Ah, cheese and wine. Those cubes of rubbery cheddar speared on toothpicks, those plastic glasses of something red from a jug. The perfect pairing, right? Well. Maybe if you’re at a poetry reading in the 1970s. Otherwise, let’s rethink this situation.
There are hundreds of great artisanal cheeses sold in the U.S. these days, and thousands and thousands of different wines available on store shelves. And cheese and wine do love one another—just not always.
For one thing, cheeses vary widely in flavor and texture. First, there are different milks. As Kent Torrey of The Cheese Shop in Carmel, California, says, “Any mammal that gives milk, you can make cheese from it. I’ve even got an Australian camel’s milk cheese right now. It’s like a feta. And great for hump day.” (I mean, dad jokes are supposed be cheesy, but …)
There are also different families of cheese: soft, creamy cheeses; pungent washed-rinds; firm, aged cheeses; mold-veined blues. Michaela Weitzer at NYC’s Murray’s Cheese says: “With wine, I think the family actually matters more than the milk. A washed-rind sheep cheese won’t go with the same wine as a young Manchego, even though they’re both made from sheep’s milk.” She adds, “Tannins in wine matter a lot, too,” which is why big reds can overpower many cheeses.
What to do? Run back to those rubbery cheddar cubes, buy a box of toothpicks, and call it a day? No. Just trust your own palate. Jenn Mason at Curds & Co. in Boston says, “If you buy the cheese you like, and you drink the wine you like, they’re probably going to go together.” Wise words.
Even so, doing a deep dive into how some cheeses taste amazing with some wines is both fun and palate-rewarding. Some great combos are classic (the lemony notes of a fresh chèvre with a tart Sauvignon Blanc); sometimes they’re more modern and decadent. (Weitzer suggests a truffled triple-cream cheese with Champagne, to which I say, “Sign me up.”) And sometimes they’re just wildly surprising. “Pinot Noir, Bayley Hazen Blue from Jasper Hill Farm, and Whoppers—the malted milk balls—that’s an amazing combination,” says Mason. “People are like, ‘This is funny,’ and I’m like, ‘Nope, trust me—this is really, really good.'”
