If you are new to food and wine pairing, then serving cheese with wine bottles might seem a little daunting for you. After all, you should not like to feel embarrassed before your guests. You might be wondering which cheese variety to go best with which wine. A newbie to cheese and wine pairing might begin with a specific cheese or look for wines apt for a cheeseboard.
According to an article published on https://www.bbc.com, there are some interesting pairings like Syrah with cheddar cheese or for that matter, Californian Zinfandel paired with Spanish sheep’s milk cheese Zamorano. Then, in this article, we will walk you through about the pairing of Cabernet Sauvignon with cheese varieties for the best tasting experience.
Somewhat hard, soft and semi-mature cheese varieties with basic notes
When it comes to these cheeses, they come with a hard texture, more complex together with a frail nutty flavor complementing the final finish and structure of a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines do not overpower the taste of these cheese varieties, instead, you will like the pairing.
Again, hard cheese types such as Comte, Manchego, and Cheddar go easy with a bottle of Cabernet. Then, most people love the excellent combination of Cabernet with these hard-cheese varieties like Cheddar.
Semi-hard, old cow milk cheese with extensive age
With the wine’s aging process, it helps in bringing out a subtle, crisp, nutty, and rich flavor of this cheese. The nutty feel, gentle texture, and smooth taste accentuate the berry notes of old and new Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Again, Cabernet’s tannins combine well with the cheese fat and protein, thus cleansing your palate.
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the best cheese-friendly wines, with its compound, profound flavors that clash with the lactic qualities of any cheese. The long finish of the wine will let you take delight until your next bite of cheese. You can also pair Cabernet Sauvignon with Taleggio, which is a fragrant washed-rind cheese right from the Northern parts of Italy.
Soft, young goat cheese with Cabernet Sauvignon
This cheese variety is extremely tangy with added levels of acidity due to which, goat cheese over emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon’s alcohol content. There are a couple of exceptions such as herb crust or dried herbs, pairing fine with herbaceous notes in a classic glass of new, sophisticated Cabernet Sauvignon. Try this pairing at a party and your guests will love this cheese and wine pairing. A bottle of Sauvignon is the classic pairing with soft goat cheese.
A bit hard and soft-ripened cheese with earthy notes
Pick slightly hard and earthy cheese types with some care if you are pairing the same with a young bottle of light Cabernet Sauvignon. The creamy cheese will emphasize the tannin in a robust glass of Cabernet, making the red wine taste out-and-out chewy.
You can pair soft and ripened cheese varieties with a basic, herbaceous element like truffles that balance the dried herby scents in a new bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon while blurring the tannins and accentuating the berry flavors instead, which you will love.
Some Popular Cheese Types that Taste Divine with Cabernet Sauvignon
Cheddar
Wines having a long finish like cabernet sauvignon complement cheeses that come with complex flavors. Aged Cheddars are regarded as the best pairing for diverse styles of Sauvignon. Cheddar is supposed to be off-white and relatively hard cheese and it is known to be a natural and a sharp-tasting cheese. It is surely the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom and accounts for 51 percent of the nation’s £1.9 billion cheese market annually. It is supposed to be the second cheese type in terms of popularity in the United States. Cheddar that is manufactured in a conventional way seems to have an incredibly sharp and pungent flavor that seems to be sometimes slightly earthy. The texture of Cheddar seems to be firm. However, farmhouse conventional cheddar is slightly crumbly. Matured Cheddar may contain big cheese crystals composed of calcium lactate.
Gorgonzola
This is a popular Italian veined blue cheese that comes from cow’s milk that is not skimmed. Gorgonzola could be firm or buttery, salty, and crumbly. Gorgonzola is just like other blue cheeses that are pretty often incorporated into salads. Gorgonzola is an ingredient of your favorite pizza too. Moreover, it is consumed in combination with some other extremely popular cheeses.
Gouda Cheese
Gouda Cheese is a yellow, dense cheese that had its origin in the Netherlands and is a hot favorite pairing with earthy and rich flavors of the robust Cabernet. The fact remains that aged Gouda tastes much better as compared to a non-aged one. The tannins in Cabernet truly complement the lovely nutty flavors of Gouda. This Dutch yellow cheese is manufactured from cow’s milk and has been named according to a city in the Netherlands called Gouda. This is an incredibly popular cheese worldwide.
Gruyère
This is a yellow hard cheese that has got its name from a town in Switzerland called Gruyères. In the year 2001, Gruyère achieved the ‘Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée’ status of being originally a Swiss cheese. Before that, there were some controversies as people were confused and not sure if certain French cheeses that seemed similar in nature also could be called Gruyère as well. Gruyère is slightly salty but predominantly sweet with an enticing flavor that keeps varying with age. Gruyère is nutty and creamy when young but it becomes more earthy, assertive, and complex with age. When aged fully, it would demonstrate small cracks that infuse a somewhat grainy texture.
Four Types of Cheese That Must Be Avoided With Cabernet Sauvignon
Soft-Ripened Creamy Cheeses such as France’s noted Camembert, Bries, and triple crème cheeses like Saint André and Brillat-Savarin, often are responsible in bringing out bitter or metallic or notes in cabernet and end up muting its fruit flavors. You must consider experimenting with creamy cheeses cautiously if you wish the fruit present in your cabernet to really shine.
Hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano may not be the right choice to combine with your Cabernet Sauvignon. The salty element and the sweetness from the pineapple in this cheese, and the typical caramel flavors could end up stripping the fruit from this hot-favorite wine. While complementing red wine with Parmigiano, it is best to choose a light red wine with wee bit tannin. In the case, the red wine’s tannins seem to be extremely pronounced, the salt present in the cheese would be exaggerating those tannins.
Blue cheeses particularly the pungent ones. These could prove to be quite tricky pairings since blue cheeses generally make cabernet taste bitter and metallic. Lean and crisp white wines like a Sancerre or maybe a Jordan Chardonnay and Champagne are regarded to be far more complementary with mild blue cheeses.
Final words
Pairing wine and cheese is an art, and you must do it with perfection. Let your guests enjoy the wine and cheese you serve them in your next gathering. You must drink whatever wines you are passionate about with the delicious cheese that tingle your taste buds with your loved ones. You are bound to experience a memorable pairing. With the above recommendations, you could make wine and cheese pairing far less complex and more enjoyable. Keep enjoying and experimenting with several combinations!
