You say you adore sea salt caramels and suppose it’s because they’re just so darn delicious! Sort of. In fact, we’re hard wired to crave the nutritional necessities of salt, sugar and fat in modern guilty pleasures like salted caramel, a BLT slathered with mayo and movie show popcorn (buttered, please!).
About 13,000 years ago, our ancestors added wine to their recommended daily diet as a safe substitute to the iffy microbiological health of water.
And so began what may be our species’ primal culinary pairing: wine (our oldest beverage after water and milk) and cheese (one of our oldest foods). You might call it our culinary Eden, although no grape has ever caused as much trouble as that first apple!
Today, pairing wine and cheese is easy in the Old World. If you’re travelling, just ask for the local wine and the local cheese. It may be your only choice anyway.
It's not that straightforward in the U.S., where even chain groceries offer international wines and cheeses, little to none of it produced in Chicagoland.
At The Chopping Block, we de-mystify pairing wine with cheese, for parties of one or hundreds. Your first option is to attend our popular class:
Culinary Heaven: Wine and Cheese Pairing: On Friday September 9th, please join me to mix-&-match five cheese styles with five wines, testing the rules of wine & food pairing so that you can decide on rules of your own. For more information and to register, visit Culinary Heaven: Wine and Cheese Pairing.
If you’re not able to join us, here are tips for your own successful wine and cheese pairing.
Look for Common Denominators
You can’t go wrong with Chardonnay and cow’s milk cheese. My fave is Maker’s Reserve 2019 Extra Sharp White Cheddar (8oz), about $8 at your local Jewel.
The common denominator is diacetyl, the organic compound that gives butter its flavor. Diacetyl forms in Chardonnay during winemaking, inviting the marketing term “buttery Chardonnay.” So, it makes sense to pair a wine with buttery aspects with butter’s closest cousin, cow’s milk cheese.
Look for a delicately oaked Chardonnay, such as TCB’s selection:
Chardonnay, Raeburn, Sonoma County, $25: Layers of tree fruit, brown spice and vanilla flavors, grown in California’s prime Chardonnay region. Serve as a satisfying cocktail and complement to rich appetizers and seafood, vegetables and even meats, especially prepared with butter. Try it with Mac ‘n Cheddar!
For a swellegant pairing, choose a mature Brie or Camembert (best purchased from a cheese shop) with a Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) Champagne such as:
Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs, Champagne Pierre Moncuit-Delos, $74.00: Rich, round and creamy, matured on lees to express toasted brioche with evocative hints of truffle. A classic aperitif and elegant complement to dishes from appetizers to entrées.
Goat’s milk cheese lovers don’t despair. Your wine is Sauvignon Blanc. I can’t explain why, but years of guest comments confirm it’s so.
Opposites Attract
Sparkling wine with cheese is the quintessential example of opposites that attract. Cheese coats the palate while the wine’s bubbles lift cheesy fat off the palate, for a lively mouthful after mouthful.
For an extra dimension, pair refreshing Prosecco with funky washed rind cheese, like Taleggio.
During Culinary Heaven, I laugh when we serve blue cheese with Moscato d’Asti. The secret is salt (which is high in blue cheese) paired with the wine’s sugar. Comments quickly change from “Ugh, I hate blue cheese!” to “Wow! This is delicious!!” We then up the taste sensation by dripping honey on the cheese. At this point, the room falls silent, with guests luxuriating in the flavors and textures of pure enjoyment.
Biochemistry of Bacchus
“Red wine with red meat” is more than color coding. It’s a proven strategy because red wine’s tannin (red’s scratchy, bitter component) literally binds with fat and protein. It’s the same reaction as coffee (which is full of tannin) binding with cream. Pair your reds with a high-fat cheese, especially blue. Ask your wine merchant for a fruit-forward red, which are often produced warm climates, like the U.S.
Try This at Home
Keep it simple. Choose one wine and one milk (generally cow or goat). When serving more than one cheese, look for different ageing and rinds. (For instance, Brie is a fresh ripened, bloomy rind cow’s milk cheese. Parmesan is also cow’s milk, but aged and hard rind.)
Keep it classic with your accompaniments. For fruit, serve grapes, apples or pears; avoid citrus or melon. Warm crusty, buttered bread is satisfying, but bread sticks or simple crackers will do. A handful of unsalted nuts, especially almonds, add texture. Carnivores may appreciate a delicately cured meat, such as Prosciutto. Avoid sauces or sweets, except when pairing with sweet wine.
If cheese is the appetizer, plan on 2-ish ounces per person, with one to two ounces of each cheese. If it’s the main course, plan on four to six ounces per person.
For dessert, if you serve Moscato d’Asti with blue cheese drizzled with honey, people may not eat much but more than they thought they would. Come taste it yourself this Friday in my wine and cheese pairing class!
