Wine and Cheesse

Most of you can be familiar with wine and cheese as your typical cocktails and h’orderves. But have you ever really thought of making more inquiry with regards to your wine and cheese? Did you know that there are a lot of trivial things you can find out about the relationship of wine and cheese? Well, first of all cheese is really the natural enemy of wine. This is because of the high-fat content in cheese that leaves a gooey film in our mouths that would make it difficult for us to taste wine. The saltiness in cheese would also highlight our perception of tannin, thus making big red wines taste absurdly dry, clumsy, and unappetizing. Surprising as it may seem salt amplifies the tannin in wine, as much as it amplifies the flavors in food.

Thankfully, there are wines that are made with special powers that help so that we won’t encounter these problems. Certain cheeses can partner well with wine of similar taste profiles. One example would be blue cheese and sweet wines. This is because blue cheese is very salty, thus making this salty and sweet combination perfect for each other. Others simply contrast as previously mentioned. An example of this would be creamy cheeses like Brie and Old World Pinot Noi. This is because of the rich, runny texture and nutty flavor of such cheeses has the tendency to be offset by Pinot’s refreshing acidity and warm fruit flavors.

In order to put wine and cheese together, you should be able to find the kind of wine that would be perfect for cheese. That would not be hard to find given that wine is generally put in a dining table to compliment what ever you are eating. As opposed to cheese which an all time snacking favorite. If your wondering what kind of wine would fit cheese well in general, that would be sweet wines. This because sweet wines are extremely low in tannin, sweet wines don’t contrast with the goo, and their sweetness is the best possible foil to cheese’s characteristic saltiness.

There are a wide variety of cheese that we can choose from to satisfy our snacking needs. One would creamy cheeses which as previously mentioned could be seen in Brie, creamy cheeses as mentioned in their name is generally creamy, this is due to their high fat content. They’re among the most difficult to pair with wine. Another is Goat Cheese. Goat cheese just a bit firmer than creamy cheese. It’s usually quite aromatic. Another in the group of cheeses is the Semisoft Cheese. Again from the name itself these cheeses are slightly soft. This is the kind of cheese that is most of the time overlooked in the cheese industry. It is mostly made up of cow’s and sheep’s milk cheeses, they have a nutty richness to them that’s fabulous with a number of wines, especially rich whites. We also have hard cheese, a cheese category that blends well with red wine.

In case you are still confused on how to pair up your wine and cheese, regional pairings is what you would want to do. Its called regional pairing because you pair up the wine and cheese that was grown and made in the same area. It’s the easiest way to pair them up since it has been highly recommended by its producers due to their familiarity with the taste.

All in all, you have to learn to trust your instincts after taking into consideration the basic factors in wine and cheese for the most pleasant dining experience with the two diverse elements of food

Reference:

• Courtney Cochran (2007) divine caroline: Bonus Round: Wine and Cheese Retrieved October 28, 2007