The perfect pairings

We all know that wine and cheese go well together, but did you know that some wines require particular types of cheese to bring out the best of both?

As per Wine Enthusiast, there are six distinct categories of cheese.

Fresh: Soft and rindless, these can be made with cow, goat or sheep milk. They're not aged and have a mild, slightly tangy flavour. While a log of bright white goat cheese is iconic, the category also includes farmer’s cheese, ricotta and others that come in tubs.

Bloomy: These are named for the bloom of white mould on the outside. They tend to be the richest and creamiest type of cheese, with a soft, spreadable texture. The rind is edible and it has a stronger, funkier flavour than the interior.

Washed rind: A bath in brine, beer or wine produces a distinct orange rind. They’re rich and creamy and they can be soft or semi-soft in texture. They’re funkier than bloomy cheeses, with gamey, often pleasantly pungent notes.

Semi-soft: They’re not spreadable, nor do they break in shards like a hard cheese. They tend to be creamy and fairly mild in flavour. Many are excellent to melt and perfect to slice. Some cheese like Gouda are semi-soft in younger styles, while when aged, their texture turns hard.

Hard: The product of ageing, these are quite firm and break into crumbles or shards. They tend to have nutty and complex savoury notes. Some are fairly pungent and salty.

Blue: Veins of blue mould run through these. They can be soft and creamy or semi-soft and crumbly. Some are sweeter and milder, but all pack a good deal of sharpness and tang.

Some wines require particular types of cheese to bring out the best of both

How does one choose cheese with wines? Wine Folly provides six useful tips.

Pair wines with cheese of equal intensity: Select a delicate Gruyère for a Pinot Noir and aged Gouda for a strong Cabernet Sauvignon.

Bold red wines pair best with aged cheese: The higher fat content in an aged cheese matches well with the tannins in bold reds. Try a Super Tuscan or Brunello with a Grana Padano cheese from Italy.

Match super funky cheeses with sweet wines: Sweeter wines like Moscato, Gewürztraminer, Late Harvest dessert wines, and Port match wonderfully with stinky, washed-rind and blue-veined cheese. Classical matches here include Port and Stilton (blue cheese) and Sauternes with Roquefort cheese. Both combinations are simply delicious.

Sparkling wines are terrific with soft, creamy cheese: The high acidity and carbonation of sparkling wines (Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, Spumante or Sekt) offset the creamy texture and relatively neutral flavour of cheese like Brie or Camembert. 

Wines and cheese from the same place pair well: Europe in particular has had hundreds of years to work out the ideal combinations of locally produced wine and cheese (and food!). The best examples of this are to try Sauvignon Blanc with tangy goat cheese (the Loire Valley, France) and a Rioja (from the Tempranillo grape of Spain) with the sweetish Spanish cheese called Manchego.

When in doubt, get a firm, nutty cheese: Often you may be at a soirée where several wines and cheese are being served. By all means, try out various combinations to find out which one suits your tastes the best. But if you're not sure, go for cheeses like Gruyère, Emmental or Gouda to pair with your reds (and even reserve Chardonnay).

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant