Cheese and wine is a beautiful combination and a celebration of two of the most delicious culinary delights. Of course in South Africa, and particularly the Western Cape, we have the option of simply visiting a wine estate and doing a classy cheese and wine tasting put together by the experts. But learning for yourself which pairings work well or experimenting with a bunch of friends to see what tickles your taste buds can be just as much fun! So where does one start?

Classic Cheese and Wine Pairings

These are some of the tried and tested flavour pairings, when it comes to choosing the best wine for your favourite cheese:

• Hard cheeses such as cheddars work best with a medium-bodied red wine like cabernet sauvignon.
• Soft cheeses like brie and camembert complement a fruity red like a pinot noir or a rosé.
• Blue cheese types such as gorgonzola go well with sweeter drinks because the sweetness balances the powerful flavour of the cheese. Try the blue cheese varieties with port, sweet sherry, Gewürztraminer, late harvest or dessert wines.
• Goat’s cheese and sauvignon blanc is a classic combination, but a dry rosé or fresh fruity red wine could also work.
• Melted cheese is not really a “type” of cheese as such – but think of fondues and raclettes for this category. These cheeses can go down very nicely with crisp or aromatic white wines.

General Principles

Besides these classic flavour combinations, there are also some useful guidelines one can follow, especially when attempting your own unique and more adventurous tasting experiments:

• Try to pair wines and cheeses which have the same level of intensity. For example don’t use a very strong red wine with a very mild cheese as the one flavour will overpower the other. Wines with over 14.5% alcohol by volume (mostly reds) are considered more intense combine better with stronger cheeses. Wines under 12% are less intense and pair nicely with more delicately flavoured cheeses.
• In line with this principle, bold red wines usually go well with aged cheeses. The older the cheese, the richer the flavour and the higher the fat content. A heavier wine will have a higher tannin content, which balances the fatty, strong flavours of the cheese.

• Sparkling wines are delicious with soft, creamy cheeses. Sparkling wines with high acidity and carbonation (the bubbles) create a palate-cleansing effect to balance creamy, sticky cheeses like brie.
• Pair wines and cheeses from the same geographical region as the flavours usually go well together. Of course this is easy to do in the Western Cape where we have excellent wine andcheese producers – in fact some even create both on the same estate!
• Add some other components to cleanse the palate and for a bit of variation.  Include elements like crackers and bread; fruits like grapes, figs or peaches; honey or nuts to the tasting menu to keep it interesting.

If you keep this simple advice in mind you should have no problem putting together a wonderfully tasty cheese and wine pairing spread to entertain and impress your loved ones.