What Cheese Goes Well With Dry Wine?

When it comes to pairing wine and cheese it sometimes seems as if you need an expert to tell you the exact match to make. The reality, however, is that with just a little bit of knowledge you can make the match yourself and find a great pairing. This is good news whether you simply want to relax and enjoy some wine and cheese at home or are hosting a wine and cheese party for some of your friends. In general, white wines tend to be easier to pair with cheeses than red wines so we will mostly focus on white dry wines.

Concerns

You should always be careful when trying to pair a cheese with a dry wine because if you do not choose correctly, the taste may be affected. Certain mild cheeses will have a slightly sweet taste and when you pair this with a dry wine, the wine will end up seeming tart and acidic instead of rich and fruity. This is always an issue if the food is sweeter than the wine so it can be especially problematic for dry wines. If you follow the following guidelines, however, you shouldn’t have a problem pairing cheeses with dry wine.

Blue Cheese

Blue cheeses are one of the best choices if you have a dry wine. That is because the cheese is not overly sweet which would make the wine taste bitter. Instead the strong taste of a blue cheese tends to make dry wines taste even fruitier, enhancing their flavor and providing a treat for the senses.

Fresh Cheese

Most of the time you won’t eat a fresh cheese by itself; instead you will pair it with a food item, adding a bit of flavor to a salad, dessert or cooked dish. Many people choose not to pair wines with fresh cheeses, but you can. If you do this one of your best choices is to opt for a dry Chenin Blanc wine or something similar. If the fresh cheese is brined and pressed, then try opting for a dry white in general.

Hard Cheese

When you look at hard cheeses, they tend to be a bit sweeter and this may make some people hesitant to pair them with dry wines due to the warning mentioned above. They can, however, work with certain dry wines as long as you know what you are doing. If you would like to pair a dry wine with a hard cheese, opt for a sparkling wine or a light white as this will bring out both flavors.

Other Considerations

If you are looking to pair a dry wine with a dish and not just a piece of cheese or cheese and crackers, then you have more options. Instead of focusing on the cheese in the dish, focus on some of the other flavors involved. You could also try choosing a dry wine and a cheese from the same region. Another consideration is that if instead of wine you want champagne, dry champagne can go well with a cheese that has a bloomy white rind.