TAICHUNG > ARTICLES >The basics for pairing wine and cheese

COMPASS MAGAZINE September 2011
　

the wine connection
The basics for pairing wine and cheese By Kris Love Translated by Angel Pu
Hi Everybody, This month I thought I'd take a quick look at an often-misunderstood element of wine drinking–matching wine with cheese. The key to doing this correctly is to know what you are trying to match. In the same way that some kinds of clothes go well together, while other wrong colours clash with each other, the relationship between wine and cheese is equally temperamental. So, first you need to either identify what kind of cheese you're having and find a wine that suits it, or vice-versa. Here are a few general rules to follow:
	1. Strong, salty blue cheeses such as stilton or gorgonzola (not the most popular in Taiwan) usually work well with wine that has some sweetness to balance the saltiness. Wine and food matches are all about balance and, when a food is strong tasting like this, you need your wine to temper that. If the strong cheese is fatty, then you should go for a wine with higher acidity. I'd go for something like a Sauternes or Late Harvest Riesling. Muscat wines can be a little too flowery and citrus flavored, but if it is a very "grapey" tasting wine, it should work well. Sweet reds can be surprisingly good. A good ruby or vintage port is also a good bet for a match.
	2. Hard cow's cheeses such as cheddar, edam or aged gouda tend to work best with hearty red wines like a full-bodied Australian Shiraz, Barolo from Italy or good Zinfandel (red) from California. An interesting match I had recently was a Petit-Sirah from Mexico with some Danish harvati cheese.
	3. Soft cheeses like brie or camembert which are pretty common in Taiwan can be hard to match if they are allowed to warm up and are served runny as they should be. The key here is to balance the fattiness of the cheese with a wine with good acidity and a lighter fruitier red wine. A Cabernet Franc based wine from the Loire valley in France often works well, or even some Cru Beaujolais, but not that Beaujolais Nouveau rubbish, please!
	4. Mature goats cheese often defeats red wines with its firm acidity. A green grassy-flavoured white wine like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, or modern, fruit-driven styles of Verdelho and Trebbiano based can work well. Cooler-climate Semillion (dry) is often a good match, too. I hope that helps, we'll look at some more matches another time. Cheers, Kris kris@wineconnection.co.nz
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