Wine and Cheese Pairing

By Linda Bramble

Did you know that one of the most difficult foods to pair with wine is cheese? Here’s a tip.  When it comes to white wines, anything goes.  They pair well with everything, but especially well with soft cheeses such as Brie or Camembert.  

Sweeter whites, such as Late Harvest wines and Icewines are magnificent with blue-veined cheeses such as Roquefort and Stilton.  

Danish Blue.  On its own it’s fine, but it does something funny to wine, which is what any soft or veined cheese will do to red wines.  Blue cheeses can make a red wine taste like fish or worse, like you’re chewing aluminum.  Not nice.  

For reds, turn to hard cheeses such as aged cheddar Grano Padano, Perano or a heavenly Parmagiano.  Not only will your glass of Cabernet Sauvignon taste good, the cheese will be enhanced by the wine and both will taste better than the sum of their parts.  That’s Zen !