Wine Currents
October 2004

WINE CURRENTS WITH THE CIA

AGAINST THE POPULAR WISDOM: CHEESE AND WHITE WINE

A surprise to many wine drinkers, even those with years of wine and food experience, is that most cheeses marry well with white wines, and only a select few pair successfully with full-bodied red wines. While the facts seem to go against popular wisdom, the cliché is just that, a cliché.

Because the wide variety of young and rind-ripened cheeses are tangy, they work beautifully with young, acidic white wines or contrast nicely with more assertive, oak-aged whites. Cheeses that are soft and semi-soft exhibit this texture because water cuts the fat in these cheeses; with less fat, the richness is less assertive.

Assertive red wines actually pair nicely with hard cheeses (with little water content), such as Asiago and Parmigiano Reggiano, and with cheeses that might have bitter properties, such as aged blue cheeses. The bitter vein of the cheese counters the bitter tannins in the wine, making the cheese taste richer and the wine taste fresher and fruitier. However, even rich, aged blue cheeses, such as Roquefort or Stilton, pair well with sweet, rich white wines (such as Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise) or sweet fortified wines, especially vintage Portos.

Although this process contradicts what the novice wine drinker is taught, experienced wine and cheese lovers might want to slowly reverse themselves. Consider trying some of your favorite cheeses first with lighter reds, then with full-bodied whites, then with lighter, younger, livelier whites. For example, sample blue Gorgonzola with Sauternes, Camembert with apples and Chablis, Munster with dry Riesling, and young chèvre with grapes and Sauvignon Blanc.

Remember that matching food and wine can be both simple and difficult. The simple part allows one to explore and experiment. The difficult part is this: there is no “perfect” food and wine combination that is right for everyone. Somewhere between the two extremes – the casual, spontaneous approach and the rigorous, classical approach – most people, especially food and wine lovers and professionals, find their own comfort zone – even with white wine and cheese.