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Young fresh and soft, creamy unripened cheeses
(Fresh – Cow’s milk cheese, double or triple creamy, Stretched Curd and Brined, Soft and Brined, Semi-soft and Brined)
Mild |
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Sparkling Wine
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White Wine
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Rosé Wine
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Red Wine
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Dessert Wine
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Fresh and soft cheeses – Soft-ripened and Bloomy-rind
Note: Milder blue cheese like Cambozola share the same potential matches as bloomy cheeses.
Mild |
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Sparkling Wine
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White Wine
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Red Wine
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Other (Cider/Beer/Gin)
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Fresh and soft cheeses – Goat’s and sheep’s milk
For Goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses, you can break the rules, as long as you stick with a fresh wine with lively acidity, it is best to avoid very mature sheep or goat cheeses as they can be very strong.
Mild |
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White Wine
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Rosé Wine
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Red Wine
Fresh fruity red (for goat cheese)
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Dessert Wine
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Semi-aged and medium-hard cheeses/Moderately aged cheeses
Semi-aged and medium-hard cheeses have a firmer texture and stronger flavours. They need medium-bodied whites, fruity reds, vintage sparkling wine, and aperitif wines that offer a balance between acidity, fruit, and tannin. In other words, a wide range of wines, from youthful to vibrant, but stopping shy of the biggest, boldest reds.
Pair with semi-aged and medium-hard cheeses with medium-bodied white, fruity red, and vintage sparkling wines.
Mild Cow, Mild Goat, Mild Sheep, Swiss or Swiss style.
Moderately aged cheeses have developed some complexity, but remain smooth and mild tasting. That makes them partner best with wines that, like them, have some complexity but retain refreshing acidity.
Medium |
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Sparkling Wine
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White Wine
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Rosé Wine
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Red Wine
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Dessert Wine
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Other (Cider/Beer/Gin)
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Semi-aged and medium-hard cheeses/Moderately aged cheeses – Washed Rind
Washed Rind is often referred to as ‘stinky cheese’.
They tend to be quite pungent especially as they mature so don’t expect anything great in the way of a wine pairing.
They call for light-bodied wines with demure aromatics that complement rather than compete.
Oddly a crisp dry white wine (can work better than a red wine).
Meaty, creamy cheeses need a palate cleanser or a drink that stands up to the FUNK. Wine.
Avoid: Pungent washed-rind cow’s cheeses will lose its stinky characteristics when paired with Chardonnay, but you can also opt for milder, traditional triple cream cheese to avoid the smell.
Medium |
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Sparkling Wine
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White Wine
Oddly a crisp dry white wine (can work better than a red wine) |
Red Wine
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Dessert Wine
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Other (Cider/Beer/Gin)
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Hard aged cheeses
(Aged Cow, Aged sheep, Grana)
Bold red wines pair best with aged cheeses. In other words, pair older cheeses with bigger, aged wines. As cheese ages and looses water-content, it becomes richer in flavour with its increased fat content. These two attributes are ideal for matching bold red wines because the fat content in the cheese counteracts the high-tannins in the wine. For the best results, select cheeses that have been aged at least a year.
Pair Hard aged cheeses with full-bodied, tannic, oxidative and aromatic wines.
They’re the easiest type of cheese to pair with wine – a medium bodied red (to compliment the bold flavours) like a cabernet sauvignon or a Rioja is probably going to be the most enjoyable pairing for most people.
Aged hard cheeses need wines with oomph to balance their dense, salty, and very savoury flavours. They work best with earthier wines with big, ample structure, meaning those with some tannin. That’s because tannins bind protein and fat, essentially scrubbing the palate clean after every bite.
Avoid: Fatter cheeses, like Parmesan, are hard to digest. If mixed with a very sweet and high alcohol content wine, such as Porto, the effect can be disastrous.
Bold |
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Sparkling Wine
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White Wine
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Red Wine
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Dessert Wine
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Other (Cider/Beer/Gin)
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Blue cheeses
Match super funky Crumbly stinky Blue cheeses with sweet wines.
Blue cheeses need wines with both oomph and sweetness to balance their bold flavours and usually very salty, savoury body.
The classic match for Blue cheeses is sweet wine. It works particularly well if the cheese is creamy. You get the complement from the creamy texture of the cheese and structure of the wine, as well as the contrast from the salty and sweet.
Avoid: Blue cheese with a youthful, tannic red wine can make the wine taste metallic.
Strong |
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Sparkling Wine>
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White Wine
Noble Rot sweet wines (for sharp, salty cheese) |
Dessert Wine
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Other (Cider/Beer/Gin)
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