Wine and cheese seem to be made for each other. It can be confusing, however, to determine which wines should be paired with which cheeses. With a little know how and some palate basics, you will be able to determine for yourself which pairings will work for you and which you will steer clear from when you plan your next wine and cheese tasting.
Instructions
Do a Wine and Cheese Tasting
1. Create the right atmosphere. This begins with inviting the right people. When throwing a party, it is good to get a great mix of different types of people, so the mingling amongst your guests is interesting and the conversation is invigorating. When planning a wine and cheese tasting, however, make sure you invite people who are truly interested in the wine and cheese tasting part of your event. Tastings are always the best when they are laid back, to a certain extent, but if the main event of your get together is the tasting and discussion of different wines paired with different cheeses, and many of your guests just want to drink wine to get drunk, the event will not be fun. Have all of the glasses preset before the guests arrive. You may even want to put wine charms on the glasses before the guests arrive, so each individual guest will know which glass is whose. This will make getting things started a little easier, and it will make the guests feel more special. Have more water crackers available than you think you'll need. These are the crackers that you will use to serve the cheeses on, and people may also want to eat them plain to cleanse their palates between tastings. Also, don't overwhelm the tasters with too many cheeses. Keeping the selection down to three cheeses and three wines is appropriate.
2. Have additional food. A wine and cheese tasting is definitely all about the wine and cheese ... but there should be other food available to eat as well. There are many foods that are wine and cheese friendly and having a spread of easy to eat finger foods with small disposable plates and napkins will make everyone feel like they've had enough to eat. Some great options for additional food for your tasting are: marcona almonds, quince paste, a selection of different types of bread, fresh fruit, crudite, lightly seasoned grilled vegetables, marzipan, petit fors and any other small food that works well being eaten by hand. Now it's time to create your wine and cheese pairings.
3. Match one cheese with a wine whose flavors compliment each other. There are three rules to matching wines with cheese. The first rule we will apply to our first pairing. When a wine is matched with a cheese that has a similar flavor profile, these like flavors will cancel each other out on the taster's palate and point up more subtle flavors in both the wine and cheese that would otherwise go unnoticed. For this example, we will use a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chevre. In Chevre, which is a fresh goat's milk cheese, there is a high amount of acidity. There is also a high amount of acidity in Sauvignon Blanc. When the taster has both in her mouth, however, instead of being overwhelmed by a strong sour taste, the acidity disappears and the taster will notice subtle notes of soft fruit in the wine and a creamy sweetness to the cheese that she would not notice had she tasted the cheese and the wine by themselves.
4. Match one wine with a cheese whose flavor is more subtle than the wine. The second rule of wine and cheese pairing is to match a subtly flavored cheese with a wine that will use that cheese as it's foil, so to speak. For this example, we will use Reblochon, a washed rind cow's milk cheese from France that has a subtle, nutty flavor. We will match this subtle, creamy cheese with a powerhouse red from Provence called Cahors. Cahors can be a blend of, usually, three different grapes, but Malbec is always the star of the show here. In this pairing, the taster will find that the cheese acts as a stage upon which the wine performs, softening the tannins and showcasing the earthiness and fruit of the wine.
5. Match on wine with a cheese whose flavor is the opposite of the wine. The third rule of wine and cheese pairing is to match a cheese with a wine where the flavor profiles are in direct opposition to each other. This one is the trickiest, yet, in my opinion, most rewarding match of them all. When two opposing flavors are combined, the taster will experience a third flavor that is created by the introduction of the two to each other in his mouth. For this pairing, we will use a Maytag Blue Cheese, which is a strongly flavored and intensely salty American blue veined cheese, We will match this salty cheese with a heavy and sweet port. One might think that the two together would be terrible, but in fact this is one of the classic taste pairings of all time: salty and sweet. Eaten together, the taster will experience an almost Carmel and toffee-like third flavor that does not exist independent of the two flavors.
Tags: cheese with, each other, wine cheese, taster will, with cheese
