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A Wine Lovers Guide to Cheese
(from the March 21, 2002 Wine Spectator)
The Wine Spectator dedicated its March 21st issue this year to reviewing the world of cheese and finding appropriate matches to those cheeses. You can certainly review the whole article in depth in the magazine or its website. I would like to outline their suggestions for cheese/wine matchups. They divide cheeses into 5 basic types: Soft, Hard, Blue, Goat, and Extreme. Here are their suggestions:
SOFT CHEESE: including Brie, Camembert, Brillat-Savarin, St. Andre, Morbier, as well as firmer cheeses such as Monterey Jack, young Gouda and Fontina.
WINES: "The mouth-coating texture of soft cheeses can make red wines taste think and tough. The sparkle of Champagne cuts through beautifully, and crisp aromatic whites (German or Austrian Riesling, for instance) can also do well, especially if they have a bit of sweetness."
BLUE CHEESE: including Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Maytag, and Cabrales.
WINES: "Many people find the moldy flavors of these cheeses fight with dry wines. Their creaminess is especially tough on reds. Sweet wines are the answer, and make for some of the greatest wine-and-cheese matches of all, including Sauternes with Roquefort and Port with Stilton. The nutty taste of oak found in these wines is especially welcome with blue cheeses."
(Sauternes is great, but most people actually prefer Beerenauslese or TBA over their French cousin. These work equally well, albeit without the oak nuances)
HARD CHEESES: including Swiss (Emmentaler), Parmigiano-Reggiona, Cheddar, Gruyere, etc.
WINES: "These cheeses match with a greater range of wines - whites and reds - than those of any other category. Their firm consistency does not leave a trail of mouth-coating butterfat, and their deeper, more mature, flavors can sometimes work well with powerful and complex reds. hard cheeses are usually the best choice for finishing a special bottle of red left over from the main course."
GOAT AND SHEEP CHEESES: such as Capriolle, Pecorino (Toscano), Manchego, and all fresh chevres.
WINES: "Goat milk cheeses cry out for crisp young whites such as Sauvignon blanc-based wines from Sancerre, Pouilly-Fume, New Zealand, and sometimes, California. Chablis can also perform well. harder, more mature goat cheeses and tangy sheep milk cheeses such as pecorino have an affinity for lively young reds, such as those made from Sangiovese in Tuscany, or Zinfandel n California."
EXTREME CHEESES: these are cheeses with 'over the top' flavors such as smoked Cheddar, Epoisses, Limburger, Munster, Livarot, Taleggio, and Pont L'Eveque.
WINES: "As much fun as these cheeses are to eat, in most cases only very sweet or fortified wines can hold their own against them. An Oloroso Sherry can cut through the nose on Livarot or aged Munster, while the rich sweetness of Sauternes, or even Hungarian Tokaji, will assert itself through the pungency of Epoisse."
