In honor of National Wine and Cheese Day, I wanted to share a quick cheat sheet for pairing some of my cheesier recipes with wine. Take a spin through these 18 Wine and Cheese Pairing Suggestions and have some fun!
Fair Warnings:
- This is not an exhaustive list, but I tried to hit several of the cheesiest dishes.
- Tastes vary, so what I love may not be what you love. That’s fine and to be expected.
Pairing Wine and Cheese(y Things) in Our House
We typically work to make sure that the wine and food either complement each other or balance each other. If you check out the Wine Pairings sections of my Dinner Party Menu pages, you’ll see some of our favorite wines (and producers) repeated over time.
We’ve made a concerted effort over the years to find wine makers we like and can consistently stock at home. I’ll also confess that our methods may not be the most conventional, but they work for us. As a means of more easily trying wines from producers we like, we join wine clubs. We also use an app called CellarTracker to keep track of our wine inventory and peak drinking windows for the wine. In Q4, we use spreadsheets to create a demand and supply forecast for wine in our house for the coming year. Taking into account planned parties for the year, we analyze our consumption trends by varietal and month, to figure out what we’ll need to buy and the associated storage space allocation.
Some Appetizer Wine and Cheese Pairing Suggestions
Some Entrée or Heavy Side Wine and Cheese Pairings
For the sake of organization and to make it a bit easier to compare and contrast, I added some sub-categories to this group. Also, as a quick explanation: When I say “entrée or heavy side” that’s because all of these recipes could actually serve either function. It would just depend on the scale and scope of your party, what else you’re serving, and if you add or remove proteins from each of these dishes.
Dishes with Red Sauces
All the Creaminess
More Diverse Flavors in a Single Dish
Breakfast or Brunch Wine and Cheese Pairings
I’m only listing a couple here. However, sparkling wines are our “go to”s in this category. Now, that said, there are some definite variations within the sparkling category. Our favorites beyond your typical Blanc de Blancs include, but are not limited to:
- Late Disgorged Blanc de Blancs
- Blanc de Noirs
- Ultra Bruts / Extra Dry
- Brut Rosés
Summary
As noted above, tastes vary and the wine choices for a party can change based on more than the food. That said, I hope you invite some friends over, try a few of these suggestions, and enjoy!
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