Looking for the perfect match? Good wine and good cheese can enhance the flavours and complexities of each other. Select a wine that complements the flavours in your favourite cheese.

If you have a special bottle, pick a cheese to match.

Don’t know which cheese to buy?

You can bet there’s a wine out there for every cheese. In general, white wine tends to work better with cheese, as the wine’s high acidity breaks down the fat. However, there are red wines that can work well with mature cheeses.

You’ll notice some pairings repeat so you can mix and match with ease for your next party.

There are numerous studies finding the strong flavour of cheese accentuates the dominant flavours in the wine. Interestingly, research shows your wine palate becomes more sensitive when combining cheese and wine so that you will detect more lovely flavours in the wine.

But to get this heightened taste sensation, you need to pair the two right.

Here is my guide to pairing the perfect cheese with your delicious wine with the most popular wines and cheeses pairings!

• Off-Dry Wines pair well with Spicy Cheeses
• Light Bodied Wines pair well with Light Cheeses
• Full-Bodied Wines pair well with Heavier Cheeses

Rosé Wine

Rosé is a classic pink wine. When a wine isn’t quite red, it’s rosé. Technically speaking, this pinkish beverage is produced differently than red wine but with the same grapes.

There are 4 primary ways to make rosé wine:

• Maceration Method – when red wine grapes are let to rest, or macerate, in the juice for a period of time, and afterward, the entire batch of juice is finished into a rosé wine. The maceration method is probably the most common type of rosé we see available and is used in regions like Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon, France, where rosé is as important as red or white wine. For Rosé, the juice is separated from the skins before it gets too dark. For lighter varieties, like Grenache, it can take 24 hours. For darker red-wine varieties, like Mourvedre, the process sometimes only lasts a few hours.
• Vin Gris (“Gray Wine”) Method – when red grapes are used to make a nearly-white wine. Vin Gris uses an extremely short maceration time. This style of Rosé winemaking is popular for the lighter red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir in the United States and Gamay or Cinsault in France.
• Saignée or “Bled” Method – When making red wine during the first few hours, some juice is bled off and put into a new vat to make rosé. This method is very common in wine regions that make fine red wines such as Napa and Sonoma. The Saignée method is capable of producing some of the longest-lasting Rosé wines. This process leaves a higher ratio of skin contact on the remaining juice, making the resulting red wine richer and bolder. The leftover bled wine or “Saignée” is then fermented into Rosé. Wines made from the Saignée method are typically much darker than the Maceration Method wines and much more savoury.
• Blending Method – when a little bit of red wine is added to a white wine vat to make rosé. It doesn’t take much red wine to dye a white wine pink, so these wines will usually have up to 5% or so of red wine added. This method is very uncommon with still rosé wines but happens much more in sparkling wine regions such as Champagne.

The rosé wine’s primary flavours are red fruit, flowers, citrus, and melon, with a pleasant crunchy green flavour on the finish similar to celery or rhubarb. Of course, depending on the type of grape, the rosé wine is made with will greatly vary the flavour. For example, a deeply-coloured Italian Aglianico rosé–rosé is called “Rosato” in Italy– will offer up cherry and orange zest flavours, and a pale-coloured Grenache rosé from Provence in France will taste of honeydew melon, lemon and celery.

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Dry Rosé Wine (“Not Sweet”)

This style of Rosé wine is the most common style produced today around the world. France and Spain lead the way in Rosé wine production, and it’s typical to see a blend of 2-3 different grape varieties.

Light to medium-bodied and dry with splashes of cherry and raspberry. The bright acidity of a drier Rosé makes it perfect for a mild yet flavourful cheese.

If you’re drinking a dry Rosé, the wine’s crisp acidity pairs perfectly with nutty goat cheese.

Dry Rosé is a dry pink wine and light to medium-bodied. The hints of cherry and raspberry in the wine bring brightness and acidity into the pairing with these mild yet flavourful cheese options

Cheese Pairings:

• goat cheese
• Mild Cheese

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Grenache Rosé / Garnacha Rosado

Grenache is one of the top varieties used in popular Provence Rosé blend.

You’ll also find it used in Northern Spain, where it’s called Garnacha Rosado.

Grenache is a dry rosé with a fruity and floral aroma. Its flavour is tenderly cherry, with little acidity and tannin. The wine goes well with British Cheddar and Red Leicester, as well as blue cheeses.

A semi-soft cheese like Havarti is the ultimate pairing for Grenache, a fruity Rosé from a warm-climate region.

Cheese Pairings:

• blue cheeses
• British Cheddar
• Havarti
• Red Leicester

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Provence Rosé

Rosé, from Provence, is the little black dress of pink wines. Its Fruity and Lean fresh, crisp, dry style is a masterful match for almost any dish; even a juicy burger makes a perfect partner. Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, and Mourvèdre are all used to create this pale, pink rosé and give it an aroma of strawberry, fresh-cut watermelon, and rose petal, finishing with a distinctive, salty minerality on the palate.

Provence rosé serves perfectly both as an aperitif and a partner for your meal. This is a fresh wine with a strawberry tint and tangy aftertaste, pairing well with goat cheese.

Cheese Pairings:

• goat cheese

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Tavel Rosé

Notes:Tavel Rosé is from the Côtes du Rhône.

Tavel is an unusually savoury and rich dry Rosé. It has more body and structure than most pink wines and is considered to have all the character of good red wine, just less colour. Usually high in alcohol and low in acid, this salmon-pink wine ages well, and its nose of summer fruits can turn to rich, nutty notes over time. It is made primarily with Grenache and Cinsault, but nine varieties are allowed in the blend.

Tavel rosé is drier than other rosé wines and resembles a red in its texture and character. With age, its taste turns from fruity to rather nuttier. Tavel rosé shines with goat and sheep cheeses.

Cheese Pairings: goat and sheep cheeses

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Sweet Rosé Wine

Sweet Rosé is a pink wine that is off-dry and light-bodied with watermelon and strawberry flavours with a creamy quality.

Any Rosé wine can be produced in a sweet style by simply not fermenting all the sugar into alcohol. However, it is not as common and mostly reserved for bulk wine production.

Light bodied and off-dry with sweet hints of strawberry and watermelon. The sugary creaminess of a sweet rosé is the perfect counterpart to a full-flavoured spicy cheese.

Cheese Pairings: Chipotle or Colby-Jack.

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Note: I get really excited about cheese and wine, so it’s difficult for me to be brief when there is so much wonderful information to share!

Also check:

• A Complete Guide to Plan an Unforgettable Wine & Cheese Party
• The cheese
  • ***Soft Cheese – Fresh – Cow’s milk cheese
  • ***Soft Cheese – Fresh – Goat’s milk cheese
  • ***Stretched Curd and Brined
  • ***Soft and Brined
  • ***Soft-ripened and Bloomy-rind – Cow’s milk cheese
  • ***Soft Ripened and Bloomy-rind – Cow’s milk cheese – Double/Triple-crème cheeses
  • ***Soft-ripened and Bloomy-rind – Goat’s milk cheese
  • ***Semi-soft and Brined
  • ***Semi-soft – Mild Cow’s milk cheese
  • ***Semi-soft – Mild Sheep’s milk
  • ***Semi-soft – Swiss or Swiss-style
  • ***Washed Rind (soft or semi-soft/Semi-hard Cheese/Medium-aged Cheeses)
  • ***Aged – Cow’s milk cheese
  • ***Hard – sheep’s milk cheese
  • ***Hard – Grana
  • ***Blue cheeses
• What to serve with the cheese and wine?
• Cheese and Wine Pairing
• ***Classic Cheese and Wine Pairing Chart
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – Sparkling Wine
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – White Wine
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – White Wine
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – Rosé Wine
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – Red Wine
• ***Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing – Dessert Wine
• Non-alcoholic alternatives
• How much to buy?
• How to set the table?
  • How to Use That Set of Fancy Cheese Cutlery
  • Wine Glass Guide
• Chronogram & Preparation

***In Development, please keep checking.

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Reference: Content and images based on information from: https://www.wikipedia.org/ https://cheese.com https://www.cookipedia.co.uk
https://culturecheesemag.com https://www.gourmetsleuth.com https://winefolly.com/ https://www.tasteatlas.com https://www.wine.com/ https://winemonger.com https://www.terroir-france.com/

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