The combination of wine and cheese may sound a little cliché perhaps, dare I say even a little cheesy. Still, since their invention, wine and cheese have been a dazzling duo, going together like strawberries and champagne, Merlot and steak, boxed wine and Taco Bell. Doing it their way, yes their way, wine and cheese are the Laverne and Shirley of the alcohol industry.
It may seem odd that two such separate entities have the ability to do this. After all, these two products come from seemingly opposite poles: wine is made to perfection; cheese can be processed to fit into a spray can and forego refrigeration. Wine is served with lobster; cheese is sprinkled on top of spaghetti and meatballs. Pouring wine is synonymous with sophistication, cutting cheese is a euphemism for passing wind. Nonetheless, when consumed together, cheese complements wine like no other food; it’s as if chunks of cheddar continually go up to bottles of Riesling to tell them how well they’ve aged.
The regular rules of food pairings - pairing white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat - do not apply to cheese and wine coupling, as most cheese is white or orange, or, if kept for too long, white and orange with soft green spots. Thus, in order to succeed in a proper pairing, we have to look beyond, viewing through the holes of a Swiss piece of cheese into an entirely different world.
Generally, there are several guidelines that can be followed to achieve maximum wine/cheese pairing potential. Many people believe that the flavor of the cheese and the wine should be similar. For example, a strong or sharp cheese should be paired with a full-bodied wine, where a subtle and light cheese should be paired with a light or dessert wine. This kind of equality helps keep the two entities on the same level, disallowing one to overpower the other. Others believe that the wine and the cheese should hail from the same region: it is their belief that a French wine and a French cheese go together as well as beer and the state of Wisconsin. Still, others believe that it all comes down to texture: red wine should go with hard cheese and white wine should go with soft cheese.
Article comments
1 - Didier Bertrand
I personlly taste a good cheese and a good wine from the same or similar terroir. The history of the cheese or of the wine may inform me in that regard. What wine would you sip with raw milk camembert? In Normandy (where Camembertans reside) there are no vines! But there are plenty of apples and pears. Hence a beautiful - but way too seldom used - pairing is Apple or Pear cider and Camembert. Try it and tell me that 350 years of terroir specificity cannot inform the palate!
Didier
2 - LStaff
Here is an article that suggests that wine is not the best complement to cheese.
"As a longtime cheese aficionado, The Chronicle's weekly cheese columnist and a nightly wine drinker, I've reluctantly concluded that many cheeses give wine, especially dry wine, a rough time. But after several weeks of "research, " including two marathon tastings, I'm convinced that beer as a partner for cheese rarely stumbles."