I just love cheese, wine and spending time with my friends.
Image by Дарья Яковлева
A wine and cheese party is always so much fun. It is also a great way to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. Actually, it’s my favourite party to host. What can be better than a couple of pieces of cheese, some wine and the company of great friends?
Call me crazy but thinking about making and serving a cheese platter literally puts a smile on my face. I just love that there’s something for everyone and it’s so fun to try new and different cheese. Furthermore, for me, it’s less stressful to assemble a fun and colourful cheese platter than cook or bake something for a holiday party when I don’t know about guests’ dietary restrictions, having to time cooking with their arrival, etc. And, while cheese platters are a hit at holiday parties, they’re also great for dinner every once in a while.
Hosting a wine and cheese party may be a little fancy or intimidating, but if you follow my guide, you’ll be a DIY pro in no time. A guide with easy tips to everything you need to organize a low-prep, no-cook party, with all details that will make your gathering a special memorable evening.
What we present here are ideas & not rules. However, pairing cheese with wine, certain flavours react in a way that enhance or detract from each other. And while any cheese you like is perfect for any kind of cheese board, developing a little bit of knowledge & understanding can elevate the flavour & enjoyment of all wine and cheese!
What to serve with the wine and cheese?
One of the big perks of throwing an impromptu wine and cheese party is that you don’t need to cook. Keep things simple — spend your time scoping out the best cheeses and wines to serve, rather than slaving away in the kitchen.
In addition to the wine and cheese you’ll need some accompaniments. I like to build a cheese board to serve everything. I add sweet and savoury extras to the cheese board and nestle extra bread slices and crackers near the cheeses they go with.
The Cheese
Wine and cheese pairing possibilities are endless. The first step is to understand a little bit more about cheese. Learning a bit more about cheese will help you pair correctly. Read More…
Don’t let the cheese stand alone. Pair it with delicious accompaniments.
Charcuterie (cold cuts) and Seafood
It complements cheese well.
I like sticking with only one variety per board and arranging it in two different parts of the board to give the impression that there are two options. Read More…
Salty nibbles and Condiments
Just dump these in small, pretty looking bowls and arrange them on the cheese board. They don’t need to be the best quality but these salty nibbles keep people snacking and add to the variety. Read More…
Sweet things (jams, honey, maple syrup), Fresh fruits and Vegetables. Read More…
Dried fruits and toasted nuts work with both sweet and savoury pairings for many cheeses. They add crunchy and can really help fill up the spaces, and after their fill of cheese, crackers and cold cuts, your guests will love snacking on the nuts. Read More…
Place baskets with assorted breads, including sliced baguette, bread sticks, and crackers in all different shapes and sizes. Read More…
- Savoury Dips & Spreads
- Dairy free, gluten free and vegan options too
- Fresh herbs
- Floral arrangement
- Read More…
The wine
Photo by Afonso Lima
Choose at least 2-4 different types of wine but no more than 6 for bigger parties. It’s always best to provide options for red wine and white, and/or blush wine to your guests. You can get away with serving only one red and one white, as long as they’re versatile.
Learning a bit more about wines will help you pair correctly.
What’s My Wine Worth?
How do you find out the sale price of your luxury wine without opening the bottle?
It’s actually a lot easier than you think!
Wine and Cheese Pairing
It’s hard to go wrong when you’ve got a glass of wine in one hand and cheese in the other. One marriage no one can object to is the mouth-watering combination of wine and cheese. Cheese will make any wine taste better.
But, which wine? Read More…
Decide which is the hero, the cheese or the wine.
Which wine for each cheese category?
Wine and cheese pairing possibilities are endless.
To simplify the strategy, we’ve broken things down by cheese category. Read More…
You can bet there’s a wine out there for every cheese.
Check out here the Classic Wine and Cheese Pairing Chart
If you have a special bottle pick a cheese to match:
Non-alcoholic alternatives
There are non-alcoholic alternatives for anyone abstaining or done with wine or just dislike the taste of an alcoholic beverage or those who have yet to reach the drinking age. And, you can share the fun of a cheese tasting with kids!
Luckily, cheese actually pairs very well with many non-alcoholic beverages. Read More…
How much to buy?
Quantities always depend on what you know about your guests. And also if it’s summer or winter…
The rule of thumb is to have about 6 cheeses (depending of the number of people), serving 25-60g / 1-2 ounces of each type of cheese per person, as well as 60-140g / 2-5 ounces of meat (cold cuts and/or seafood) per person. Store-bought condiments like fruit compotes, nuts in syrup, chutneys and honey make great accompaniments, along with dried fruit. Offer a selection of breads and crackers, too. Read More…
How to set the table?
You can set your cheeses up buffet style, but for a larger party, you may want to set up several different tables with the wine and cheese pairs on various tables.
Usually, a little nice looking decoration, such as tablecloths, improves the party, and a seasonal centrepiece is not out of order. Read More…
Chronogram & Preparation
When it comes to planning your own Wine & Cheese party, start at the beginning. And by beginning, I mean weeks early. Write lists upon lists of food and drinks choices, groceries Shopping List, decorations, table settings, guests… Pick items up as the days pass by instead of having one massive shopping trip looming. Read More…
Party Time! Looks like you’re up for a party!
I hope my easy tips will give you the confidence to host a wine and cheese party with a handful of close friends.
If you’ve actually made it this far, I’d say you are more than ready to host your own Wine & Cheese party. All you need is a little creativity, a lot of fun and some good wines to make everyone go wow!
If you use my tips for your next Wine & Cheese party, please remember to take a picture and tag me @Fast2eat and use #Fast2eat so that we can both marvel at how easy it was!
Or you can leave the work to us and let our Cheese Specialists create a custom cheese board and/or prepare the party for you!
What are you tips?
Do you have suggestions from wine and cheese parties you’ve hosted?
Do share!
Just ask!
Have fun!
Note: I get really excited about wine and cheese, so it’s difficult for me to be brief when there is so much wonderful information to share!
Also check:
- 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?
- Chronogram & Preparation
***In Development, please keep checking.
Reference: Content and images based on information from: wikipedia.org cheese.com cookipedia.co.uk culturecheesemag.com gourmetsleuth.com winefolly.com wine.com winemonger.com terroir-france.com
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Thanks so much for the advice on what to serve alongside the wine and cheese. My partner and I just moved into our house and we were thinking about hosting a housewarming party and inviting a bunch of friends over. We don’t have many party supplies though so we’ll have to look into finding a place that does rental stuff.