There are endless variations of red wine and cheese pairings.
Pairing cheese with wine can seem like a daunting task with all of the options available. A few guidelines can make it easier. The main rule of pairing is to match weight with weight: if you have a full-bodied, heavy wine like a zinfandel, the cheese you choose should have a similar richness. Another guideline is what grows together, goes together. Choose cheese and wine from the same region and, chances are, they'll be a great match.
Blue Cheese
Big, bold flavors dominate this match on both sides. Zinfandel's characteristic spice and explosive fruit flavors hold their own when paired with blue cheese's stinky, salty personality. There are many great varieties of blue cheese which range from from mild and creamy to heavily veined and pungent. For an especially spicy, deep zin, try a Maytag, Stilton or Roquefort cheese. If your zinfandel is on the fruitier, lighter end of the scale, pair it with a Gorgonzola dolce or a Saga blue.
Gruyere
A Swiss cheese, Gruyere possesses a typical nuttiness, but also has a complex depth of flavor, exhibiting an assertive earthiness when aged. This helps it stand up to even the boldest zinfandel. Its musty, sometimes even mushroomy flavors create a nice base for zin's lively fruit character.
Goat Cheese
While some goat cheese may be too mild to match well with zinfandel, there is at least one exception: herbed goat cheese. The aromatic qualities of the herbs imbued in the cheese can enhance the zesty fruit flavors of a lively wine like zinfandel. Purple Haze, a goat cheese from Cypress Grove in California, works particularly well with its mixture of lavender and fennel pollen.
Dry Jack
A very different species from the mild, melty white Monterey Jack cheese most of us are familiar with, Dry Jack is rubbed in a mixture of pepper and cocoa, cured and aged until it achieves a hard, flaky texture. It can be used in place of Parmesan cheese in most recipes. The rich, nutty flavor can be a perfect foil to a spicy, bold zinfandel.
Gouda
The longer a Gouda is left to age, the sharper and deeper its flavors become. To pair with a zin, try a Gouda aged around four years -- its mix of salty and sweet along with its deep nutty character will stand up well to the zin's flavors. A younger Gouda will not have developed as much depth and may not be salty or strong enough to stand up to a zinfandel.
Tags: blue cheese, cheese most, from mild, fruit flavors, goat cheese
