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A huge cliché like “cheese
goes with red wine” collapses when you actually taste
the combination. Why is this?
Flavours:
Cheese flavours are often stronger than delicate flavours of
fine red wines. It would be a crime to drink your preferred
fine old red with a camembert or blue cheese overwhelming
the elegant flavours of the wine. Choose a rather simple white
or light red wine with fruity flavours. 
Tannins:
Tannins
tend to be smoothed by creams and fatty sauces but tend to be
sharpened by fat in its solid state as it is the case in cheeses.
Choose non-tannic wines such as young Pinot Noir,
Gamay (found in Beaujolais mostly), or Merlot.
 Acidity:
White wines have got on average more acidity
than red wines. Reason is you do not need lots of acidity in
red wines as the structure is already supported by tannins.
So the acidity is reduced in most cases. It is less often the
case with whites which do not have tannins and so acidity is
pretty much the backbone. Acidity has got a love relationship
with fat: acidity cut through the fat, or balances it out if
you prefer. And cheeses are made of fat mostly! Choose
an acidic white made of Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc!
Here
are the best combinations:
Blue
Cheese: Sweet white wine from botrytised grapes. (Sauternes
from Bordeaux region, Tokay from Hungary).
Goat
and soft cheese (ex: camembert, mozzarella): Acidic
white from Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc (both
from cool climate like Chablis), or try them with Champagne!
Medium
cheese: Medium bodied Chardonnay oaked or not, Viognier
from the Rhône Valley or young red from Gamay (Beaujolais
in Centre Est of France) or Pinot Noir from New Zealand.
Hard
cheese (ex: parmesan): Rosé wine from Spain
or South of France, Xeres Amontillado. |
We
were very pleased and lucky to meet Stéphane
Ogier on our most recent visit to the Rhône
region in France. Stéphane Ogier is a young
winemaker and has taken over from his dad who used
to run the family estate. He is part of this new breed
of winemakers in the Northern Rhône area to
really push quality higher and higher: His flagship
Côte Rôtie wines, “Cuvée
Belle Hélene” and “Cuvée
Lancement” are probably some of the best wines
out there. 