’s Rioja (and required by law in American bourbon production) infuses coconut, dill-like, herbal qualities into the fermented liquid. Some vintners will choose previously used barrels to have a more subtle effect on the resulting wine.

Rinds, like oak in wine, also play an impactful role in the aging process. Both act as a protective layer during the aging process and can also be applied to enhance flavor and foster an environment for beneficial development. Rinds that are “washed” do both. Washed-rind cheeses are soaked, dipped, smothered in everything and anything—you name it. The Italian cow’s milk cheese, Taleggio, made in the mountains of Lombardy, is probably the most famous washed-rind cheese and is also a protected DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) by the EU.

Depending on the desired style of a washed-rind cheese, a simple brine, honey, beer, or wine, is applied to the mold and then left to rest for a few months. (For instance, Basil Hayden bourbon recently partnered with Beehive Cheese to create a “Pour Me a Slice” bourbon rind washed cheddar, and the cheese producer also makes a coffee washed cheese.)

Because some styles of washed-rind cheese can get a bit stinky. Similarly, wine with Brettanomyces can be a polarizing style, but both are found to be delicious by certain captive audiences. Brettanomyces, incidentally, is a non-spore forming yeast found in old barrels that sometimes infuses itself with wine as it ages, often imparting a “barnyard” aroma. Brett, as it is commonly referred, however, is a considered much-loved characteristic of Bordeaux wines.

These are just a couple of the numerous behind-the-scenes decisions wine and cheese producers make that can affect consumer decisions in the marketplace. Sense of terroir, the grape variety used, use of animal or vegetarian rennet, rinds, oak use, types of milk, blending, aging, style, laws, etc., are just some of the steps that affect these products before they reach your neighborhood market.

You can make a case for why any pairing could work, of course, but the ultimate goal is to balance flavors and give your palate that happily ever after it deserves.

A few wine and cheese pairings to try

Frei Brothers Zinfandel 2016 - Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, CA ($17)

With

Manchego

The Frei Brothers Ranch has been producing grapes in Sonoma County since the late 1800s. Grape grower Scott Johnsen and his team are committed to using environmentally sustainable practices and work to showcase these premier vineyards of Sonoma County. This zinfandel is robust with a dark berry bouquet and topped cinnamon and cloves spices. Naturally, this chewy wine needs a salty, firm cheese like manchego to balance it out. A Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, manchego is nutty and rich and when paired with this zinfandel, creates a flavor combination similar to peanut butter and jelly. Frei Brothers Zinfandel was awarded a gold medal for Best Zinfandel at the 2019 New York International Wine Competition.

Other Suggestion: Campo Viejo Gran Reserva Tempranillo 2011 - Rioja, Spain ($25) (Gold Award for Best Rioja 2018 Berlin International Wine Competition)

Domaine Baumgartner Rosenprinzessin Gruner Veltliner 2017 - Niederösterreich, Austria ($19)

With

Sainte-Maure

Domaine Baumgartner, now in its 11th generation, make wines in northern Austria that are true to the terroir and varietal characteristics. The 2017 Rosenprinzessin bottling of Austria’s own grüner veltliner is no exception. Light, crisp, vegetal and peppery, it was awarded the double gold medal for Best Grüner Veltliner at the 2018 New York International Wine Competition. The wine’s refreshing, green character makes it an ideal pairing with Sainte-Maure—a tangy, vegetable ash rind, goats milk cheese from France’s Loire Valley.

Other Suggestion: Thomas Labaille Monts Damnés Sauvignon Blanc 2018 - Sancerre, France ($30)

Tempus Two Pewter Series Botrytis Semillion 2013 - New South Wales, Australia ($31)

With

Gorgonzola

The fashionable Tempus Two wines are a product of the McGuigan family, which has a long history of winemaking in Australia. Andrew Duff is the current winemaker and only sources wines from the best vineyards in Hunter Valley, the first winegrowing region in Australia. The Pewter Series showcases premium wines with decadent, intense flavors. The 2013 Botrytis Semillion was so luxurious it was bestowed with the gold medal for Best Australian Semillon at the 2019 New York International Wine Competition. The Sauterne-style white is made by the “noble rot” bacteria botrytis that enhances the semillion’s natural sweetness. Paired with the pleasantly creamy and funky Italian blue cheese gorgonzola, it is the perfect match of salty and sweet.

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Other Suggestion: Try it with a fine aged tawny port, such as Croft 20 Year ($50)

Dominique Lafon Bourgogne Blanc 2016 - Burgundy, France ($35)

With

Époisses de Bourgogne

Mr. Lafon’s wines are approachable, yet elegant and always top quality. Farming from only the best vineyards in Côte de Beaune, each bottling gets better than the last. Lafon’s Bourgogne Blanc is 100% chardonnay with a flirty, golden hue and boasts aromas of red apple, pear, and apricot, finishing with a hedonistic mouthfeel. A classic “what goes together goes together” pairing (regional food and wine that reflect each other), this blanc and Époisses de Bourgogne is sinfully delicious. A demarcated AOC cheese and 100% cow’s milk, this washed rind cheese is oozing with creamy elegance, making it a natural choice with bright Bourgogne Blanc.

Other Suggestion: Patrick Piuze Terroir de Courgis - Chablis, France ($30)