Best Cheese With Chardonnay

Pairing Wine And Cheese The Basics

Before we explore our three pairing paths, lets set the stage for how to pair wine and cheese at a high level.

If youve ever wondered what cheese goes with what wine?, the secret to success is mouthfeel! In general, cheese has a high fat content and makes the mouth slightly oily. The tannins in wine are astringent, making your mouth feel dry. Pair them together and everything is right in the world and right in your mouth.

Does red or white wine go with cheese? The answer is both! In addition to improving the perceptions of fruit aromas in wine, cheese reduces the duration of astringency in red wine and heightens the taste of white wine. With this in mind, a general rule about pairing cheese and red wine is to match intensities, and a general rule about pairing cheese and white wines is to match opposites.

To compound these rules, cheese flavor profiles can be complex, and options like Cello Rubbed Fontals offer 8 unique spice rubs and tasting experiences, especially when paired with your favorite wine.

Now, lets get on with our wine and cheese pairing adventure.

Turning Leaf Cabernet And Goat Cheese

Black cherry and blackberry dominate the nose of this wine, with reasonable intensity. The palate has fairly heavy tannins, giving it a silky mouth feel. This Cabernet Sauvignon cheese pairing is perfect for beginners. The rich black cherry flavors melt with the creamy and pungent taste of goat cheese.

White Wines Pairing Guidelines

Whites are generally considered a better company for a wide range of cheeses. Due to their natural qualities, white wines almost never can overpower cheese odor and taste, but complement them harmoniously.

Chardonnay Wine Pairings

Chardonnay is a dry white wine with rich creamy and nutty flavor, sometimes with apple or citrus hints. It is one of the most versatile wines and matches well both hard and soft cheeses, varying from Gruyere and Cheddar to Brie and Camembert.

Muscat Wine Pairings

Muscat is a sweet wine with lush fruitiness in its taste and a touch of honey. It pairs wonderfully with desserts and chocolate, fois gras and soufflés, as well as blue and cheddar cheeses.

Pinot Grigio Wine Pairings

This is an aromatic dry light white with a fruity bouquet of scents and an acid zest. Pinot Grigio food pairing is quite diverse, including Thai and Chinese dishes. It is ideal for soft cheeses with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Fontina among them.

Riesling Wine Pairings

Riesling is a noble classic light-bodied white wine. Its taste gets richer with age, revealing citrus, apricot and peach notes. The wine shines well with hard Gouda or Edam and soft Cotija or Mascarpone cheeses.

Sauvignon Blanc Wine Pairings

Its time to start popping corks. Theres Champagne, of course, and lets seewhat else? What wine goes best with all those cheeses?

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Red Wines Pairing Guidelines

Although it is believed that whites match different cheeses better than reds, nothing bans to experiment and pair the types of the world s best cheese with red wine, and find fabulous combinations.

Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Pairings

This is a full-bodied and rich-flavored red wine, rather assertive and tannic, with a fine blackberry tint. Cabernet Sauvignon food pairing includes meat dishes and mostly hard cheeses, such as Asiago, Cheddar, Manchego, Parmesan and Pecorino.

Malbec Wine Pairings

Malbec is a soft wine with a berry and rather spicy touch, though its flavor characteristics greatly depend on the region where it is produced. It pairs well with Asiago, Manchego, Mimolette and Taleggio.

Merlot Wine Pairings

Merlot is soft and fruity. It can be complemented successfully with pungent blue cheeses, Camembert, Gouda, Gruyere, and Pecorinos.

Pinot Noir Wine Pairings

Light and delicate, with a slight berry smack, this is one of the noblest and the most versatile wines. It is great with meat, poultry and vegetable dishes. Pinot Noir cheese pairing varies from Brie and Epoisses to Gouda and Gruyere.

Syrah/Shiraz Wine Pairings

Syrah or Shiraz, as it is called in Australia, is a spicy wine with a large diversity of berry, meaty and peppery flavors. It goes well with smoky and rather sharp cheeses, such as Edam, Gouda or St. Nectaire.

White Wine And Cheese

White wines typically match with a much wider array of cheeses than reds. This is because white wines have no tannin, making it much easier to match them together. If theres one cheese that doesnt match up too well with many white wines, it would be blue cheese. It tends to overwhelm. Here are a few classic pairings to consider:

In the Loire Valley, where you can find many goat herds. The goat cheeses from the Loire arent as soft or as fresh as goat cheese in the US. French goat cheeses tend to be firmer with a chalk-like taste texture due to high calcium content. As they age, the cheese develops a spiciness that will match up fantastically with a Sauvignon Blanc or an unoaked Chardonnay . Check out cheeses like Crottin de Chavignol or Humboldt Fog as great options for a white wine cheese.

Around Veneto, youll find Garganega , which makes the wines of Soave. Soave is crisp, like Sauvignon Blanc, with a slightly bitter almond note on the finish. This wines bitterness makes it a fascinating match with a young asiago . The aged versions of Asiago go surprisingly well with a fruity, off-dry Prosecco or Moscato dAsti.

Off-dry , such as a German Riesling from the Mosel, match up wonderfully with fondue. The sweetness and acidity complement the nutty, robust fondue flavors and make everything taste delicately sweet and salty. Hungry yet?

Pairing Challenge:

Think your palate is good enough to be a ?

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Chardonnay And Cheese Pairing The Most Easily

In a recent blog post, your favourite online wine seller, Just Wines, deciphered a Chardonnay wines flavour profile and recommended food pairing accordingly. Today, let us discuss everything about Chardonnay and cheese pairing including why certain cheeses make for good matches with this wine, which is an aspect of the subject that is mostly

Aged Port And Blue Stilton

Port is a delicious fortified wine variety that can be served to complement dessert or just as an after-dinner drink. While many think of it more sweetly, its flavors depend on the type of aged port and may include notes of blackberry, caramel, raspberry cinnamon, and chocolate sauce with tannins so finely married to the ripe texture.

Stilton cheese has a creamy and subtly sweet flavor with a pungent aftertaste. It is deemed as the cream of choice for blue cheeses because it’s not too salty or bitter on its own.

Blue Stilton is the perfect match for a Port wine of any age. This cheese has an intense flavor and assertive aroma that cuts through the sweetness in Port and other Portuguese wines while providing excellent contrast in texture and mouthfeel.

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Extra Sharp Cheddar & Merlot

According to Wisconsin Cheese, red wines pair better with stronger, aged cheeses, like the extra sharp cheddar. The tannins in the red wine pair well with “full-bodied, flavorful cheeses” and can serve as a palate cleanser as you sip between each bite. “Keep in mind that red wine often doesn’t pair well with fresh cheese, as the tannins and low acidity can cause fresh cheeses to taste chalky,” they recommend. So as for an extra sharp cheddar, like their Black Creek®, it will pair well with a medium-bodied Merlot.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Cabernet Sauvignon And Aged Cheddar

Why it works: A bigger, bolder cheese needs a wine that can lift it up, spin it around, and not get winded in the process. An aged Cheddar has a fattiness that matches up wonderfully with the mouth-drying tannins youll find in many . Plus, their respectively bold flavors will match, instead of one drowning out the other.

Also try: and Smoked Gouda, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, or and Asiago.

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Sauvignon Blanc And Monterey Jack Or French Goat Cheese

This cheese is known for its subtleness and needs to be paired with a wine that wont overwhelm it. Sauvignon Blanc is a light-bodied, dry and bright white wine that has citrus and grassy notes that complement the cheese. This wine also works well with firmer French goat cheese that has developed spicy flavors.

Riesling And Parmigiano Reggiano

Riesling is a refreshing wine that has been growing in popularity over the last few years. It features crisp flavors of apples, apricots, peaches, and pears with high acidity to give it an optimal taste for any occasion.

Authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese has a sharp, complex fruity or nutty taste with a strong savory flavor and a slightly gritty texture. Chunks of Parmigiano Reggiano should be cracked, not cut with a knife, to preserve the flavor.

This classic hard Italian cow’s milk cheese goes great with a sweet Riesling. The saltiness and sweetness play off each other to create this delicious taste sensation! You can also go for blue cheeses, gouda or feta.

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Pairing Wine With Semi

Examples: Monterey Jack, young Cheddar, Gouda, Gruyere, and Havarti

Semi-hard cheeses will be dense and firm, but still a bit springy. This group of cheese is more approachable due to the fact they tend to be less funky in aroma and the flavors are savory, buttery, and nuttynot too tangy or salty.

This cheese family calls for a medium-bodied white or fruity red. Pinot Blanc, Viognier, Champagne, Beaujolais, and Dolcetto all pair well with these cheeses.

Napa Valley Red Blend + White Cheddar

Red blends often get a bad rap as being cheap or poorly made, but the truth is, most wines you drink are actually blends. I find red blends from California to be easy-drinking, approachable, and simple to pair with foodwhat more could you want?

This 2017 Napa Valley Red Blend from Prince and Pedro is a big and bold mix of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. Its deep ruby-purple in the glass, with a nose full of black cherry, plums, blackberry pie filling, vanilla, cocoa, cedar, and a touch of black pepper.

On the palate, its an explosion of fruity goodness, without being sweet. The tannins are there but approachable, and the acid is a nice medium. This is a bold and jammy wine that I can see myself cozying up with on the couch.

With this big blend, I wanted something salty to really amplify the fruit-forward quality in the wine. I thought white cheddar might do the trick.

The white cheddar I chose is semi-soft and sharp, which I thought would work well to bring out the fruit that I love so much in this wine. Its smooth like the wine, but its got enough edge and acid to hold its own.

After tasting this cheese and going back to sip the wine, the tannins have completely smoothed out, the acid holds up to that of the cheese, and I feel like Im drinking a liquified blackberry pie that couldnt be more delicious.

10/10 recommend this pairing for a cozy night in.

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Bold Red Wine And Cheese

Wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Zinfandel match up well with equally intense cheeses. Match them with a cheese thats firm and a bit salty, perhaps with tyrosine crystals. Youll best enjoy the cheese in small bite-sized pieces over grilled bread.

Cabernet Sauvignon does well with aged cheddars and peppery cheeses.

Emphasize the tobacco notes in Shiraz with a smokey cheese.

Candied and fruity Garnacha wines are a complementary match to a 4 month Spanish Manchego.

Different Styles Of Chardonnay

Before we look into what foods pair with Chardonnay, we should understand the different styles of this popular grape.

Chardonnay is in fact the most planted white wine grape in the world. It is planted in basically every wine-producing country, and its style varies depending on the production method used, weather conditions, usage of oak, and other factors. Does it sound complicated? Dont worry, even if Chardonnay is a diverse grape, it is possible to divide it into 4 different styles:

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Does Brie Pair Well With Chardonnay

As Brie is a rich cheese, choosing an acidic wine like Chardonnay is perfect. The acidity of the Chardonnay will cut through the fat of the Brie, leaving you feeling refreshed!

The flavors of both the Chardonnay and the Brie also work well together as neither will be overpowered by the other!

Now that you know all there is to know about pairing wine and cheese go and indulge! Try as many different combinations as you can, and youll soon find the perfect one for you!

Cheese And Wine Pairings Infographics

Although there are no universal rules to identify precisely what cheese goes with wine perfectly, cheese and wine pairing is not just a matter of personal taste. There are several useful tips worth paying attention to when you choose cheese for wine or vice versa. The main tip is to match acidity in a right way. Creamy and buttery cheeses should pair with smooth and mellow wines, while tangier cheeses match to tarter wines. Cheeses with high acidity contrast well to sweet wines, whereas wines with high acidity are finely complemented by salted cheeses. The other important thing is the strength of wine: the stronger the wine, the sharper the cheese should be served. One more rather common pattern to pair good cheese with wine of a certain varietal is to choose these two products from one region of origin. Manufactured under the same natural and climate conditions, both the cheese and wine should have complementary qualities and properties.

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Chardonnay And Mild Cheddar Colby Jack Or Triple Cream Cheese

Chardonnay is a dry, medium-bodied white wine with apple and pear notes, which makes it fruity and crisp. These features help enhance the characteristics of either of these mild cheeses, particularly the creaminess and the sweetness. Pungent washed-rind cows 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.

Considering Terroir When Pairing Cheese With Burgundy Wine

There are few regions where terroir is considered more critical than in Burgundy. Indeed, those same monks that first brought Burgundy to the forefront of winemaking also introduced the industry to the importance of place in terms of taste. While there are far too many unique terroirs within the region to explore each individuallyBurgundy is home to as many as 100 of Frances 600 total appellationsbecoming familiar with a few of its main subregions can prove helpful in making thoughtful cheese pairing choices.

Burgundy can be divided into six main subregions, each with its own unique soil and climate properties.

From a legal standpoint, Beaujolais might also be included in the list above since it is technically a subregion of Burgundy. However, from an oenological point of view, Beaujolais wine and Burgundy wine are so dissimilar in terms of taste profile and vinification techniques that they are considered by many to be completely different wines. Beaujolais is youthful and straightforward where a typical Burgundy is anything but, and Beaujolais wine is made almost exclusively from Gamay, rather than Pinot Noir, grapes.

Regardless, if you plan to serve Beaujolais wine anytime soon, know that these wines typically pair well with soft to semi-soft creamy French cheeses like Camembert, Brie, Muenster, and Swiss.

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Best Cheese To Pair With Chardonnay

Often, the easiest way to find the best cheese and Chardonnay pairing is through trial and error, but there are still some things to consider:

• The fresher and fruitier the cheese should be, the more pungent the cheese.
• The harder and darker the cheese, the heavier and thicker the wine should be.

When drinking unoaked Chardonnay, the cheeses that pair best are mild, semi-soft cheeses like gouda or a mild blue. When drinking oaked Chardonnay, you can pair it with semi-soft, triple-cream cheeses or cheddar cheese.

Tasting Notes: Heggies 2013 Chardonnay

What a beautifully balanced wine this is looking great at two years of age, it sits midway stylistically between fruit-forward Australian chardonnays and the more elegant wines of France. It certainly has a little bit of European swagger despite being made from fruit that is grown in the hard country of Eden Valley, above the Barossa in South Australia. The winters here are cold and wet, the summers dry. The gravelly soils produce grapes with intense flavour and minerality. Seven different chardonnay clones go into the blend, which offers a beguiling mix of ripe stone fruit flavours and tangy citrus notes, along with a hint of ripe green apple. Quality French oak plays a support role and there are some flaky pastry and creamy nuances, along with crisp acid, on the finish.

Cheese match: A chardonnay made in this medium-bodied style makes an excellent match for soft young Australian cheeses made in the style of brie and camembert, along with more powerful semi-soft imported French cheeses like livarot and pont l’eveque. But this also paired superbly with a soft Tasmanian goat cheese made in the French chevre mode “Zoe” by Tongola Goat Cheese, and also with a cloth-wrapped cheddar from Wicked Cheeses.

This article was funded by Heggies wines

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