Tips on Pairing Wine and Cheese

Casual get-togethers usually mean wine and cheese will be served. If you are the host you want to make sure that you pair both for a successful party. We are going to give you some selection, prepping, serving, and tasting tips to help you create winning combinations for both wine and cheese.

Tips on Selecting Cheese
There is an art to selecting the right cheeses for your tasting party. Start your cheese assortment with some mild or light varieties and then work up to the more aromatic flavors. A good basic selection would be a mild Brie or Camembert, a sheep or goat cheese, a hard cheese and then a blue cheese. After these basics, you can then begin to add your favorites to the selections and experiment with others.

Tips on Selecting Wine
Start simple by choosing a theme for your wine tasting. You can focus on a certain varietal such as the Pinot Noir. As you host more wine tasting gatherings try other themes such as blind tasting, organic wines, or wines within the same price range.

Tips on Prepping Cheese
The most important tip on prepping the cheese is to make sure that it is at room temperature before you serve it. Serving cheese colder than room temperature will not allow the full flavors to come forth.

Tips on Prepping Wine
Serving wine doesn't need to be complicated. Serve the red wines at slightly above room temperature. Serve the white wines at about 40 or 50 degrees by uncorking them about 30 minutes before serving and placing them in a tub of ice water.

Tips on Serving Cheese
To avoid the guessing game with your guests, label each cheese with a short description so that they know what they are trying. Make sure that your serving plates also have water crackers or bread as a neutral flavor. You may also want to add small pieces of low-acid fruit such as apples, pears, and grapes.

Tips on Serving Wine
So that you don't dull the palate, serve about one ounce of wine with each cheese offering. If this is a party and not just a tasting, prepare to serve each guest about one glass wine per hour. One bottle of wine contains about six glasses.

Tips on Tasting Cheese
When first tasting cheese, it is usually recommended that you begin with the mildest cheeses and work your way up to the strongest.

Tips on Tasting Wine
Try to get your guests to wait a few minutes before tasting the wine poured into their glasses. Give it time to rest in the glass and have them swirl it before tasting, that way your wine tasting guests will get the full experience of the wine.

Tips on Pairing Wine and Cheese
Pairing wines is usually a matter of choice; however, soft cheeses usually go best with white wines. You will find the harder cheeses go well with red wines.